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Siesta Seen The buffer design, he noted, has the approval of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The volunteer who called about the first nest, Claire Herzog, said she actually saw a Snowy Plover hen laying an egg on the beach, Worms told me. After he and Miles completed the buffering Monday, four beach walkers approached them, saying "they had found a nest on the beach sand," Worms wrote in an email. "We assumed they were referring to an estab- lished buffer within which we had previously lost a nest due to human trespass, but they insisted it was a new nest," he added. "To our happy surprise it was a new nest with three (3) eggs!" Even more exciting news, Worms told me on May 12, is the fact that one Snowy Plover chick already has hatched, and he and other Sarasota Audubon volunteers are keep- ing their eyes on a second nest, which they hope will produce chicks in the next couple of weeks. He added in his email, "Now the task is to encourage beach users to avoid crossing into the buffers, to keep dogs off the beach and to limit the impact of natural predators." On Tuesday morning, visitors and regular beach walkers generally were making wide berths around the buffered areas, which include signs explaining about the endan- gered Plovers. A buffered area on the western end of the public beach also has a number of Least Tern nests in it. In fact, I was thrilled to see a couple of those birds that appeared to be sitting on nests. The beach nesting bird buffer zones are marked by stakes, string and signage. Sarasota News Leader May 16, 2014 Page 71