Photo: Jean Hall
Collette Lauzau, Audubon Florida Shorebird Biologist, checks over her bright orange and yellow kayak one more time before slipping into the seat and nosing out of the Lanark Village Harbor. Smack in the middle of the Forgotten Coast, she sets her sights on a barrier island about a half-mile from shore and one of the most important bird breeding sites in the region: Lanark Reef Critical Wildlife Area.
Calmer waters prevail in the summer months, and the flats sit beneath a layer of shallow water. Lauzau spies young stingrays and small sharks as she paddles, keeping her eyes out for green sea turtles amidst the waving seagrasses. Once a week, she makes the 20-minute journey to the island, spending half a day counting sea and shorebirds.
“The most abundant bird nesting here is the Laughing Gull, but there are also hundreds of nesting Brown Pelicans,” Lauzau explains, “American Oystercatchers and Willets use the area, as do wading birds like Great Egrets and Tricolored Herons. My personal favorites are the Black Skimmers and the Gull-billed Terns. The Gull-billed Terns have so much attitude - they always make me laugh!”
Almost ten years before, panicked locals watched the same horizon line, shielding their eyes from the April sunshine and imagining the raft of oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster headed their way. With so much gushing from the underground leak, the brown slick had already covered the Louisiana coastline, and was now making slow but steady progress towards Florida.
How, and when, it would arrive remained anyone’s guess.
As crews worked frantically to plug the spill and contain the spewing oil, specialized ships skimmed as much as possible from the surface. This oil remained usable, a commodity that BP sold back to the market. The company devoted all the proceeds from these recovered oil sales to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as the Recovered Oil Fund for Wildlife, jumpstarting the wildlife recovery work that has continued for a decade.
In early 2011, Audubon received a call from the fund’s administrators. Birds had already been devastated by the oil spill. While some lucky birds recovered from oil-drenched feathers, others faced disturbance on the nesting beaches that remained, and scores of additional birds struggled to find sustenance in the wake of the disaster that effectively sealed their food supply in gunk. The grants from the Recovered Oil Fund for Wildlife were available now to start mitigating the blows to wildlife. Audubon Florida’s Executive Director Julie Wraithmell, then the Director of Wildlife Conservation, had just the project.
Lanark Reef stretches for six miles along the Gulf coast, partially submerged and partially made up of barrier islands and sand bars. Because the State of Florida conveyed the islands into private ownership in the 1950s, the precious 3-acre upland beach nesting habitat remained vulnerable to development. In fact, one such owner was determined to develop the last parcel on the island into condos — all but guaranteeing elimination of sea and shorebirds nesting there.
With a grant from the Recovered Oil Fund for Wildlife, Audubon stepped in, purchasing the three acres of upland for $50,000 in 2012 and assigning staff and volunteers to monitor the species that used the island. Together with the adjacent Dog Island, Audubon gained a Globally Important Bird Area (IBA) designation.
The Lanark Reef-Dog Island IBA is now one of the most important wintering shorebird areas in Florida, especially for Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, and mixed flocks of migratory shorebirds. Lanark Reef was ranked as the biologically most important site in Florida for winter shorebirds. Lanark Reef also supports breeding Brown Pelicans, wading birds, American Oystercatchers, and seabirds. In the early 1990s, a banding station at Jeff Lewis Wilderness Preserve on Dog Island recorded large numbers of neotropical migrants, including over 6,000 Gray Catbirds in a single day. The bird list for Dog Island is 274 native and three exotic species.
Additionally, Audubon partnered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to designate Lanark Reef as a Critical Wildlife Area, preventing landings by all boats except those expressly permitted by the FWC. Though the birds of Lanark Reef could still face impacts from the oil spill if they traveled throughout the wider Gulf of Mexico, at least these nesting grounds would remain protected.
When Lauzau and her team visit the island to continue monitoring the sea and shorebird nesting efforts, they add their data to counts across the state of Florida and across the Gulf of Mexico. Working together, Audubon staff and state and federal researchers can monitor shifting population centers while protecting the areas these birds need to breed.
“The disaster was just that — a disaster, for birds and for people,” explains Julie Wraithmell, Audubon Florida Executive Director.
“No one benefits from a disaster that affects an entire ecosystem like this. The opportunity we have now to make the Gulf a better place came at a dear cost — the lives of the 11 people who died in the explosion, as well as the wildlife and habitats that were affected. We owe it to everyone who was affected to make sure the Gulf is restored properly and this never happens again.”
Photo: Jesse Gordon
Continued Monitoring Across Florida
It’s a hot and steamy morning in the Florida Panhandle, more than 200 miles west of Lanark Reef. Cars whiz by Audubon Anchor Steward Moira Conley as she stands at the edge of the Navarre Bridge, the only major thoroughfare connecting this barrier island with the mainland for miles in either direction.
