Official Low Tide:
10:08 am
Survey start time:
9:00 am
Survey end time: 11:10
am
Tide heights: .02
feet/ 6cm
Mudflats exposed?
Y but not until 9:22am
Temperature: 75°F/ 23°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
|
3
|
F-1, FO-2
|
D-h-2
|
M
|
Snowy egret
|
3
|
F
|
D-h-1; F-h-1
|
M
|
Great blue heron
|
6
|
FO, R
|
D-h-1
|
M
|
Little blue heron
|
3
|
F
|
M
|
|
white ibis
|
6
|
R, F
|
F-h-3
|
M
|
Total
|
21
|
Notes: The tides were a bit higher and the mudflats
were not starting to be exposed until 30 minutes before official low tide. Then
they were smaller than usual. The Mangrove flat areas were very small.
There were tons of people. 2 paddle boarders that insisted
on paddling right at the mangrove edge so all of the birds retreated into the mangroves.
We observed one snowy egret Displaced by them. The white Ibis flushed but
returned to forage in the same location. The one person made four trips in the
area and managed to keep many birds from foraging.
We counted a whopping 18, yes I said EIGHTEEN kayakers.
They paddled close to flats and of course stopped on the flats. The numbers of
people varied but there was a consistent flow of human disturbance. Don’t
people work on Friday’s anymore?
Side notes: We
expanded the survey from three fixed point areas to five. The new points give
another vantage point of the exposed flats, but also offer observation of more secluded
flat areas to compare if birds are using those more than the open areas.
SUPER BONUS! Two
manatee were observed in the area, as well as two bottlenose dolphin in the
outer areas of the study area. This made me nostalgic for the Dolphin Research
I was participating in with Taras Oceanographic Foundation. They do great work. Learn more by visiting
the link to their website. Support local scientists.
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