Nest notes

• Wood storks have been surveyed in Georgia since a colony was found on Wolf Island in 1969.
• Species federally listed as endangered when breeding populations in Southeast slid to 4,500-5,700 pairs in late 1970s, down from record 15,000-20,000 pairs in 1930s.
• Original decline blamed largely on habitat loss and alteration due to ditch building in south Florida.
• Regionally, populations must reach recovery goal – three-year average of 6,000 pairs and 1.5 chicks per nest – to down-list species to threatened.
• Estimated 1,676 nests in 2009 mirrored wide fluctuation in Georgia nesting populations, due in part to water levels at nesting and feeding sites and quality of nesting sites in Florida.

Georgia SWAP: Part  IV
Ancient reptile’s plight
profiles conservation needs
by Linda May
   With fossil records dating back 40 million years, this scaly-skinned, hard-shelled reptile reaches about 4 feet long and weighs up to 350 pounds. Mostly carnivorous, it has a big head with powerful jaws that crush and devour prey like crabs, mollusks, shrimp, sea urchins, fish and jellyfish. Although primarily an ocean dweller, this creature breathes with lungs and lays eggs on land. Revered in many cultures as a symbol of longevity, it lives up to 70 years. With as many as 100 types of animals and plants living on its body, it is a mobile ecosystem unto itself.
   What animal is this? The loggerhead sea turtle, scientifically known as Caretta caretta.
   Despite thriving since prehistoric times and ranging in oceans across the globe, populations of loggerhead sea turtles started dwindling about 200 years ago, with sharper declines in more recent years. Loggerheads are federally listed as threatened and state-listed as endangered. A pending proposal from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would reclassify the federal status to endangered for Atlantic and Pacific populations of loggerheads. Georgia’s four other sea turtle species – green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley and leatherback – are all state and federally protected, too.
   In an effort to restore populations and prevent extinction, the State Wildlife Action Plan, or SWAP, considers Georgia’s sea turtles and their habitats high priorities. The plan has management recommendations based on the species’ needs at every stage of life. Where natural history information is lacking, field studies are suggested to better understand what sea turtle populations need to survive.
   Researchers already know that threats to the turtles abound, from nesting to adulthood.
   But to glimpse the challenges sea turtles and wildlife managers face, let's follow the life of Georgia’s primary sea turtle species – the loggerhead ... Continue reading.

How you can help

• Support sea turtle conservation through the Nongame Conservation Section.
• Learn more about sea turtles via the Georgia Sea Turtle Center or other Georgia facilities such as Tybee Island Marine Science Center and 4-H Tidelands Nature Center.
• Minimize beachfront lighting during nesting season so as to not deter turtles from coming ashore. How-to tips.
• Properly dispose of garbage and refrain from helium balloon releases. Turtles may die from intestinal blockage when they mistake and eat plastic bags, Styrofoam and other trash floating in the water.
• Remove recreational equipment such as chairs, cabanas and umbrellas from the beach at night. They can interfere with nesting attempts and hatchlings' scramble for the ocean.
• Leave tracks left by nesting turtles undisturbed. Researchers use the tracks to identify the species and find and mark nests for protection.
• Protect beach vegetation, which stabilizes sand and the natural coastline.
• When boating, stay alert to avoid turtles. Also stay in channels, and avoid seagrass beds to protect this important habitat.

See a sea turtle on the beach?

• Do not disturb it.
• Once the turtle has begun nesting, observe only from a distance.
• Do not shine lights in a turtles’ eyes or take flash photography.
• If you find a hurt, sick or dead sea turtle, call 1-800-2-SAVE-ME (272-8363). What you’ll need to know.

This article is the fourth in a Georgia Wild SWAP series. Read parts 1 (Plan at a glance), II (Toccoa River focus) and III (Restoring montane longleaf). Next month: The next 10 years.

Linda May is the environmental outreach coordinator with the Nongame Conservation Section. Comments?


All about bats
WNS caution: Disinfect gear, limit caving
    To minimize risks from the epidemic white-nose syndrome, the Wildlife Resources Division is urging cavers to reduce trips to Georgia caves and follow federal guidelines for disinfecting clothes and gear. The division considered some cave closures – about 15 percent of Georgia's caves and mines are on state-managed lands, mostly on Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Walker County – but chose voluntary limits after weighing research, the resource and public interests. Wildlife Resources will work with caving groups to emphasize fewer trips and strict adherence to decontamination protocols, and to help monitor and evaluate caves on state lands. Details. Also: DNR white-nose response plan.

Acoustic work monitors bats on the fly
    Bat conservation interns Beth Oxford and Brannon Knight are hard at work this summer setting up acoustic monitoring transects for bats across the state. The Nongame Conservation Section is following a nationwide survey protocol developed to help bat researchers across the country collect bat call data. “Europeans have used acoustic transects to monitor bats for years,” wildlife biologist Trina Morris said. “Similar protocols have been used for monitoring birds and frogs in the U.S., but this is the first effort of its kind for bats.” Learn more.

