Date: 1/08/2016
Survey
start: 12:06 pm
Survey End: 3:10 pm
Official low tide: 1:01 pm
Conditions: overcast and cool with scattered
sprinkles; 90% cloud cover; 72°
Water monitoring: pH 7.14
salinity 1.023 PPT
Bird Counts (LWC)
|
|||
Count
|
Behavior observed
|
Disturbance
|
|
Great Egret
|
8
|
F,R
|
0
|
Great Blue Heron
|
5
|
F,R
|
H
|
Little blue
Heron
|
1
|
F,R
|
H
|
White Ibis
|
1
|
F
|
0
|
*F=foraging
|
R= roosting/resting
|
FO = fly over
|
Bird Counts (Dubois Park)
|
|||
(Test Survey – new location)
|
Count
|
Behavior observed
|
Disturbance
|
Great Egret
|
1
|
F
|
0
|
Great Blue Heron
|
1
|
F
|
0
|
Little Blue
Heron
|
1
|
F
|
0
|
Snowy Egret
|
1
|
F
|
0
|
*F=foraging
|
R= roosting/resting
|
FO = fly over
|
Our official start to our wading bird study began on Friday!
Waders packed, and equipment ready we headed out to the John D. MacArthur State Park to start
our first survey of the Lake Worth Cove. Low tide was to officially begin at
1:01 pm, so we made sure to arrive one hour in advance. After setting up, we
realized that the tide was still pretty high, and there were few birds to be
seen. The group agreed that it might be best to arrive only 15 minutes prior to
the start of low tide. Could the higher tides be linked to El Nino? You can read
about that here.
With the tides on the higher side, not as many wading birds
come to forage. It will be interesting to see if Spring tides are lower and bring
higher birds counts. Our set up spot was ideal, and we took shelter under an
overhang on the boardwalk inside the John
D. MacArthur State Park. It was just starting to spit rain, when the team
observed an Anhinga bird scooping up a fish right in front of us, and held it
in its mouth before swallowing it whole! It truly was a National Geographic
moment, but unfortunately, our camera girl is still getting the hang of
focusing our super high tech camera, and she missed the money shot. Next time.
We roamed the boardwalk for a bit trying out different
spots. On occasion, a local or a tourist would stop to ask us what we were
doing. We gave a brief overview of how there is typically an increase in wading
birds who come to feed with the low tide and the presence of sandflats, and of
course the impact of climate change on
rising sea levels. (Gotta include a
school lesson before the real fun starts.)
And now on to the fun part! It was finally time to go inland
and start our wading. Our intern stayed on shore to test the water for salinity
and Ph and to keep a lookout in case we got stuck. We not so gracefully pulled
on our waders and off we went. Wading is hard work! As someone who had never
waded, I immediately felt winded. Mucking through the mud is tough, and we soon
realized that if we stood still for too long we were stuck. Like, seriously
stuck. The mud felt like quicksand sucking us deeper and deeper. It was a little
unsettling at first as we fought to maintain our balance (while shrieking), but
still tons of fun. Another thing we quickly realized is, that upon getting wet,
our waders would shrink and form a suction cup to our skin, and then as we
moved out of the water, the waders would immediately expand and loosen up. So
cool.
All in all, it was a productive day. After finishing our
wading stint, we scoped out other possible survey spots at Dubois Park. Within
the first few minutes, we had already seen a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron,
and Snowy Egret with yellow legs and webbed feet feeding on the rocks. Close to
him was a beautiful Little Blue Heron, also foraging for food. Jackpot!
Notes: After much discussion, the group decided that we will continue to survey the Lake Worth Cove for the remainder of the Spring and Summer semesters. Starting in the fall semester, a rotation will begin of three additional survey sites, one per month, we will do tests of the new survey sites over the summer.
Blog post by Leah Plocharczyk, Research Assistant
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