Ormond Beach, Oxnard California
| Total Nests | Active Nests | Hatched Nests | Failed Nests |
Snowy Plover | 62 | 14 | 41 | 7 |
Least Tern | 19 | 0 | 13 | 6 |
Although we still have a good number of active snowy plover nests, we are seeing more plovers at the tideline now and fewer in the dunes. This means there aren't any new snowy plover pairs setting up house. So starting next week we should start seeing nest numbers drop pretty quickly as the last nests of the season hatch or fail.
We captured great video from one of our hatching plover nests. In addition to the usual cute chick just hours old, we also caught a chick running by the camera 4 days later. The video shows the difference between a wobbly newly hatched chick vs an older downy chick that is stronger and more coordinated. A subtle distinction for most, but important for our shorebird team. This is something we look for when we re-spot chicks as a measure of chick age. Re-spotting chicks is critical to determine nesting success.
California Least Terns
Least tern nesting is done already! They start so much later than plovers and finish sooner. Such a fast season with those birds. No terns are left in the dunes anymore and we have some fledglings at the tideline. We should have our final nest/fledgling tally next week. We anticipate that least terns will be moving on from Ormond Beach in just a couple weeks to their long winter migration to the waters off of South America!
Below are 2 chicks that hatched on June 21st this year, the first nest hatch of the season. These two are what we call "blondes", as opposed to some chicks that look much browner. Sometimes clutches will hatch with one brown and one blonde chick. We don't know why the color difference in these downy chicks, because once they grow their adult feathers they look the same.
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