Coal Oil Point Reserve

In 2018, we continued with the monitoring of the Western Snowy Plover population at Coal Oil Point Reserve as in previous years. The number of breeding adults (54), hatched nests (61), and fledged chicks (82) were the highest observed since monitoring began in 2001. The wintering population remained around the average (182) for this site. This year, predation affected nest fate slightly more than weather. 86% of nests were initiated on the beach, and 14% were initiated on the mudflats of the slough (delta). The rate of infertile eggs has returned to normal levels after an four-fold increase in infertility in 2016.