Overview
Hello Ploverites!
On Monday, June 23, we were able to confirm that all five snowy plover chicks that hatched out at Limantour Beach on May 26 had fledged! A plover chick is considered a fledgling on day 28, the normal time it takes for them to have the ability to fly. This was a day our team had circled on the calendar for a while, so it is amazing to see that these five will get to start exploring the seashore and beyond in the very near future. I surveyed Limantour Beach today and can report that they are all still alive and well. After fledging, juvenile birds tend to hang around their hatch site (in this case different parts of Limantour Spit) for a few days to a few weeks before they start flying longer distances to different sites. While they can now fly, they still need to practice a bit before they get proficient at it. Sometimes you can even see them "testing out" their wings with stretching them out or small flights of 20 or so feet!
Three new nests were found in the seashore this week (two found on the stretch of beach between the mouth of Abbotts Lagoon and the North Beach parking lot, and one found in the Abbotts Lagoon restoration area). Along with these three nests, we expect to find more next week, observing at least four other pairs prospecting sites for what could be their last attempt of the season. Early July is when we typically see birds’ last nesting attempts for the year, so we hope to find a solid amount during this last effort. We also banded chicks at a hatching nest at North Beach Thursday morning and confirmed they survived their first night earlier today. We hope they can follow in the footsteps of our birds at Limantour and fledge next month!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Parker Kaye via email.
Productivity Stats
- 47 total nests this season
- 7 active nest
- 14 hatched
- 26 failed nests
- 9 chicks on the beach
- 5 chicks fledged
An adult female snowy plover banded aqua over violet on the left leg, violet over green on the right leg (av:vg) near Abbotts Lagoon. This female has not yet been confirmed to have a nest this year, though we hope to find one from her soon.
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
A blurry photo of an unbanded juvenile snowy plover on Limantour Beach. This bird was confirmed to have fledged on June 23, 2025, and is one of the first five fledges confirmed in Point Reyes National Seashore this year.
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
Adult female snowy plover banded blue over yellow on the left leg, green over red on the right leg (by:gr) on North Beach. This is the female of the nest that was banded earlier this week. This nest was also found with support from volunteer monitors during a training.
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
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