Field Notes

The Piping Plover chicks at Whitefish Point are now two weeks old. All four chicks are still going strong and are looking bigger by the day! Most days, I see the chicks accompanied by Violet (X,V:Of,YY) with Really Tricky (X,R:Of,LY) settling territory boundaries with other males. The chicks have begun to explore the shoreline [...]

It’s been a big week for our Piping Plovers at Whitefish Point! The eggs from our nesting pair, Violet and Really Tricky, have finally hatched. Wednesday morning, I noticed movement in the nest while Violet incubated the eggs. As she got up to switch with Tricky, I spotted two chicks! The chicks slowly left the [...]

This week we had some predator activity in the Piping Plover area. On Wednesday, I found two detached wings from different birds along the shoreline near our nest. I kept an eye out but did not see any raptors. I arrived at the Point Saturday morning to find either a Merlin or a Peregrine Falcon [...]

Our current pair (Really Tricky and mate) seem to be doing well this week, and I’ve been watching them switch incubation about every hour. I haven’t had any issues with off-leash dogs. Ron spotted a Merlin in the parking lot on Monday, but we haven’t had any issues in the plover area. A new male [...]

Really Tricky incubating eggs inside the predator exclosure. Photo by Joselyn Ralph The first Piping Plover eggs have been spotted at Whitefish Point! Our only current pair, “Really Tricky” and mate X,V:Of,YY, were observed changing the location of their scrape throughout the last week. On Sunday afternoon, after noticing Really Tricky adjusting in [...]

The male Piping Plovers at Whitefish Point have been fired up this week, likely due to the arrival of another returning male: Of,BY:X,Y/O. All six males were observed fighting for territory along the northeastern corner of the pond — an area sheltered from the wind with lots of cobble to camouflage a potential nest. [...]

The Piping Plovers have started to return to Whitefish Point – and we’re seeing some familiar faces! Four males from last year are back at the Point and have begun to stake out their territory. One male, known last year as “Really Tricky” (X,R:Of,LY), has been spotted scraping and mating with a returning female, [...]

Since my last blog post, seven Piping Plover chicks have officially fledged! This means that they survived their first 23 days and can now fly. This is excellent news and one of the better years for the number of chicks fledged.  Unfortunately, four of the 11 chicks that hatched either went missing or were [...]

A section of the shoreline will be closed through Aug. 5. People can still access the tip of the Point from the bayside shoreline. Before I talk about the recent Piping Plover activity, I want to give a quick update on the beach closures at Whitefish Point. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife [...]