A sorrowful start to the day

Dear all,

I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news this Thursday morning. A skunk attacked Monty and Rose’s nest last night and ate the eggs. It did not get into the exclosure, it reached from outside. Monty and Rose are both OK. It is devastating news and I know each person on this distribution will feel this deeply.

Monty and Rose are resilient. In 2019, they lost their nest to flooding on June 13 and by June 18 they had a second nest and an egg. In fact, birders Matt S. and Alison N. observed the plovers courting and scraping this morning. (See attached photo).

For this reason, we will continue monitoring as scheduled. The entire dunes area will be closed again as it was before, and we will need to monitor to determine where Rose and Monty choose to re-nest. Plans are already under way for a larger exclosure

Thank you for everything you do and for caring so much about them,

Tamima

Monty and Rose courting this morning. Photo credit: Alison Newberry.