Whitefish Point Vie has laid her fourth egg, meaning incubation has begun! In around 26 days tiny Piping Plover chicks will be running around at the Point. In the meantime Vie and Little Bill Bob will be taking turns sitting on the eggs while the embryos develop inside. Hot Shot is still moseying around the [...]
Whitefish Point PIPL X,B:-,O Male from Vermilion Point. Photo by Stephanie Owens PIPL Little Bill Bob performing a broken-wing display. Photo by Stephanie Owens Little Bill Bob and Vie had been taking the past week slow, and I don’t blame them. It must be hard work growing eggs and deciding [...]
Things are shaping up to be another successful Piping Plover breeding season at Whitefish Point. The plovers have been arriving at the Point since April 27, and our pair from last year have found each other again. Just a refresher, that pair is Of,bL:X,B/O/B (Male, aka Little Bill Bob) and X,V:Of,YY (Female, aka Violet [...]
For the past two weeks, Whitefish Point has been virtually ploverless. On August 5, a fledgling from Vermilion stopped by for a brief rest and has not returned since. The exclosure at the Point. Photo by Stephanie Owens Sunday struck a nostalgic chord as I ventured to the beach to clean up [...]
It appears that the Piping Plover breeding season is practically at its close. I last saw Little Bill Bob with his chick on July 28. Now, I hike the beach from end to end, with my plover findings turning up short. O chick has shown sporadically, and I feel a twinge of sadness when [...]
Baby takes flight! Little Bill Bob peeping to Baby. Photo by Stephanie Owens On July 21, I observed Little Bill Bob with his chick lounging around near their old exclosure. Suddenly, Bob flew away out of sight. I sat there looking at Baby, a bit puzzled, wondering why Bob left in such [...]
Sunburning away again in Ploveritaville. The captive-reared chicks in their carrier. Photo by Stephanie Owens On Monday, July 15, three captive-reared Piping Plover chicks were released at Whitefish Point. They were salvaged as eggs from Sleeping Bear Dunes because their father went missing, which left the incubating duties solely to the mother. Once [...]
Baby is a Bob! On Sunday, July 7, Baby was banded. His code is X,B/O/B:O,B (I say that he is a Bob because of the triple split Blue/Orange/Blue band). The number 270 appears on his blue band, and a green dot appears on the orange band just above. These are his chick bands, and [...]
The last chick lives! "Baby" on June 29. Photo by Stephanie Owens After last week's turbulence, I'm happy to report our plover family is alive and well. My days are now occupied with watching Vie and Little Bill Bob care for their chick. I've been calling the chick "Baby" in reference to [...]
Merlin sitting in the tree line. Photo by Stephanie Owens On Sunday, I walked onto the beach with hope and excitement. I wasn’t sure if the eggs would hatch that day, but I knew that they would come sometime soon. Almost as if a bad omen, a Merlin sat perched at the [...]
