St. Johns Shorebird Partnership
Post-season Meeting
October 7th, 2013 9-12PM
Meeting Minutes
Location: 9601 Oceanshore Blvd in Marineland. It’s a one story flat roof building on the west side of A1A, just
south of the pedestrian crossing. Sign says Coastal Policy Center.
9:00 – Sign In/Introductions – All
We had 21 meeting participants!:
Bill Hudson (“the new Monique”)- Audubon Florida
CJ McCartney- Volunteer, St. Johns Audubon
Peggy Cook- St. Johns Audubon
Teddy Shuler- St Johns Audubon
Sue Killeen- Volunteer, St. Johns Audubon
Laura Ostapko- Flagler Audubon
Joyce King- Santa Fe Audubon
Brittany Sims- Anastasia State Park, Park Services Specialist
Tracy James- Anastasia State Park Intern, UF
Jason DePue- Florida Park Service, Anastasia State Park
Lia Sansom- GTMNERR
Diane Reed- GTMNERR volunteer
Jess Rodriguez- FWC Ocala, Volunteer Coordinator
Anna Deyle- FWC Ocala, Assistant Regional Species Conservation Biologist
Alex Kropp- FWC Ocala, Regional Species Conservation Biologist
Justin Koble- FWC Law Enforcement
Billy Zeits- Saint Johns County, Beaches
Tara Dodson- Saint Johns County, Beaches/Environment
Kevin Roberts- Saint Johns County Sheriff’s Office
Steve Briggs- Saint Johns County Sheriff’s Office
Jeff Carroll- Saint Johns County Sheriff’s Office
9:10– Regional Summaries from Area Leaders/Managers/LE (5-10 minutes each)
 GTMNERR – Diane Reed and Lia Sansom
8 mile stretch of beach surveyed. Weekly bird surveys. No nesting species. Just a handful of
Least Terns (LETE) this year- they sometimes come to the site post-nesting. It has been 4 or
5 years since LETE have nested there due to dog issues, etc. Not sure if they even had a
single Wilson’s Plover this year.
 Porpoise Point – Sue Killeen, Tara Dodson
Sue Killeen: Sheriff patrols there were phenomenal. People had a lot of respect for the birds
and the roped off areas. Chris Angel was a real asset at this site, especially when it came to
posting. 8-10 nesting pairs of Least Terns but within a week or two they got washed out by
Tropical Storm Andrea.
Steve Briggs- beach patrol, St Johns County Sheriff’s Office: St Johns County has four
natural resource deputies funded from people driving cars on the beach as well as 2 beach
patrol officers.
Billy Zeits: A human face and interaction goes a lot further than a sign. Sue Killeen a
testament to that. She interacted with the locals at Porpoise Point and they were
completely cooperative. For example, if she asked them to move their cars up the beach,
they did.
Tara Dodson: There is a person in the Saint Johns County office who takes photos every 2
weeks of the sand at Porpoise Point. There is imagery from 1945 up to now of Porpoise
Point that shows changes in the sand there.
 ICW/Julia’s Island – Zach, Alex
Amy Schwarzer surveys American Oystercatchers (AMOY) at these sites. Some nesting LETE
and AMOY at Julia’s Island. They failed. There are a lot of dogs and other disturbance issues
there. About 1/3 of the AMOY had success later in the season after early failures.
 Anastasia State Park – Jason, Sue
Jason DePue: ASP park staff did predator control before the nesting season behind where
they thought the LETE colony would set up this year. This was right off of the Pope Road
parking lot. Trapped raccoons. Saw feral cat tracks but weren’t able to catch any. Saw what
looked like coyote tracks on the north end of ASP. Didn’t have to have USDA trap with soft
leg traps this year, probably will next year.
There were no major storm events this year that were tragic to the LETE colony. At its peak
the LETE colony had 238 nests. There were over 100+ chicks in a single count. A peak of 82
flight capable juvenile chicks. The peak in all young (all stages of chicks) was 117 on
7/11/13.
This was the single most productive year with the highest numbers ever for LETE at ASP!
Best year of coverage of the colony by bird stewards. All weekends were covered. That’s
why the bird numbers were able to be so high. Thank you stewards!!!
