Coal Oil Point Reserve

In 2019, we continued with the monitoring of the Western Snowy Plover (WSP) population at Coal Oil Point Reserve as in previous years. The number of breeding adults (68) was the highest observed since monitoring began in 2001. The wintering population (132) was below the average for this site. This year, predation, particularly by crows, had a large impact on the fate of nests and chicks, as did high tides. The rate of fledged chicks per male (0.2) was the lowest on record for our site since the program began in 2001. 96% of nests (93) were initiated on the beach, and 4% (4) were initiated on the mudflats of theslough (delta).