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SUMMARY: The trend in number of adult birds observed during May and June mid -month <br />airboat river surveys, though highly variable, increased during the 2001 -2009 timeframe; <br />however, July numbers have declined (Figure 9). Counts of birds detected during river surveys <br />were not adjusted to account for the presence of birds at nearby sandpits. We observed 2 adult <br />snowy plovers foraging with an adult piping plover near the Triplett Trail site (Figure 8, see <br />Table 3 for site names) during the June, 2009 river survey; however, no snowy plover nests were <br />observed during any of our monitoring work. <br />Figure 9. Trends (lines) in the number (boxplots) of adult interior least terns and piping plovers observed during <br />mid -month airboat surveys (Table 1) on the Platte River between Chapman and Lexington, Nebraska, 2001-2009. <br />indicates a survey where total counts only include observations of interior least terns and piping plovers at managed <br />or constructed islands; data for other interior least tern and piping plover observations were lost. <br />The trend in number of interior least tern and piping plover adults observed during mid -month <br />sandpit -island surveys has increased from 2001 -2009; however, the number of adults observed <br />during June and July sandpit - island surveys has declined steadily since 2005 (Figure 10). During <br />2008 and 2009 sandpit - island surveys combined, we observed >3 -times the number of interior <br />least tern and piping plover nests at sandpits than we did at river island sites. We also observed <br />many more interior least tern and piping plover adults, chicks, and fledglings at sandpits than <br />river islands during 2008 and 2009 mid -month sandpit - island surveys. <br />PRRIP 2008 -2009 Tern /Plover Report Page 16 of 42 <br />