Coal Oil Point Reserve

In 2022, we monitored the Western Snowy Plover (WSP) population at Coal Oil Point Reserve as in previous years. The number of breeding adults was 52, higher than the average of 37 for our site. The wintering population size was 183, also above the average of 167. Skunk predation was the primary cause of nest failure. In response to the high levels of predation by skunks and the failure to trap them, all nests present on or laid after April 29th and before May 31st were collected, incubated until near the hatching date, and then returned to the parents. The real eggs were replaced with wooden eggs so that the parents would continue incubating. 35 nests (34%) of nests this season were replaced using this method. The hatching and fledging success rates in this report reflect those that hatched and fledged naturally and exclude nests that had eggs replaced. Hatching rate (28%) was lower than average (53%) and the fledging rate (74%) was higher than average (62%). The number of fledged chicks per male (1.0) met our site's recovery goal of 1.0 fledged chicks per male. 92% of nests (94) were initiated on the beach, and 8% (8) were initiated on the mudflats of the slough (delta).