From her vantage point, she can easily see the waves of the Santa Rosa Sound crashing against the concrete barriers of the causeway, and just about make out the undulating dunes that border the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Even at the early hour, the summer traffic is intense, both visitors and locals alike heading towards the beach. On this particular bridge, the din and breezes created by the traffic mix with another, uniquely Florida sound: the calls of a seabird colony.
Beach-nesting birds face risky odds each season as they scoop out shallow nests in the sand with little to no cover or protection from predators. Coming together in large, multi-species colonies affords seabirds with protection in numbers. The colonies are chaperoned by Audubon bird stewards who are funded by grants originating in the Deepwater Horizon settlement and aided by the Audubon Florida coastal team, volunteers, as well as sea and shorebird partners across the state.
For centuries, birds have spread out across our sparsely populated beaches and dunes, but today they compete for space with development and beachgoers, while facing ongoing threats from native predators as well as feral cats, intense storms, and red tide. In an effort to aid the beach nesters, Audubon Florida’s 24-person coastal team uses grants flowing from the Deepwater Horizon settlement to protect, survey, and manage 166 beach and tree-nesting sites and 139 rooftop-nesting sites. In 2019, more than 760 volunteers generously invested over 8,000 hours in bird stewardship and public outreach to protect vulnerable colonies and to clean up beach trash and hurricane debris.
Conley takes out her data form as she adjusts her steaming sunglasses. A seasonal bird steward, Conley was in her second summer with Audubon and the Navarre colonies, which are focused on the bridge but include pockets of nesting on the barrier island and the nearby border of Gulf Islands National Seashore. At first glance, the bridge appears to be a terrible place for vulnerable chicks, barely the size of ping-pong balls as they hatch out of eggs perfectly camouflaged in the sand.
The sides of the bridge slope gently to the seawalls below, and Audubon has erected a small fence to keep wandering chicks off the road. Still, adults facing strong winds can be buffeted straight into oncoming traffic when they take flight, and more than a few are killed each year through accidental collisions. Tufts of grass here and there provide the only relief from the hot sun, other than the shade from the concrete barriers, themselves.
And yet, the thriving colony demonstrates that the site has distinct advantages that draw Black Skimmers and Least Terns here year after year.
Because of the heavy traffic, few people actually walk on the edges of the bridge, which reduces the chances of them wandering into the colony and accidentally stepping on the eggs. Moreover, predators — including cats, coyotes, raccoons, and crabs — don’t make the journey across the highway, leaving the young chicks less vulnerable. Finally, because some of the colonies lie along Santa Rosa Sound instead of the along the Gulf, they face fewer risks from storm surges and damaging offshore winds.
In 2019, Black Skimmers here fledged 52 chicks. With long, orange bills attached to black and white bodies, it’s nearly impossible to mistake this seabird for any other species. Mixed in, Least Terns — which fledged at least 10 chicks that year — appear like tiny gulls, delicate and graceful with black caps and bright yellow bills. Skimmer chicks learn from their parents how to feed in the shallow waves.
It was just before the July Fourth weekend, the biggest holiday of the year on Florida beaches. Though the official fireworks in this area are shot offshore, people bring their illegal, personal fireworks much closer.
The constant noise and explosions cause the adult birds to spook from their nests again, and again, and again, expending valuable energy while leaving chicks and young birds alone and frightened. Conley — along with 35 other volunteers — patrolled the edge of the colony until night (and quiet) finally settled on the bridge, shepherding the chicks back into the colony and watching for people who approached too closely. The Navarre Beach colony lost no birds to fireworks last year.
After Conley counts all the chicks and adults, noting the weather and general traffic conditions, she stops to talk to a jogger. While her work protecting the birds is critical, her outreach to those who ask questions is equally important.
People have long felt an affinity for our avian friends, yearning for their freedom in the skies. Each person Conley speaks with about the importance of the colony — and what they can do to help — is one more advocate for these vulnerable birds. Many are inspired to become bird stewards here or elsewhere.
With funding from the BP oil spill penalties, better protection during busy summer beach seasons, like that created by Conley and her fellow stewards, bolsters the very sea and shorebird populations devastated by the oil spill.
Protection Works: New Nesting Sites on Florida’s Coast
Audubon’s coastal team showcases that the protective efforts put forth on Lanark Reef and the Navarre bridge allow existing colonies to thrive. But additional conservation initiatives can create new nesting sites as well.
Northeast Florida is far from the epicenter of the Deepwater Horizon disaster but clearly still affected by the dispersing oil, as confirmed by a 2020 study reported in the Washington Post. Past protections and new monitoring in 2019 meant a successful summer breeding season for the first time in recent memory at Little Talbot Island. In addition to Black Skimmers and Least Terns, Northeast Florida provides nesting habitat for American Oystercatchers, Gull-billed Terns, Wilson’s Plovers, and Snowy Plovers.
