Ormond Beach, Oxnard California
| Total Nests | Active Nests | Hatched Nests | Failed Nests |
Snowy Plover | 66 | 0 | 54 | 12 |
Least Tern | 19 | 0 | 13 | 6 |
Here is our last snowy plover hatching on August 3, 2023. We were very fortunate to find the nest actively hatching when we checked it, since it was on the end of the beach that we don't use trail cameras because of the risk of camera theft. If we don't directly site chicks and don't have trail camera evidence we never know for sure that the nest hatched.
This means we have 4 more weeks of surveys to finish out the season. It will take these chicks 4 weeks to reach "fledging" age, meaning the ability to fly and survive independent of their dad. He will be guiding them toward forage, keeping them warm until they grow their first adult feathers, and shepherding them away from of danger. We will be watching very carefully each week to re-spot as many chicks as possible and hopefully see these chicks survive. Below is a chick with his dad taken 2 weeks ago.
