Monitoring western snowy plovers in Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 2014 report
Townsend RK and Merkle WW. 2020. Monitoring western snowy plovers in Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 2014 report. Natural Resource Report. NPS/SFAN/NRR—2020/2065. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report summarizes results from the 2014 field season of Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) monitoring program. The goals of our monitoring program are to estimate trends in the overwintering snowy plover population size and distribution, as well as to track potential disturbance threats to snowy plovers. We censused Ocean Beach and Crissy Field for snowy plovers twice a week every other week from July 2, 2014 to June 1, 2015. Much higher than average numbers of snowy plovers were observed on Ocean Beach, with a maximum count of 74 and a winter season average count of 55. Fewer than average numbers of snowy plovers were observed on Crissy Field, with a maximum count of five and an average count of 1.5 snowy plovers per survey. Following recent use patterns at Ocean Beach, snowy plovers were primarily observed in the wider area of beach between Lawton and Lincoln streets. At Crissy Field, snowy plovers were only found in the Wildlife Protection Area to the east of the US Coast Guard pier. At Ocean Beach, maximum and winter season average snowy plover counts were both the second highest on record; only the 1994 season had higher counts, indicating a very good year for snowy plover numbers. Leash compliance rates at Ocean Beach remain low, with 74 percent of dogs observed unleashed in the Snowy Plover Protection Area. In contrast, just four percent of dogs were observed off leash in the Wildlife Protection Area at Crissy Field, where protective fencing, entrance gates, and signage were installed in 2009 monitoring year. Dog owners were often observed approaching the fenced Wildlife Protection Area, but turning back when reaching the fence without entering. Continuing low levels of compliance with leash regulations at Ocean Beach indicate a need to enhance outreach and enforcement actions related to off-leash dog walking.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Townsend, Rachel; Merkle, William
- Date of Issue
- 2020-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GOGA , NRSS , SFAN
- Keywords
- Charadrius nivosus, Charadrius nivosus nivosus, Monitoring, Snowy Plover, Western Snowy Plovers