We Registered a New Record Number of 50 Nests in the Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada Mexico

September 24, 2019

Jonathan Vargas
Conservacionista / Terra Peninsular
Ensenada, México

This year we had a very intense summer in the Todos Santos Bay. We established a monitoring program for the nesting and migration of the Snowy Plover. This consisted of using traditional sampling methods such bird banding, and other more modern methods such as GPS tracking. In collaboration with Dr. Luke Eberhard Phillips from Max Planck Institute for Ornithology we were able to place GPS devices on ten Snowy Plovers. During this period and with the help of Terra Peninsular, hundredths of volunteers, collaborators, institutions and governmental agencies, such as the Coordination of the Federal Maritime and Terrestrial Zone in Ensenada, we were able to implement habitat management actions to reduce disturbance that occurred from vehicles on the beaches of Ensenada, increasing the reproductive success of the Snowy Plover in the bay. We registered a new record of 50 nests, which is a huge success given the fact that in 2008 this population was considered extirpated form the region. But nevertheless, there is still much more work to be done, which is why we continue to further develop relationships to work towards beach regulations and management and therefore continue with the protection of this site that is so important for shorebirds. All of this would not have been possible without the support of the Coastal Solutions Fellows Program, which I am proud to belong to its first generation.