[mou] Piping and Snowy plovers, Lac qui Parle Co.

[Chu, Philip]

At 5 PM yesterday afternoon (Sunday, 16 July), on the little bit of Salt
Lake that extends into South Dakota, there was a Piping Plover.  Several
hundred yards of running or flying would place the plover in MN.

If you are in Lac qui Parle Co. to visit Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
(BSNWR), then you should consider visiting Salt Lake as well:  on each of
the last two weekends, counts there have yielded over 1000 individuals of
10+ shorebird species.

Speaking of BSNWR, the Snowy Plovers have, at least temporarily, moved away
from the tip of the highway-75-dam quarry peninsula.  As the chicks cannot
yet fly, they are unable to leave the peninsula; thus their father, who is
attending them, is likely to be on the peninsula as well.  However, the
family is now ranging more widely, which means that they might, conceivably,
be *anywhere* on the peninsula's shores.

Phil Chu
Department of Biology
St. John's University
Collegeville, MN 56321