Snowy Plover nesting season gets some help from Audubon volunteers

OXNARD, Calif. - Members of the Ventura Audubon Society are working on the annual project to protect seabirds.

They put fences up over the weekend near the dunes and the jetty at Hollywood Beach.

That's one of the places where Western Snowy Plovers are known to nest.

The threatened birds are about the size of a sparrow.

Signs along the fences made by children warn beachgoers and dog walkers to respect the fences and not to frighten the mommy birds.

Audubon volunteer Debra Barringer said, "The snowy plover nesting season has begun, there are active nests on some of the other local beaches. We don't have an active one here yet, but we certainly have the birds and some pairs forming. So we do always like to put up a fence and keep people back and let them know about the season as well with the signs."

Alexis Frangis helped set up the safety area.

"The Snowy Plovers nest right in the sand, we call their nest a scrape, it is just a simple scrape in the sand. Their eggs are camouflaged, they are very very difficult to see which is why we do the fencing in addition to keeping people away for disturbance purposes."

She said people will see them along the shore.

"Once the chicks hatch, after about a month, they run around and feed themselves, following dad down to the shoreline to feed in the kelp."

Social distancing may help the birds survive this year since there are fewer people on the beach.