Island Sanctuary Aims To Protect Vulnerable Shorebirds

A bird sanctuary in the Honeymoon Island State Park system is full of baby birds.

It's a sign of great success, but beware, one dog or beachcomber wandering around is enough to flush out adult shorebirds and leave nestlings unprotected, says Dan Larremore, the environmental specialist at Honeymoon Island State Park.

"We have gotten past the most critical part of the season for the colony, but still have many vulnerable chicks on the ground," Larremore said.

He cautions people to be especially observant at Three Rooker Bar, home of a designated bird sanctuary near Tarpon Springs. It is within the Honeymoon and Caladesi Island State Park system and is home to several threatened species, who need a little privacy to survive. Larremore stresses that dogs, camping and fireworks are prohibited on the island. 

The barrier island's threatened species — the Least tern, Black skimmer, American oystercatcher, Reddish egret, Wilson's plover and Snowy plover — have had a "decent" year. Less threatened species — the Royal tern, Sandwich tern and White ibis — have had "remarkable" success this year, Larremore explained.

Except for Tropical Storm Andrea, which took out half of the Least tern chicks and a portion of the Black skimmers, Mother Nature has been working to the shorebirds advantage this nesting season, which runs May 1 to Aug. 1.

Andrea was not nearly as devastating as Tropical Storm Debby last year, Larremore said. And even so, Andrea did not hit during the shorebirds' critical incubation period.

All the thousands of nesting birds on the island's two and a half miles of white sand beach combined are experiencing the most reproductive success in the past seven years, Larremore said in an email to Patch.

Nesting Numbers at Three Rooker Bar:

• Least tern fledges: more than 100
• White ibis fledges: more than 400
• Laughing gull chicks: more than 1,000
• Royal tern chicks: more than 100
• Sandwich tern chicks: more than 100
• Black skimmer nests: more than 300
• American oystercatcher chicks: 3
• Snowy plover chicks: more than 3
• Wilson's plover chicks: more than 3