Don't forget the Bat Blitz
Set for July 25-29 at Fort Mountain State Park near Chatsworth. Family night starts at 6:30 p.m. July 25.


Out my backdoor
Treasures in the yard
By Terry W. Johnson
    My backyard is far from the largest, best trimmed or, in the eyes of many, most beautiful. However, I would not trade it for any other. It is a place where treasure has been found.
   Although I am not talking about jewels or gold coins, the discoveries made in my yard are priceless. They make up a treasure trove of family experiences with the plants and animals that live just outside my backdoor. My wife and I have never used a treasure map to guide my daughter and granddaughter on backyard journeys of discovery. More often, some of our best finds have been made serendipitously.
   When the girls were  younger, we were their guides, teaching them to use their senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch. However, it didn’t take them long to begin making their own finds. Now, the distinction between guide and guided is often blurred.
   For example, last summer our then 8-year-old granddaughter noticed the light-brown nymphal skin shed by an adult cicada attached to a pillar beneath my home office. Immediately, she wanted to know what it was. I explained about the insects whose buzzing mating calls are one of the sounds of summer. My wife suggested she might find others. We soon noticed our granddaughter looking for the fragile casings on tree trunks. In a short time, she had dozens.
   That evening, my wife found that she had neatly lined up her discoveries on a shelf in her bedroom. What might have been valueless to most are treasures to her.
   The cicada is just the most recent in a long list of animals the girls have encountered on backyard forays. Years ago, my wife introduced our daughter to the ant lion, or doodle bug. She pointed out how these strange creatures excavate sandy funnels and wait at the bottom for a hapless ant or other small insect to venture into its deadly trap. She demonstrated how you can coax the doodle bug from hiding by gently stroking the sides of the funnel with a blade of grass while repeating, “Doodle bug, doodle bug, come out, your house is on fire.”
   Over the years the girls have helped me build and paint countless nest boxes. They are excited when bluebirds, nuthatches or chickadees use one, and always enjoy peeking inside for glimpses of fragile eggs and fuzzy nestlings. They like helping me restock our bird feeders and watching the parade of birds that dine at my wildlife smorgasbord. They also seem to take delight at my often futile attempts to stop gray squirrels from eating more than their share.
   The wild and cultivated plants in our yard have always fascinated the girls. They enjoy looking for the first crocus poking out of the ground in the spring, admiring the beauty of a dogwood blossom, sucking nectar from a honeysuckle bloom and collecting fall leaves in a kaleidoscope of colors.
   Our adventures don’t stop when the sun goes down. Even on cold winter nights we venture out to view the constellations, comets and falling stars. In the spring we sit outside listening for the calls of whip-poor-wills and chuck-will’s widows. In summer, we all enjoy watching fire flies blinking as they slowly navigate across the yard.
   These are only a smattering of priceless treasures my family has found in our backyard. Summer is a great time to strike out on your own journey with your able-bodied crew of children and grandchildren. You will be amazed how the discovery of something as small as a lady bug can stimulate their curiosity for the natural world.
   If all goes well, and I know it will, they will soon be asking you when they can go again. It is then that you will realize you are having as much fun as they are. And as you heighten their sense of wonder and appreciation for plants and animals with which they share the world, you are giving them a treasure beyond compare.
   For more memories, from a fig-juice sipping hummingbird to blacklight moths, read Terry's full column.

Terry Johnson is a former Nongame program manager with the Wildlife Resources Division, a backyard wildlife expert, and executive director of TERN. His column is a regular Georgia Wild feature.



Survey shows surge
in Wilson’s plover pairs
   With more than 350 nesting pairs, Wilson’s plovers in Georgia are doing much better than 10 years ago, when the last census was taken.
    There are three times as many birds now, mostly due to improved habitat, said Nongame Conservation Section wildlife biologist Tim Keyes, who led the effort. Of the 19 barrier islands surveyed, Cumberland led with 106 nesting pairs, followed by St. Catherines and Ossabaw with 49 and 44 pairs, respectively.
   “The high numbers of Wilson’s plover this year, coupled with observing many chicks at a number of locations, was an exciting find,” Keyes said.
   “Beach nesting birds face so many challenges, from storms and high tides to avian and terrestrial predators and human and canine disturbances, it often seems remarkable that they ever successfully fledge young.”
   Wilson’s plover is a medium-sized shorebird once numerous on south Atlantic and Gulf Coast beaches. Following declines, the species is state-listed in Georgia as rare and considered a high priority in the State Wildlife Action Plan.
   In addition to counting nesting pairs this May and June, staff placed signs in areas of high nesting concentrations to warn beach-goers of the plovers’ presence.
   Keyes thanked all who helped. “This survey would not have been possible without the full cooperation and at times participation of people working on all of Georgia’s barrier islands, and we are very grateful to them for their assistance.”
   His goal is to repeat the survey every five years, depending on manpower. This year’s census follows estimates of about 100 nesting pairs in the early 2000s, 360 in 1980 and 200-250 in 1986-1987.

