Post-Season Meeting Notes

Timucuan Shorebird Partnership

October 28, 2015

Jacksonville Zoo

Participants:

Blair Hayman – FWC

Kevin Oxenrider – FWC

Ashley Ballou – FWC

Naomi Avissar – FWC

Chris Farrell – FL Audubon

Dan Pearson – FDEP, DRP

Michelle Tabor – FDEP

Allison Conboy – FDEP, DRP

Brandon Volbrecht – Fort Clinch SP

Donna Bear – Jacksonville Zoo

Shelley Beville – COJ

Chris Winterman – COJ

Bailey Hammond – COJ

Alice Shinkos – Huguenot MP Bird Steward

Christina Nelson – SAISSA

Florida Shorebird Database 2015 Overview: Naomi Avissar – FWC

-Most of the coast line for our partnership has been covered

-Out of a total of 23 routes for our region, 19 were surveyed at least 1 time in 2015

-8 routes were surveyed during all 6 survey windows

-101s Rooftop was not survey in 2015. We need to make sure it is surveyed next year.

-8 American oystercatcher nests were reported in the region, 4 of which successfully hatched chicks.

-4 black-necked stilt nests reported

-6 killdeer nests reported, 5 of these nests had an unknown outcome. Michelle Tabor said she would talk to Naomi to ensure that killdeer data from Talbot was being included.

-5 willet nests reported

-39 Wilson’s plover nests reported, and 27 of these nests were successful!

-Predation (13%) and ghost crabs (12%) were documented as the known causes of nest failures for solitary nests. Most failures were reported as unknown.

-5 least tern colonies were reported as ground nests. 3 of these colonies produced flightless chicks, and 2 produced fledges. Actual number of fledges unknown at time, Naomi needed to consult the database.

-Only 1 colony of laughing gulls, royal terns, and sandwich terns was reported, the large colony at Huguenot MP. All species occurring in colony produced chicks this year.

-Human intrusion, overwash, and unknown causes were the main reasons for colony failures in our region during 2015.

-Of 8 least tern colonies on rooftops, 3 had confirmed nesting. This is typically difficult to confirm unless the roof can be seen from above, either from an adjacent roof, or when returning flightless young to the rooftop. Typically, colonies are monitored from the ground so nests are never seen for visual confirmation.

-1 killdeer nest was also reported sharing a rooftop with a least tern colony.

-The 2015 data is now undergoing quality control and will hopefully be compiled by December. The database will reopen for data entry in March 2016, but data can still be downloaded from the FSD even though it is closed to data entry.

-Winter shorebird and piping plover survey will likely be combined this year, and occur in January.

Updates:

-Talbot Islands SP and Amelia Island SP

-Least tern colony was successful on the south end of Amelia. ~100 terns seen, ~50 nests, and at least 20 chicks fledged from this colony. Colony area was closed to public access from June-August, and a press release was created regarding the closure.

- Wilson’s plovers are nesting on north Big Talbot, and a lot of Wilson’s plover chicks were being seen on Little Talbot, but surveys will need to occur earlier in the future to find nests.

-13 Wilson’s plover nests were documented at Amelia Island, 10 of these nests fledged chicks. The nests and chicks were widely spread across the dunes.

-1 willet nest was located on Amelia Island in early May and fledged 4 chicks!

-2 American oystercatcher nests were documented on Amelia Island and 1 fledged chick.

-Juvenile black skimmers and royal terns were observed at the end of the season on Amelia Island.

-4 killdeer nests were documented on Big Talbot Island and produced 3 fledged chicks.

-1 Wilson’s plover nest was documented at Big Talbot, and 1 fledged chick.

-Wilson’s plover chicks were observed foraging at the Sawpit.

-8 Wilson’s plover nests were documented at Little Talbot, and 17 chicks.

-2 successful willet nests were recorded on Little Talbot

-2 coyotes were dispatched by USDA Wildlife Services, and 2 were hit by cars at Little Talbot.

-Goals for next year include: maintaining and enhancing protected areas, increasing survey efforts on north Little Talbot and south Big Talbot, grow a stewardship program, enhance visitor awareness through public outreach.

