Field Note #9: numbers on an upswing.

Date of Survey: 022616

Official Low Tide: 4:36pm            Survey start time: 3:36pm  Survey end time: 5:00pm

Tide heights: -.02 feet/ -6 cm

Mudflats exposed? Y

Temperature:  70° F / 21° c

Cloud cover: 20%

Common Name	Counts of birds foraging on mud flats	Behavior Forage-F Rest/roost-R Fly over -FO	Disturbance (Flushing-F, displaced-D, agitated-A)	Feeding location *Primary flat (P)   Mangrove flat (M)
Great egret	1	FO		M
Snowy egret	2	F		M
Great blue heron	5	F,R,FO		P-1, M-4
Little blue heron	1	F		M
Roseate spoonbill	2	F		M
white ibis	8	F		P, M
Total	19

Notes:  2 kayakers today, but no disturbance was recorded during the survey time. Slightly higher count today than previous surveys. NO action on the main mudflat inside the Lake Worth Cove Park boundary. Minimal action on the main intracoastal mudflat. As per usual, the majority of activity is with the exposed flats associated with the mangrove lines and tree islands. The main flats remain parking lots for resting seagulls. This is not a bad thing, at least someone is utilizing the intertidal water flow. The ducks from last week were here again.

Side notes: Maybe someone should attempt an overall species survey at some point. It would be difficult—due to the size of the estuary. Recounts would be hard to avoid without large numbers of surveyors. The intern suggested we strap a camera onto his drone so we can survey the entire site. Good idea, but we would have to get a new permit—investigate how much disturbance that would cause to the birds. Also I do believe The Friends of John D. MacArthur Park have citizen bird watchers that take all animal counts on any given day.

Here are some white ibis. We did take photos, but left the camera at home, so this is a Wikipedia photo. By Hans Stieglitz - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11059636