3 chicks with dad

All 3 chicks are alive and well.  They have had  lot of changes in their lives over the past couple of weeks.

Right leg orange, left leg yellow

When the chicks were a couple of weeks old,  they received identification leg bands.   All three have the same colour combination- orange on right leg and yellow on left leg.   Then they each have a silver band with its own unique ID number.

Dad brooding chick

Another big change is that they are being looked after by just the dad now.   Mom left when they were about a week and a half old.  We thought she had taken off for Florida but she has been seen at Darlington beach to the west of here.  She also returned to Presqu’ile last Wednesday but was chased off by the dad, who is claiming sole custody of the chicks at this point.

Chick getting ready to fly

Dad has a lot on his plate, as the chicks are starting to take short flights up and down the beach, and running all over the place.

Watching for flying predators

When he perceives a threat, dad calls in his distinctive “piping” call, and rushes to collect the babies near him.

Can you find 3 Plovers in this picture?

Last Saturday evening I was babysitting the plovers, and everything started out pretty quietly.  All 4 family members were resting on the beach.

Preening

A little preening, a little wing stretching and flapping, but pretty mellow.

Ahhh – nice stretch

Look at those beautiful primary feathers.

nap time

Two of the chicks stayed together, pretty sleepy. Sometimes it’s really hard to find all 3, they are so well hidden.

Perfect spot for a nap

There’s number 3.   I love this scene.  What perfect camouflage.

AH there you are

stepping out

While dad and the other chicks slept, one of the chicks ran down to the water’s edge and started to feed.    It stayed down there for about 40 minutes on its own.   This was the first time I had seen one of the chicks at the water- they usually stayed further up on the beach.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Dad did not seem too concerned.

I’m awake!

Eventually around 8:00 pm dad and the other two chicks woke up and joined the first chick down at the water’s edge.

Sundown on Presqu’lie Beach

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the 4 Piping Plovers were still feeding at the water’s edge.   In another week or so the chicks will be flying well enough to go wherever they like.   Then at some point in August, our Piping Plover family will begin to head for their winter home in Florida.

Presqu’ile Piping Plover Chick

With help from the Park staff and over 50 volunteers, the Piping Plovers have had a very successful nesting season here in Brighton.

Next May when migration is in full swing, we will all be keeping our eyes open for newly arrived Piping Plovers. Especially three young adults with an orange band on the left leg, and yellow band on the right leg.   Bon voyage little chicks!   Hope to see you in the spring.

If you are like me and can’t get enough about Piping Plovers, Check out these links:

-Watch this cute video by Anja showing the chicks at a couple of weeks old!  They are so funny!   Anja has done a great job capturing them as they scoot all over the place. More videos of the plovers on her Youtube channel: Brighton Events

-Hear an interview with Presqu’ile’s David Bree and Elizabeth Steadman on CBC Radio Morning:

– Revisit Protecting Piping Plovers :  my blog from when they were just a few days old.

The post Presqu’ile Piping Plover Update: Flapping and Napping! appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Who have we here?  Someone pretty special, that’s for sure.

Piping Plover chick at one week old

We have great news here in Brighton.  Piping Plovers, an endangered species of shorebird, are raising a family on the beach at Presqu’ile Provincial Park for the first time in 100 years.

Two day old chick and parent

Protection Plans in the US and Canada have been working to increase the population of Piping Plovers since 1986.   Action steps include protecting sandy habitats that Plovers need to nest, and public education programs.  Biologists have also installed enclosures over Piping Plover nests to protect them from predators.  This consists of a cage that has spaces large enough for the plovers to move freely in and out, but small enough to keep out predators like gulls and raccoons. Without the predator enclosures, about 37% of the eggs laid will hatch, but with the enclosures the success rate is 72%, almost a 100% increase.

Look out world, I’m here!

Here at Presqu’ile, a contingent of over 60 volunteers is keeping an eye on the plover family, taking shifts from early morning until sundown.  The idea is to observe the plovers and record their activity, as well as educate the public on this busy beach about the Piping Plovers, and really, just make sure these little ones don’t get stepped on.

Volunteer Coordinator Elizabeth putting out a driftwood shelter she made for the plovers

Funding has also allowed for the hiring of a Volunteer Coordinator, to oversee the scheduling of volunteers and helping in a major way with the public education aspect of the Piping Plover monitoring.

Trying out those wings! It will take four weeks for the chicks to learn to fly.

So of course I signed up to volunteer to monitor the little Piping Plover family.   I look forward to my shifts so much!   And all the other volunteers I have met out there feel exactly the same way.   We are privileged to be able to spend time with these rare and beautiful birds.

Shift change

It has been fascinating watching the family and their behaviour.  Here are Mom and Dad.  Mom is on the right, with a plain band on her left leg.   Dad is on the left, and has a yellow/orange/yellow striped band on the bottom of his left leg.    Both parents are one year old birds, born on Wasaga Beach on Georgian Bay last summer.

Dad and two chicks. Third is underneath…

Mom and Dad switch off chick rearing duties.   Even though the chicks start to eat on their own right from when they start walking around, the parents still keep an eye out for them.  They like to keep the chicks fairly close to them, and call out with gentle peeps when the chicks go too far.

Hurry hurry

This doesn’t always work.  The chicks are little speed demons, tearing all over the place like cotton balls on toothpicks.  Especially when they first hatched it was really hard for us humans to keep track of them, even armed with binoculars and a spotting scope.

Dad brooding chicks

One of the neatest behaviours I have observed while spending time with the Piping Plovers is how the parents brood the chicks.  Here’s a little sequence to show you how it all progresses.

Let me in

Dad is already brooding one chick (hence the multi-legged look) when number two comes along.

Move over

Number two just shoves itself in underneath, head first.  As the chicks get bigger, this becomes more and more comical.

me too

So now as number 3 arrives, it checks out the possibilities.

This is pretty good

For now it decides to snuggle up to its multi-legged dad and wait for a spot. This all happens quite quickly.  Once one chick dives underneath, the others are right behind.

Full.

Here’s dad brooding all 3 chicks in another spot on the beach.   Look at all those legs!  I hope he is enjoying himself because apparently mom will be migrating back to down to Florida soon after the chicks turn a week old!  Then dad will be on his own with them until they learn to fly, in about 3 more weeks.

Woo hoo!

Just as quickly as the chicks shove their way under, they pop right back out again!  Great stretching and wing flapping ensues.

Off I go again

Then more running around on the beach 3 different directions eating, eating, then running some more.

I took 600 shots in one evening. Maybe you can see why…

How cute is that?  Really?   I had the hardest time writing this blog because I couldn’t  choose the  photos.   Blogs can’t have 600 photos in them.  But I whittled it down.  Eventually.

Preparing for nighttime

As the sun was setting yesterday evening and my volunteer shift with the Piping Plovers was coming to a close, I watched as the little chicks gathered around the mother.

Safe for the night

All tucked in, right in the middle of a huge beach, you would hardly know they were there.  After watching them so closely it was hard to turn and walk away.

I’ve got the early shift tomorrow morning.   Can’t wait!

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