Wilson’s Plovers: A pretty good year for Wilson’s Plovers (WIPLs) as well. 7 total nests- all
seemed very successful. 2-3 chicks per nest. 3 nests up on the north end.
Challenges: Park staff driving on the beach- law enforcement, lifeguards. Driving right in
front of the posted area because there was an escarpment further down. We closed that
area off- put up signs. No mortality of birds from beach driving.
Chris Angel (seasonal tech position with FWC) was awesome. We’ve got to find money for
that position again.
Jason, “I could really use someone like Chris at Sebastian Inlet State Park.”
Sue Killeen: The availability of an FWC/parks service vehicle was critical to surveying the full
shorebird routes at ASP. Chris Angel was also critical.
Where will the birds nest next year?
The birds could go south of the state park to nest next year. There is a lot of beach material
heading south. A lot of vegetation recruitment in the area where the LETE colony was this
year- sea oats. Pope Road to the pier might be where they go next. Work with Tara and Billy
to prep that area.
Tara Dodson: Pope Road access is supposed to be opened once current dredging project is
done. Pope Road to the pier- St Johns County intends to install a conservation zone in that
area. 15 ft down from the dune. They will be planting sea oats and installing sand
vegetation to stabilize sand. There are Anastasia Island Beach Mice south of Pope Road.
 Matanzas NM and CWA – Kurt, Peggy
Peggy Cook: Kurt could not attend because he was furlowed. Weekly counts were done at
Mantanzas this year. Peggy said it was the best year for WIPLs in her recollection. 13 chicks
in May. 30 adults in July.
Last year there were 0 LETE because of predation (foxes). Kurt had a camera and traps out.
This year: saw no LETE at the beginning of the season. In July saw one LETE chick- had not
seen any nests- then more LETE came. A small but successful colony. No predation. In July
there were 144 adults and 12 downy and feathered chicks. They nested way over on the
east side of the park- not where they usually nest. Peggy thinks the birds came from
Summer Haven after being washed out there.
A huge sandbar on the west side of the park. Saw WIPLs feeding on it, but they didn’t nest
on it.
 Summer Haven – Greg, Tara, Alex
A big washover early in the season. Later in the season some LETE nesting. One or two flight
capable juvenile chicks. So, LETE were not real successful. 7 WIPL nests- all failed- a lot of
raccoon tracks.
There is a proposed project to restore the Summer Haven River. Port of St Augustine is the
applicant- they have no funding for it now. In the next 2-3 weeks FWC will be issuing them a
take permit for LETE. They will dredge 90% of the nesting area and it will be under water.
FWC has a new definition of incidental take for listed species that now includes indirect
take, not just direct killing of birds, chicks, and eggs. The applicant will have to set up a
mitigation site for LETE.
 Rooftop Colonies – Alex, Chris, etc.
CJ McCartney: Betty Griffin and World Gym at 12 and A1A- rooftops had LETE flying over
them. There were big tar buckets over Betty Griffin- was a big rooftop repair- never saw
birds after that. Tom is the main guy who monitors that roof. The whole ceiling fell in at
Betty Griffin.
CJ is happy to be a back-up for surveys of the Beall’s roof in St Augustine.
Sue Killeen: would like to get access to the St Johns County Jail roof- she lives near there
and could monitor it.
It was mentioned that volunteers should NOT go up on rooftops unless they are signed up
as official FWC volunteers in order to get liability coverage. To get signed up as an official
FWC volunteer, please contact Jess Rodriguez (Jess.Rodriguez@MyFWC.com).
Joyce King- Santa Fe Audubon: LETE colony on roof at Keystone Heights Highschool with 17
adults and 5 chicks seen several times. Anna Deyle entered that data into the FSD after the
meeting.
 Flagler County Sites – Laura Ostapko
7 rooftops in Flagler County historically had LETE. Only 2 had activity this year and last year.
On one of these roofs there was a confrontation between crows and LETE and the LETE left
and never came back. The second roof is a privately owned home, 3 stories tall in Flagler
Beach. It had 15-20 LETE adults in May. Homeowner found 2 dead chicks that fell off roof.
July 11 birds were gone. Doesn’t know what happened. The next door neighbor puts chicks
back up on the roof.
There are a limited number of volunteers to check rooftops in this area.
