Five snowy plovers recently joined the flock on the beaches of Monterey Bay! Four came from nests that were tide washed- two from separate nests located at a private beach north of Marina, and another two from a nest at Zmudowski Beach. A fifth bird, hatched at Monterey State Beach, was found stuck to verbena by a Point Blue biologist. Unable to be brooded and to forage on its own, it was too weak to rejoin its siblings. At SPCAMC, this chick was nursed back to health and the four eggs were incubated, hatched and successfully raised. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Point Blue Conservation Science, CDFW, and SPCAMC, these birds were released last June 16th and July 7th at Salinas Wildlife Refuge and Zmudowski beach! 

Photos: Snowy Plover Guardian,  Parvaneh Keivanfar  shown releasing the juvenile snowy plovers on June 16, 2025.  Three weeks later, another two juvenile snowy plovers were released. (photo: CSUMB student, Naydra Rivas, shown at the release on July 7, 2025.)

All photos © YvonneWright2025