Snowy
Plover Research
Salton Sea
Summer 2001, 85-118
degrees
Three days a week, for three long, hot months during the spring and
summer of 2001, Bob Miller monitored Snowy Plover nesting at the Salton
Sea, under the guidance and tutelage of Kathy Molina.
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
|
Iberia Wash
|
Three sites were monitored along the West shore in
conjunction with numerous other studies. Bats, bugs, retiles,
plants, etc. Iberia Wash, near Salton City, is one of many areas at the Salton Sea favored
by Snowy Plovers.
|
| Snowy's prefer the salt flats and barnacle bars
where the temperatures can be brutal. The nests are very hard to
spot and much time is spent just standing in the sun watching behavior
through spotting scopes. Note the nest in the top photo (to the right) is
located entirely within the heel area of one of our own
footprints! The first nests were located in early April, and
by the end of July, all young had been fledged. |
Snowy Plover Nest with Eggs
Snowy Plover Nest with Eggs
|
|
Snowy Plover Chick
|
Snowy Plover Chick
|
Snowy Plover
|
|
Lesser Nighthawk Chicks
|
Snowy Plovers weren't the only species around. Numerous
shorebirds, waders, raptors, and passerines used the area on a
daily basis. These young Lesser Nighthawks had a nest on the
ground under a mesquite tree. A few Horned Lark fledged young in
the washes. Rarities seen along the shore included Semi-palmated
Sandpiper and Least and Elegant Terns.
|
| These are two other nests which were in the study
area. Note the relatively large size of the Avocet eggs
(penny on the right of the photo). American Avocet and
Black-necked Stilt began their nesting a bit later. Snowy Plover
is as much an actor as the stilts if you get too close to their
nest, feigning wing injury and attempting to draw you away.
They would actually come closer than the stilts in their attempts
to distract.
|
Avocet Nest with Eggs
Black-necked Stilt Nest with
Eggs
|
|
Black-necked Stilt
|
|