Beach and peninsula side of N. Peninsula State Park and Gamble Rogers State Park into
Peninusla SP:
Not suitable nesting grounds for shorebirds. A lot of willets, 50-75 of them along 3.5 mi of
beach. After nesting season.
Would like to look at spoil islands on water side of N. Peninsula SP in Volusia County but
needs a boat.
 Law Enforcement Activities – SJ Natural Resource Deputies & FWC
Extreme improvement in the public’s respect, awareness, and acceptance of shorebird
nesting sites. Deputy only wrote 1 citation for pedestrian violation at Summer Haven this
year. 37 leash law violations spread out over the area, which is way down from previous
years. In 2008-2009 there were about 1,000 dog violations.
More communication between HCP deputies so don’t overlap patrols. Next year they will
send a record of all of their visits to Tara Dodson. The 4 HCP Natural Resource Deputies are:
Kevin Roberts, Jeremy Banks, Jeff Carroll and Bo (didn’t catch last name). St Johns County
manages and provides law enforcement for 41 miles of beach. Those LE go through marine
mammal stranding and HCP sea turtle training every year. They have regular hours, they are
not on duty 24/7. May get some patrol deputies who are not quite as well versed.
Jeff Carroll: Bird stewards should call St Johns Sheriff’s Office dispatch if there is a
confrontation with beach-goers or a conservation violation in a nesting area. Request an
HCP deputy if available.
Justin Koble: New FWC deputy for the St Augustine area. He justed started, was not on the
job yet for this year’s nesting season.
10:20 – Signs and Brochures – Anna
-New Critical Wildlife Area sign for Matanzas Inlet
-Color “Please Excuse our Mess” LETE rooftop nesting signs will be available at pre-season
meeting to hand out to business owners with birds nesting on their roofs.
-Share the Beach brochure, Shorebird Friendly Photographer brochure, and Be a Beach Hero
brochure – will have plenty at the pre-season meeting
-Brochures are all available on FSA website as pdfs:
(http://www.flshorebirdalliance.org/Wordpress-FSA/category/outreach-materials/)
10:30 – Rooftop Improvement Project Ideas - Anna
-
Check nesting rooftops to see if they have raised edges and covers over drains.
Can put up chick fencing around edges of roofs that don’t have raised edges and drain covers
over drain holes
FWC can pay for it, volunteers can help put it up but need to be covered – sign up as an FWC
volunteer to be covered by workers comp – see Jess Rodriguez (Jess.Rodriguez@MyFWC.com).
-
Might be some roofs that could use extra gravel added to them- have large patches of tar
showing through, etc.
1 inch of pea gravel is ideal for terns
FWC has not come up with a cost effective way to get gravel up onto rooftops, however
10:40 – BREAK
11:00 – Regional and Statewide Summaries 2011-2013 – Alex
-
Statewide 2011-2013:
big increase in monitoring statewide
important to monitor during all 6 count windows to get snap shot picture across the State and
for comparisons
if you haven’t seen any birds on a rooftop or route up to June you should still keep monitoring
because they might have failed at another location and move to your site to try re-nesting in
July or Aug
St. Johns County Surveys 2013
-10 of 17 St. Johns County routes surveyed at least once in 2013
-3 routes surveyed during all 6 count windows = “Gold Star” routes
-No nesting at GTMNERR, but still would be good to get 0’s entered for this stretch of beach (no
data entered for this area in 2013).
-19 WIPL sites, 8 with a status of Complete
-5 LETE ground colonies, 3 with records of flight-capable juveniles
-3 active LETE rooftops
-see Excel spreadsheet for more details of route and rooftop surveys
-see presentation on FSA website (http://www.flshorebirdalliance.org/WordpressFSA/category/shorebird-partnerships/st-johns-sp/)
11:45 – Wrap-up/Action Items: All
Huck Hudson with Audubon has been tasked with starting a band-resighting campaign with our
partnership with a focus on AMOY.
Sue Killeen suggested having a winter partnership meeting to address the repairs that are
needed on several of the nesting rooftops. She also wondered if we might be able to get access
to cherry-pickers to help us add gravel to rooftops.
Jason DePue has observed that ghost crab numbers go up when the other predators such as
raccoons get trapped out. He asked Alex Kropp if anyone in the State is doing any sort of ghost
crab control. Alex said that he didn’t think so.
Thank you for all of your hard work this year everyone!