Season Update
Piping Plovers returned again to Wasaga Beach Provincial Park.
2021 fledgeling Gotawsi returned to his 2023 and 2024 nesting site on April 24th, 2025. An unnamed female arrived the same day, and they paired up very quickly. By May 17th they had a full nest of 4 eggs. Incubation ensued with both performing their duties faithfully. Regrettably on June 5th Gotawsi was no-where to be found and was deemed to have met an untimely end, thought to be predation by a merlin which is a small falcon. Risk of predation tends to be higher during breeding season. The female, (since named Mo) attempted to continue the incubation alone for a couple of days but had to give up in order to forage for food. A few days later the eggs were collected by Birds Canada for scientific purposes, and the protective fencing was removed. Mo has since been spotted in Michigan where she found a new mate. They are showing signs of nesting there. Although they generally breed only once per year, plovers will renest if their previous nest failed.
Gotawsi’s legacy lives on, however as two of his 2024 fledglings are reportedly nesting on the Great Lakes and one of his nest mates (i.e “brother”) named Saga is nesting at Presqu’ile for the 4th year.
Further good news from around the province is that there is a second nest at Presqu’ille, and a nest at Darlington – all three on Provincial Park property. We look forward to news of these nests hatching in the near future.
Ollie has also returned for the third year to his Georgian Bay nesting site on April 22nd and Patty, his mate from the last two years arrived on April 28th. They also produced a full nest and on June 9th welcomed a chick who has steadily continued to thrive.
Educational Panels
With a grant from TD Friends of the Environment, a series of educational panels have been developed and installed in the Plover Hut at Boardwalk #1. These can be viewed when the shutters are open, and they provide information about Piping Plovers, protection of habitat and beach ecology. A duplicate set of portable panels has also been produced to augment educational activities beyond the beach. Although the nest was lost, the hut will be open when staff and volunteers are available to talk to visitors about plovers and beach ecology. The loss of Gotawsi serves as an illustration of why these birds are so endangered and the many threats they face.
Season Wrap Up
After the sad loss of Gotawsi and his nest, we turned our attention to other Ontario sites. Unfortunately the Georgian Bay chick vanished at 14 days of age. The adult birds stayed for a while and then headed south. Two chicks then fledged, one each from Darlington and Presqu’ile Provincial Parks. On July 28th, 6 chicks were banded from two nests at a remote island in Ontario’s Great Lakes. Of these, 4 were confirmed fledged on August 16th and there is a good chance that the other two had already fledged and migrated. The 4 fledglings brought Ontario’s confirmed total of fledglings to 6, and perhaps the other two will show up as they overwinter down south. Thank you to Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and Birds Canada for all your efforts over the season.
For ongoing information and updates about Piping plovers visit https://www.birdscanada.org/bird-science/piping-plover/ontario
The Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort broke records in 2024 and surpassed that record this year. As of July 24th, 88 pairs were confirmed, which is 7 more than in 2024. So far 82 chicks have fledged with the potential for 30 more assuming they survive to fledge date. In addition 33 chicks were reared in the Captive Rearing Program. Of these, 24 have been released so far.
For more information about the Great Lakes population visit https://www.greatlakespipingplover.org/
Ploverpalooza 2025
Ploverpalooza took place on July 18th,19th and 20th, once again offering lots of fun activities. Even adults enjoyed some of these, including button and bracelet making, bean bag toss and more. The Plover Hut was open throughout the event with the interpretive panels on full display. Staff and volunteers spoke to 844 people which was great, given that it was a quieter than usual weekend for such perfect July weather. Well done staff of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and Birds Canada, as well as volunteers who pitched in.