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Thursday, July 14, 2016

Snowy Plover

A walk on the beach this evening brought me close to this little family of Snowy Plover - the chicks are two days old now.
The young first leave the nest 1-3 hours after hatching, stumbling as they walk and peck at food on the ground.

Subsequently they make longer, increasingly frequent foraging trips.

They walk, run and swim well and forage unassisted by parents....

but require periodic brooding for many days after hatching.

They blend really well to their surrounding - which is crucial for survival.


The two chicks are well taken care of, lets hope for the best.

Good luck little fellows.
 

2 comments:

  1. Hi France!
    My best wishes to you and Tony for good health and happiness! "Our" Snowy Plovers at Siesta
    are also doing pretty good this year-three fledged already and five more hatched, with one hen
    still sitting on three eggs. Last year, only two fledged --considering their vulnerability, it's quite a miracle that any of them survive to maturity!

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  2. Patch, thanks a bunch for your good wishes - we'll take them.
    I'm happy to hear about some success, those little guys are having such a hard time.....we lost several nests here due to Tropical Storm Collin, however the Snowy got right back down to business and started nesting all over again....we're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll be successful.

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