Good morning PiPl Friends,

I am so sorry to write that we lost one of the teeny weeinies yesterday afternoon. Mid-morning, the family made the trek from #1 to the Creek, which I think is at least half a mile. This is a tremendous journey for three-day-old chicks and proved to be too much for the one that was a little more sleepy-eyed and not as strong as its sibling. It was difficult to observe how torn the parents were between sheltering the weak and dying chic and defending the mobile, healthy chick.

The #1 family spent the entire day at the Creek. There weren’t too many people however, the greatest disturbances were from fellow Plovers. A tremendous battle for territory is underway. For six years, the Creek has been the original Dad’s territory and is now being impinged upon by the new family. This behavior we predicted, I just didn’t realize the fighting would last an entire day, into the early evening. Piping Plovers display this same ferocity when establishing their nesting territory in early spring. Unfortunately, when territorial disputes take place around chicks, they often become targeted.

Piping Plover Smackdown

On a brighter note, this early rainy morning found Mom and Dad and the little one at the Creek contentedly foraging in the rain undisturbed.

Both Handsome and Junior were at #3 stuffing themselves in this year’s very excellent wrack!

Thank you to everyone who could for coming to the meeting. We were able to welcome our newest member of team Plover, Ann Cortissoz. She has been following along with our Plover chronicles and is going to take the impossible-to-fill two to four shift!!!! So nice to meet Ann, and so many thanks for lending a hand.

Our Ward One City Councilor Scott Memhard stopped by to say hello. Scott is running for re-election, so please sign his nomination papers when you see him. Thanks so much to Scott for being a super early supporter of the Plovers!

Unless the rain lets up, please take a much deserved day off. I’ll send the new schedule and phone numbers later this afternoon.

Have a great fun rainy-splash-in-the-puddles-sort-of-day (at least that is how I am presenting the day to Charlotte) 🙂