-Huguenot MP

American oystercatchers did not produce young this year, but did have two failed nesting attempts.
No black skimmer nesting this year.
Wilson’s plovers were successful with 14 fledged chicks.
At least 1 willet nest fledged young
Royal terns had 3x as many feathered chicks this year (~6500 chicks), but flight capable chicks were still around the same number as past years (~2500 chicks). Royal tern nesting area expanded in the dunes this year making it difficult to identify sandwich tern nesting sites.
Laughing gull nest numbers appeared to be down, but this may be because of larger area used by royal terns. Laughing gulls were pushed to edges and into densely vegetated areas of the colony to nest. ~5700 feathered laughing gull chicks and ~3000 flight capable laughing gull chicks were documented
Sandwich tern chicks on numbered in the 50s which is lower than last year.
Herbicide treatment used to reduce invasive vegetation in the colony recently, but a second application needs to occur later in the non-breeding season. Additional herbicide may be needed by Huguenot staff to do this.
Huguenot staff mentioned potential removing native vegetation to provide additional, and more suitable nesting locations for black skimmers. Blair Hayman explained that FWC is currently working with the DEP on a permit to do something similar at Marco in south Florida, but that we could work towards applying for a permit to do this at Huguenot. To get a permit to remove native vegetation, a vegetation monitoring plan will be needed when applying to DEP.

-SAISSA

First year the Pre-posting was done at the site. FWC assisted in predicting appropriate location to pre-post.
Least terns arrived on site in early May with a total of 35-40 birds.
The terns nested outside of the posted area multiple times causing the need to re-post.
22 nests were documented, 12 produced chicks, 13 chicks total. 5 chicks made it to fledging.
On June 11 a big storm caused the colony to move further down the beach, just north of Amelia Island State Park.
1 nest was known to be depredated by a dog.

-Fort Clinch State Park

Volunteers will take over a bigger role in monitoring next year.
Blocked off a few roads, and extended some posted areas which led to increased numbers of birds on Cumberland Sound.

-South Amelia River and Bird Island

2 American oystercatcher nests were documented on oyster rakes along the river, both nests fledged 1 chick each.
A least tern nest was documented at Bird Island, but ended up failing. No idea as to the actual cause, but human disturbance and/or overwash are the leading thoughts on nest failure.

Strategic Plan

-Partners feel that the plan is a good way to help tie the partnership together since most of the partners have independent programs going on. The plan is a way to try and coordinate all of our efforts.

-Process goals may be best to start out with, and then basic target goals, such as “get black skimmers to begin nesting at Huguenot again.”

FWC already has hard number targets included in the Imperiled Beach Nesting Birds Species Action Plan.

-The plan is a good place to raise issues and information needs for shorebirds in our region

-The document is in need of a “look over.” Currently, it is very overwhelming. Chris Farrell will look at the document in January and create a new draft to be presented at the pre-season meeting. He will work with Blair Hayman to create the new draft. Partners are asked to contact him if they have specific things they want included in the plan.

Volunteer Coordination

-Florida Audubon coordinates volunteer efforts throughout the entire state.

-Many of the state parks have their own volunteer programs.

-Chris Farrell would like to be kept in the loop on volunteer communications and efforts so that he can help with getting volunteer coverage where it is needed. Could Huguenot and State Parks share their volunteer calendars with Chris Farrell?

-Perhaps have combined training session next year for all TSP region volunteers.

-A volunteer appreciation event will need to be planned for next year

Rooftop Pre-season Outreach

-Blair Hayman will begin to reach out to business/ building owners with current or historical rooftop nesting colonies before next year’s nesting season.

Mainly wanting to educate owners about coordinating with FWC regarding roof maintenance needs during the nesting season, and ways to avoid having to access the roof during the nesting season (changing air filters, and making other maintenance early in the year to avoid problems during the nesting season).

-Blair has asked if partners can contact her if they can think of buildings that may benefit from chick fencing, etc.

Predator Control Needs

-Use of game cameras to document the specific culprit of nest predation is key. This allows for an appropriate response.

-Documentation of failures and causals of failures are key to determine if predator control is necessary.

-Game cameras being used at colonies should be Bluetooth capable to allow for photo download during the nesting season.

Law Enforcement and Shorebirds

-FWC LE has begun to code their time differently so that we can actually see how much time is being spent patrolling for shorebirds

-Huguenot said that they have seen an improvement in LE presence.

-School officers are being used as beach officers during the summer. These officers have been frequently present at Amelia Island SP. Maybe see if Duval Co. has a similar program?

-LE need outreach training, they are the ones most frequently giving out information to beach goers.