[Editor's note: Alice Van Zoeren's Piper Plover blog will be updated once a week with the latest doings from Platte Point. Newest entries on the top; oldest at the bottom. To see an enlarged version of any image, simply click on the thumbnail.]

8/13/06

This will be the last Plover update of 2006. The Piping Plovers have now left Platte Point and headed south for the winter. It was a pretty good year for the Great Lakes Piping Plovers but not for the Platte Point birds. This was the fist year since 1997 that BORX didn’t raise any chicks. He and gOOX did produce four eggs before gOOX disappeared, probably the victim of a predator.
These eggs were transferred to the University of Michigan Biological Station where they hatched and were captive-reared, then released at Sturgeon Bay. Unfortunately his superior parenting skills were unused this summer. Hopefully he’ll be back next summer, his thirteenth year, and have better luck.

Storms and predators took a toll on all the nests at Platte Point this summer except for one. BOXg and LXOL managed to successfully raise all four of their chicks.

Elsewhere at Sleeping Bear Dunes the story was much more upbeat. One North Manitou Island, twelve nests were completed and eleven of them hatched. A thirteenth nest was washed out in a storm May 11th. A record total of 31 chicks fledged from those nests. It was exciting to see flocks of juvenile Piping Plovers on the beaches together.

Now our beaches are empty of Piping Plovers, except for an occasional few passing through. They have all begun their migrations to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts where they will feed in small flocks until next April, when I’ll be watching the beaches for their return.

Until then…

7/21 –

The Plovers are leaving us now. Recently fledged juveniles are turning up all over along the shorelines. They are able to fly across Lake Michigan from North Manitou Island to the mainland. Today I saw a flock of 10 Plovers at Platte Point. Of the 10 four were from North Manitou. The chicks hatched here have been seen at Ludington State Park as well. There have already been reports of three Great Lakes Piping Plovers on their wintering grounds in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Earlier this week I found OO:X,B (two Orange bands on her left leg, a metal (“X”) and a dark Blue band on her right) at Platte Point. She was BO:RX’s mate at Platte Point last year and nested at Ludington State Park this year. It’s interesting that she came north to visit last year’s home after her chick-rearing duties were done.

Five unfledged chicks remain at Sleeping Bear Dunes tended by their fathers. They should begin flying sometime in the next week. The chicks are beginning to stretch their wings and jump up into the air. The females have all already left to begin their migrations.

6/30 – It’s been a while since I’ve been able to make a posting.

The Plovers on North Manitou Island are doing very well. All twelve nests have hatched. The nest mentioned in the 5/25 posting where the male had his own, egg-less nest, was two weeks past the hatch date when it was decided to move the eggs (apparently dead) to the Biological Station. Amazingly three of the four chicks had survived and they hatched on June 30th…2 ½ weeks late.

On the mainland two of the six nests have fledged. They are now able to fly proficiently. Their mothers have left to begin their journeys south and as is typical the fathers are watching over them as they build up the strength and ability to migrate to the Atlantic or Gulf coasts for the fall and winter.

BORX has been unable to find a new mate and I seldom see him any more. It’s too bad that his fathering skills aren’t being put to use this summer. The chicks he and gOOX produced have fledged at the University of MI Biological Station and were released with wild Piping Plovers. His son has raised all 4 of his chicks successfully. BORX already has had a large impact on the genetics of the Great Lakes Piping Plover population.

6/9 – Back to Platte. All is well. BORX is hanging out in his territory but I didn’t see any signs of him trying to attract a new mate. There is a new female - --:X,O/L (no bands on the left. A metal, “X” and an Orange and bLack split band on the right) hanging out at the point with g/O/gX:-- (light green, Orange, light green split band and metal “X” on the left. Nothing on the right).
It looks like he will make a third nesting attempt this year after his first nest washed away in the storm on 5/11 and his mate disappeared during his second attempt, probably caught by the Merlin that has been hunting at Platte.

6/5 – 6/8 – I was out on North Manitou Island this week. There are now 12 active nests at Dimmick’s point. While we were out there five of them hatched. The little chicks don’t know about territory boundaries so they wander everywhere and cause many boundary disputes and fights among the adults.

6/1 – More chicks! BOX,g and LXOL are hatching their chicks at Platte this morning. When I arrived BOX,g was sitting on the nest. Nothing seemed different until I noticed part of an egg shell just outside the nest. In a moment when he stood up to turn around I could see one wet little chick and three eggs under him.

5/29 – CHICKS! The first nest was hatching when I arrived this morning. There were 3 chicks and one egg. The chicks are very cute. They move around and peck at things almost immediately.
Plover parents don’t have to provide food for their babies, they do watch over them and protect them until they are able to fly. These new chicks are BORX’s grandchildren. BORX is now trying to attract a new mate.