Noteworthy
   A bumper bog turtle season is in the books, thanks to wetter weather, habitat improvements, and increased trapping and monitoring of the federally endangered turtles. Researchers and summer interns captured and released 40 percent of the state’s 67 known bog turtles plus seven “new” turtles, one from a never-sampled wetland in Union County. (Another "new:" DNR's latest bog turtle video!)
   DNR’s “Landowner's Guide to Conservation Incentives” has been updated and re-printed with a grant from The Environmental Resources Network, the Nongame Conservation Section’s friends group. Copies of the free booklet, which summarizes financial incentives, technical help and conservation options available to Georgia landowners, are available by mail or online.
    Transmitter-equipped whimbrels are revealing the birds' amazing migrations, and underscoring the importance of spring staging sites in mid- and southeastern Atlantic states. Maps at www.wildlifetracking.org track whimbrels Ann and Chinquapin fitted with satellite transmitters in Georgia, plus other birds such as Winnie, which covered 3,106 miles from Virginia to Alaska in 146 hours.
   The annual summer butterfly count at Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge and Rum Creek Wildlife Management Area near Forsyth logged 61 species. The June 21 results marked a record for the area and all Georgia’s "July Fourth counts" for the North American Butterfly Association.
   The Coosa River in Alabama is No. 10 among American Rivers’ 10 Most Endangered Rivers. The river conservation group cited the Coosa’s biological diversity, loss of habitat and species because of hydropower dams, and potential to improve habitat through federal relicensing of the dams.
     Five more Southeastern fishes are proposed for federal endangered status: the Cumberland darter found in Kentucky and Tennessee, the rush darter in Alabama, the yellowcheek darter in Arkansas, and the chucky madtom and laurel dace in Tennessee. Primary threats include habitat and range loss, small population sizes, and vulnerability to catastrophic events such as toxic spills.
    Nongame Conservation Section Assistant Chief Jon Ambrose has been named one of 36 fellows in the 2010-2011 National Conservation Leadership Institute. The five-year-old institute coordinated by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is described as a “war college” for world-class conservation leaders.
   Georgia landowners can take advantage of an estimated $150,000 in federal incentives to improve habitat for birds migrating south toward the Gulf of Mexico. The initiative, sparked by the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill and announced by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, includes more than 40 Georgia counties and is projected to develop or enhance 100,000-150,000 acres across eight Southern states.
   As the spill spreads, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering management options varying from limiting hunting on some wildlife refuges used by wintering waterfowl to assessing possible long-term impacts on migratory birds. Within weeks, millions of birds will begin fall migrations that feature wintering and stopover sites along the Gulf Coast.
   Cornell Lab of Ornithology says its NestWatch project may help in discovering whether birds passing through or wintering in the Gulf region suffer declines in reproduction. Project leaders point to a possible “oil shadow” of toxins in one region having effects that show up in another.
   Emanuel County commissioners recently approved moves to enroll the county in the National Flood Insurance Program. A $150,000 grant for improvements at Ohoopee Dunes Natural Area hinged on the decision, because federal money cannot be spent in special flood hazard areas if a county is not enrolled.
   The Northwest Georgia Land Protection Fund started by the Open Space Institute in 2007 has disbursed $1.7 million in grants and $408,000 in loans to land trusts and state agencies to protect 5,300 acres. Targeted projects were identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan, according to the institute's report "Protecting the Best: Wildlife Habitat Conservation in Northwest Georgia" (pdf).
   Got an opinion on listing big constrictor snakes as “injurious wildlife” under the Lacey Act? The Fish and Wildlife Service has extended the comment period on the proposed federal rule until Aug. 2, saying it wants the best data before deciding whether to ban the import and interstate transport of the non-native snakes without a permit.
   Birmingham, Ala., faces a nearly $3 million civil penalty from the feds for killing 11,760 endangered watercress darters. The 2008 fish kill, one of the largest in Endangered Species Act history, happened when a maintenance crew removed a beaver dam, draining a spring pool that held the largest known population of the species. The state has a $1 million claim against the city.  
   In other nongame enforcement news, two Florida women have been charged with third-degree felonies for knowingly disturbing a sea turtle nest on private property. In Vermont, a man could be fined more than $2,000 for shooting federally protected songbirds – most of them cedar waxwings – he says were eating his strawberries.

Parting shot: Pelican airlift


More than 140 brown pelicans rehabilitated from oil exposure in the Gulf of Mexico have been given a fresh start on Georgia’s coast. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with help from U.S. Coast Guard and Nongame Conservation Section staff, recently released the birds in Brunswick. Some of the Louisiana transplants were spotted earlier this month off Florida's Atlantic Coast looking “healthy and active,” according to observers.

• Slideshow and video
• Pelicans are not the only wildlife being moved.