[Birdtalk] SNPL Update

[John CAVITT]

For those attending the Snowy Plover trips at the GSL Bird Festival, I wanted to give you an update on the nesting birds we observed.  Two of the SNPL nests along the Antelope Island Causeway have hatched and both males are busy brooding the chicks (each has 3 young).  Hatching occurred on Wed.  One set of young are banded.  They are staying pretty close to the causeway so you can observe them with a spotting scope (they were still there as of 6am Sat).  The area with the highest SNPL density is 1.2 mi west of the gatehouse on the south side of the causeway.  I would suggest not venturing off the causeway as they are pretty vulnerable now and we don't want to disturb those still incubating eggs. 

There are also color banded birds in the area so if you happen to see one we would appreciate the color combinations, sex, date, and time of observation.  

Also the Burrowing Owls are back along the south side of the causeway at mile marker 6.

Cheers
JFC