5/25 – We spent the week camping on North Manitou Island while banding Plovers and building exclosures around their nests. This is the most active Piping Plover area in all of the Great Lakes. We currently have 11 active nests and there is at least one more to come soon. In most Plover couples incubation proceeds smoothly. Each parent spends one to two hours incubating the eggs then leaves to feed when their partner returns to take their place. One pair on North Manitou is having a problem. The female behaves like a normal Plover but when it comes time for her mate to take over he sits in his own separate nest scrape about 1 meter away from the real nest. Even smoothing out his scrape didn’t encourage him to sit on his eggs. It seems doubtful that his eggs will survive. This is his first year as a parent. It will be interesting to see if he does a better job in future seasons.

5/23 – I spent the day assisting the highly-trained bander, Mark who comes down from the University of Michigan Biological Station at Pellston to put identifying bands on nesting Piping Plovers. Each Plover wears a unique combination of color bands as well as an aluminum US Fish and Wildlife Service band. The color combination allows monitors and researchers to recognize each bird individually. Much information can be gained about their lives, where they spend the winters, where they nest, and with whom, how long they live, and much more.

5/21 – I checked on BORX today. He’s still incubating. Most Piping Plovers would have given up long before this. Perhaps he’ll stay long enough to get his eggs back for hatching. The rest of the birds at Platte are still there

5/19 -A sad day at Platte Point. When I arrived at 10:00 I was immediately concerned that neither BORX nor gOOX were on their nest. I found BORX feeding at the shore. It just isn’t like them to leave their eggs unattended. After almost 2 hours he returned to the nest to incubate. There was no sign of gOOX. At 12:40 a Merlin made several passes up and down the shore hunting for shorebirds. This time it was unsuccessful. I fear that gOOX may not have been so lucky. .
After 3 hours of incubating BORX left the nest to feed. In consultation with US Fish and Wildlife and University of Minnesota authorities the decision was made to remove their eggs, replace them with clay replicas and transport them to the University of Michigan Biological Station incubation facility staffed by volunteer professional zookeepers. If gOOX miraculously returns or BORX continues to tend his nest they can be replaced for hatching and raised by their dad. In most cases the remaining parent eventually gives up on waiting for their mate to return and leaves the nest to re-mate and re-nest. If he stopped incubating at a time when no one was monitoring, the eggs could cool and die.

I spent May 8th – 12th away from Platte Point working on North Manitou Island with the nesting Piping Plovers there. Thursday’s storm hit hard both on North Manitou and at Platte Point.

5/16 – Today a Merlin was hunting at Platte Point. A Merlin is a medium-sized falcon. It flies along the shoreline just above the sand hoping to spook a shorebird into flight. All of the nesting Plovers have avoided capture so far but I didn’t see the female that –OX had finally attracted. He now has interested a new mate, X,L—(On the left leg a metal “X” band and below it a bLack one). I hope he is lucky in love this time.

5/11 – I woke up to rain and wind at 3am. When I got up at 7 and left the shelter of our campsite the wind was really starting to blow. The waves obliterated the formerly wide beach and washed out one of the Plover nests. Volunteers Janet and Nate tried to save the two eggs but unfortunately one was broken by rocks and the other was slightly cracked. The good news is that it is early in the season and the pair will probably re-nest.

On Platte Point waves and rain flooded the beach and filled the nest belonging to g/O/gX—(On the left leg a single band with stripes of light green, Orange and light green and a metal “X” band) and –O/g- (On the right leg a single band with Orange and light green)at the north end of the beach. All four eggs were lost. The rest of the nests were high enough to survive the storm.

5/4

We now have four nests with eggs. Today we built “exclosures” around the nests. Exclosures keep predators out of the nest area but allow the adult Plovers to run in and out to incubate their eggs.
The exclosure must be built quickly but very carefully so that the nest isn’t disturbed and the parents can return to keep their eggs warm.

The male, --OX (no bands on his left leg “--“, On his right there is an Orange band and a metal “X” band) has been scraping out nest cups, displaying and hoping that a female would join him for three weeks now. Finally today one did. She is a very young bird. She hatched last summer at Ludington State Park. Perhaps his wait is over.

BORX and gOOX and BOX,g and LXOL have settled into their incubation routine. One adult sits on the eggs for an hour or two while the other feeds, and preens, then runs or flies back to the nest, and takes over the incubation duties while the mate feeds and preens. Both share equally in incubating the eggs.

April 29th – EGGS!!

Today I found the first nests of the year. When I arrived BOX,g and LXOL were courting right by the path. I sat and watched for awhile. They were quite persistent about visiting and displaying at one spot and when I stood up and looked with my binoculars I could see why. There was an egg there! They haven’t begun incubating yet…they won’t until their full clutch of 4 eggs is laid. That will cause all their chicks to hatch at about the same time…probably about June 2nd.

A little later on I