Plovers Struggling

Dad & 1 of 3 chicks on Dockweiler Beach
(Grace Murayama 5-14-17)

I’ll be short and not-so-sweet. We witnessed the first nesting of Western Snowy Plovers on Los Angeles County Beaches since 1948 in the past three weeks. The first nest was overcome by sand in a vicious three-day windstorm in late April. The eggs of another disappeared at Malibu Lagoon, even though a mini-exclosure had been placed around them. The first nest at Dockweiler State Beach resulted in three chicks–but they were eaten by a Ring-billed Gull when not quite four days old.

Male settling on nest, Malibu (Larry Loeher 5-12-17)

We may be able to affect this trend for the remaining nests and better prepare for next year’s possible nesting in L.A. County if we can contract for more qualified biologist time and availability. There are time and legal constraints as to what we volunteers can and are authorized to do. No guarantees, folks, but I feel we need to try. That means, we need you to use the little PayPal button on the right of this screen; please follow the instructions and include the phrase “Snowy Plovers” in the “+Add special instructions to the seller” area. Or you can send us a check the Santa Monica Bay Audubon  (P.O. Box 35 PAC PAL 90272) to help the cause. 100% of your donations will go to the L.A. County Snowy Plover Conservation Project. From all of us who have been volunteering for this threatened species for 5, 10 …even 50…years.   Thank you!

Three Snowy Plover eggs at Malibu (Joyce Waterman 5-28-17)