The sand-strewn beach along Little Talbot Island is one of the few places remaining on Florida’s Atlantic coast with no buildings and few roads in sight. Located just south of Amelia Island where Nassau County and Duval County meet, the emergent sands within Nassau Sound have long provided the perfect topography for beach-nesting birds, with direct access to fish and no trees to harbor predators. In the summer of 2019, Little Talbot Island experienced one of the most successful nesting seasons in recent memory.
Unfortunately, nesting success here has been stymied in recent years because the same gorgeous beaches that attract the birds also attract people. Despite its remoteness and previous attempts to provide a nesting-area buffer, the northern end of Little Talbot Island has been a favorite recreational spot for thousands of beachgoers and boaters each year, especially when waters are warm and beach-nesting birds are trying to raise their young.
Thanks to the dedication of the Timucuan Shorebird Partnership, which includes staff and volunteers from Audubon Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Park Service, and the City of Jacksonville, beach-bird nesting failure at Little Talbot Island may not be an annual disappointment.
“The nesting success on Little Talbot Island this year was the result of many years of effort,” explains Chris Farrell, Audubon’s Northeast Florida Policy Associate.
Decades ago, thousands of birds used the emergent islands in Nassau Sound, but human disturbance has reduced their nesting habitat. With fewer areas capable of supporting imperiled beach-nesting birds, protection of the remaining nesting sites became paramount. Recognizing the need for additional management tools, Audubon collaborated with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to both renew and enlarge the Critical Wildlife Area designation for beach-nesting bird habitat in Nassau Sound.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Critical Wildlife Area (CWA) program is one way the state provides extra protection for concentrations of wildlife where there is the greatest exposure to human disturbance. CWAs are discrete sites, such as mangrove islands or sandbars, where species gather daily or seasonally for essential activities, such as breeding, feeding, or resting.
In 2015, Audubon started to work closely with FWC and other stakeholders to reestablish this protection for Little Talbot Island. Audubon’s Chris Farrell, FWC staff, and long-time advocate Pat Leary presented information on the importance of the sound for nesting birds during FWC’s local stakeholder meetings.
On November 16, 2016, they got good news: the old “Bird Islands” CWA was redesignated as the “Nassau Sound Islands” CWA in the vote that created 13 new CWAs in the state and improved five existing ones. The most critical aspect of the re-designation was the inclusion of the northern tip of Little Talbot Island.
Little Talbot is ideal habitat for beach-nesting birds and has long been the site of nesting attempts by Least Terns and American Oystercatchers. These attempts yielded few fledged chicks, if any. Park staffmarked off the nesting habitat each year, but they could never post an area large enough to prevent disturbance to the birds for fear of losing signs to the dynamic tides of the region.
Fortunately, the new CWA designation brought additional resources and focus to this nesting site. The most impactful change was the addition of seven large “No Landing” signs installed around the breeding area to let boaters know they could not disembark near the nesting birds.
Additionally, Audubon Florida and FWC have hired seasonal staff to steward this remote nesting site, where it can be difficult to recruit help from volunteers. FWC also produced informational postcards explaining the closure of the nesting area with details on its location and a map. Park rangers hand out cards at the station, as do stewards when speaking with visitors on-site.
Continued efforts, including meeting with local outfitters, installing signs at boat ramps, and outreach programs, are helping to improve compliance with the CWA closure. Audubon Anchor Stewards and CWA biologists have been critical in this regard, handling more than 150 boat landings and speaking with over 500 people at the nesting site in 2019 alone.
The cumulative result of these partnership efforts has been a significant increase in nesting success by several species. Least Terns, which managed to fledge a few chicks from the site last year, made more than 100 nests in 2019 with dozens of chicks fledging.
The big surprise in 2019? The return of sizable numbers of nesting Black Skimmers and Gull-billed Terns. Skimmers made a whopping 30 nests, and at least 25 chicks survived. Gull-billed Terns had more than 20 nests and many successful ospring. Four pairs of American Oystercatchers also produced young, with Wilson’s Plovers rounding out the list of successful nesters at this site, bringing the total number of species to five.
Farrell notes, “The positive response from multiple species is a testament to how improved management can benefit our beach-nesting birds. Hard work from our partners at Little Talbot Island State Park and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission made 2019 a successful nesting season at the Nassau Sound Islands CWA and should inspire others to replicate their success.”
This example serves as a model for how partners can work together to make positive strides after an environmental crisis like an oil spill. Nesting success in 2019 and in future seasons will create a population buffer for the inevitable stresses of climate change and potential future oil spills.
As we progress into the 21st century, sea level rise threatens to swamp the narrow strip of beach and dune habitat that birds need to survive. Oil spills that coat the shoreline not only impede nesting, but also can poison adult birds and coat their feathers with toxic crude. By investing in conservation and bird stewardship now, Audubon works to create a more secure future for some of Florida’s most iconic species.