Hopes soar at start of snowy plover nesting

By Mark Prado, Marin Independent Journal
Monday, April 3, 2006

It's a yearly ritual of nature that spawns "cotton balls" with legs running up and down the beaches of West Marin.

It's nesting season for the snowy plover, which can be seen at Abbott's Lagoon Beach, Kehoe Beach and sometimes Limantour Beach.

"The chicks are quite precocious," said Sarah Allen, a biologist with the Point Reyes National Seashore. "Within a day of being born they are running around the beaches. They look like little cotton balls."

The snowy plovers are recognizable by their diminutive size, pale brown upper areas, dark patches on either side of their upper chest and dark legs. They weigh a maximum of 2 ounces and are about 6 inches long.

Since 1993, the plover has been listed as threatened, which means that under the Endangered Species Act, no one may harm or injure the birds in any way.

The plovers once were abundant on sandy beaches, but biologists estimate that no more than 2,600 snowy plovers breed along the Pacific Coast and only 1,200 in California.

Today, only 28 major nesting areas remain. Point Reyes National Seashore has between 30 and 35 adult plovers that breed on the beaches.

Since the early 1970s, more than two-thirds of their habitat has been lost to coastal development, the spread of exotic weeds and human interference, including recreational activities.

For the last three years, Point Reyes researchers have been ridding areas near Abbott's Lagoon of non-native European beach grass, which has taken over some of the plover's habitat.

"Last year, we saw 11 chicks in the area that was restored," Allen said. "We should see more results this year."

While the non-native plants have been removed in areas near the lagoon, native plants, such as beach layia and Tidestrom's lupine, have come back. The lupine provided the small birds cover and areas to dig their nests.

"The plovers do well in an open dune system, with sporadic native grasses," said Don Neubacher, superintendent of the Point Reyes National Seashore. "Plovers like the native plants because they create spaces for nesting and rearing young. But the beach grass is so thick, it's like a mat."

Ravens are the main predator of the plovers and Allen has worked with local ranchers to cover the cracked corn that is used for feed. The corn attracts the ravens, which then see the plovers in the area and prey on them.

The plover nesting season stretches from March through late September and they can often be seen scurrying up and down a beach, foraging for invertebrates in wet sand and in kelp tossed onto the beach.

Dogs are prohibited from a quarter mile north of the North Beach parking lot to a quarter mile south of Kehoe Beach through Sept. 10 to protect the birds.

"It is critical to minimize disturbance to nesting plovers and chicks during the nesting season for these birds to have a chance of surviving," Neubacher said.

Contact Mark Prado via e-mail at mprado@marinij.com.

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