Popular Marin seashore closed to protect birds

A three-mile stretch of the Great Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore will be closed over the July 4th holiday weekend to protect nesting by western snowy plovers, a small wading bird that lays its eggs on sandy beaches.

The closure from Friday through Sunday will stretch from the North Beach parking lot off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to the mouth of Abbotts Lagoon. It is intended to “minimize disturbance to nests, chicks and breeding adults” of the federally threatened species, John Dell’Osso, chief of interpretation and resource education at the seashore in west Marin County, said in a statement.

A six-inch bird with a grayish-brown body and white breast, the snowy plover population on the West Coast faces disturbances including loss of habitat and predators, which has taken a toll on the species, he said.

Point Reyes, one of the plover’s few remaining nesting grounds, typically supports 15 to 30 adult breeding plovers. Their population has been monitored since 1995.

Efforts to protect the plovers include roping off breeding areas on upper sections of seashore beaches and construction of “exclosures” around nests immediately after an egg is laid. Made of wire mesh fencing, the barriers afford plovers easy access in and out but protect the eggs from disturbance and predators.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.