No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 North Fork Audubon Society Final Report, 2021 Season Beach-Dependent Species Management Program NYS DEC Designated Monitoring Sites Town of Southold Submitted December 30, 2021 Staffing for 2021 Season: Approximately 1200 staff and volunteer hours were dedicated to this program in 2021. Educational Outreach for 2021 Season: Educational outreach at local schools was limited in the 2021 season due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, outreach was conducted to young people participating in North Fork Audubon’s educational programs, including Spring Nature Camp, Summer Nature Camp, Nature School, and the Young Birder’s Club. Also, North Fork Audubon Society regularly conducted on a one-on-one basis with beach visitors, particularly dog walkers. For the 2022 season, subject to COVID-19 restrictions, we plan to conduct shorebird-related programs in Greenport at the High School and Elementary levels, with bilingual presenters and bilingual written materials for the 60% Spanish-speaking student population. Abbreviations: LETE - Least Terns PIPL - Piping Plovers Note: All “Inactive” DEC Nesting Sites remained inactive or unproductive, however, a few of these sites have potential to provide adequate habitat for PIPL, and possibly LETE. Breakwater Beach, Mattituck Park District: • PIPL - 5 pairs, 9 fledglings (1.8 fledge rate) • LETE - approximately 20 pairs and approximately 10 fledglings (1.0 fledge rate) • Mostly human disturbances at this site from dog walking, fishermen entering fenced areas, and ATV’s. LETE population greatly affected by storm surges and heavy fishermen presence. 1 Bailie Beach, Mattituck Park District: • PIPL - 2 pairs, 4 fledglings (2.0 fledge rate) • Some human disturbances from fishermen to dog walking. The above two sites are known as “Mattituck Inlet” by DEC. Recommendations: 1) Breakwater Beach needs to reduce the foot traffic and symbolic fencing intrusions by fishermen along the jetty. 1 2) Improve dog walking restrictions - guidance to other beaches at both sites. Continue B.A.R.K. Ranger Program at both locations. 3) Reduce ATV traffic at Breakwater 4) Breakwater Beach site should have volunteers posted on weekends with informational brochures, displays, and spotting scope for outreach, education, and volunteer recruitment, involving the Young Birders Club. 5) Work with property owners to fence beachfront property. 6) Coordinate with Police if ATV use is needed. 7) Work with Mattituck Park District to improve shorebird nesting habitat and protection. Goldsmiths Inlet Beach, Peconic, Town of Southold: • PIPL - 1 pair, 1 fledgling (1.0 fledge rate) • Mostly human disturbances at this site from off-leash dog walking, fishermen entering fenced areas, ATV’s. The above site is known by DEC as “Goldsmith Inlet Private.” Recommendations: 1) Improve fencing and signage as 3 strings and additional signage were needed as the season continued. 2) Coordinate with Police if ATV use is needed. 3) Outreach required at this site since human/dog disturbance noted. 4) Work with property owners to fence beachfront property. 5) Continue B.A.R.K Ranger Program. Indian Neck Beach, Peconic, private: • PIPL - 1 pair, 2 fledglings (2.0 fledge rate) • LETE - site abandonment due to human disturbance • Some human disturbances from off-leash dog walking, but mostly a human walking repeatedly through symbolic fencing causing LETE to abandon the site (despite 3-4 rows of string for symbolic fencing and adequate signage). 1 B.A.R.K. stands for - Bag your pet’s waste - Always leash your pet - Respect wildlife - Know where you can go We take it one step further and get dog walkers who walk their dogs on beaches (on leash) every day to act as eyes and ears to look for signs of plovers, observe and report findings, talk to other dog walkers, etc. 2 The above site known by DEC as “Richmond Creek” and includes Indian Neck Beach and South Harbor Road Beach. Recommendations: 1) Work with property owners at South Harbor Beach to fence beachfront properties, including the beach association. 2) Continue B.A.R.K. Ranger Program at both locations. 3) Observe Indian Neck plovers from South Harbor Beach via spotting scope and occasional volunteer outreach station. 4) Install trail camera to possibly document potential predators at this site. Nassau Point Causeway Beach, Cutchogue, Town of Southold: • PIPL - 2 pairs, 5 fledglings (2.5 fledge rate) • LETE - 12 pairs, 12 fledglings (1.0 fledge rate) • Some human disturbances from beach walkers and both off and on leash dog walking. The above site labeled by DEC as “Little Creek South.” Little Creek site has been so badly eroded this is not an active nest site. There was a nesting attempt to the east of this site at Arrowhead Lane Beach, and owners of property allowed us to fence this site in 2021. Recommendations: 1) Extend symbolic fence at NP Beach further south to NPPOA line and meet with the association for outreach, education, and recruitment of volunteers. Contact Person: Sara Phillips 2) Fence off private property at Arrowhead Lane Beach. 3) NP Beach site should have volunteers posted on weekends with informational brochures, displays, and spotting scope for outreach, education, and volunteer recruitment, involving Young Birders Club. 4) Possibly restrict all beach walking during critical chick rearing time period in front of the symbolic fencing to allow PIPL chicks to safely forage and LETE chicks to safely be fed by parents at water’s edge. 5) Continue B.A.R.K. Ranger Program at both locations. Meadow Beach, Cutchogue, The Nature Conservancy: • PIPL - 1 pair, nest failure • LETE - 5-6 pairs, nest failure • AMOY (American Oystercatcher) - 1 pair, nest failure • No human disturbance, but flooding and predation caused site abandonment for all three species. This site is part of a larger site known by DEC as Cutchogue Harbor, and labeled as “Cutchogue Harbor TNC Preserve.” Recommendations: 1) Another area that needs to be fenced is Fleets Neck Beach, with cooperation of the property owners association and the private property owners to the west atop the dredge deposit. This site is labeled by the DEC as “Cutchogue Harbor Private”. Other potential nesting sites in Cutchogue Harbor include the private beach to the east of Fleets Neck / north of Meadow Beach, with cooperation of private property owners. 3 2) Implement B.A.R.K. Ranger Program at Fleets Neck Beach with permission by beach association or at Pequash Beach where dogs are frequently walked. 3) Install signage at Pequash Beach. 4) Install trail camera to possibly document potential predators at this site. Goose Creek, Southold, Town of Southold: • PIPL - 1 pair, 1 fledgling (1.0 fledge rate) • LETE - 4-5 pairs, nest failure • Little human disturbance, flooding and predation caused LETE nest failure, the Memorial Day Weekend storm caused mortality for 3 out of the 4 just-hatched PIPL chicks. Recommendations: 1) Continue B.A.R.K. Ranger Program. 2) Continue educational outreach via Young Birders Club. Klipps Beach, Greenport, private property: • PIPL 1 pair, 2 fledglings • Human disturbance (fishermen, dog walkers, beach goers), flooding, plus presence of predators (wild canine, gulls, crows) made this site challenging for this pair, which managed to fledge two chicks after three nest attempts (1st nest failure was due to predation and second nest failure was due to flooding). The above location is known by DEC as “Gull Pond West.” Recommendations: 1) Get more property owners to fence off their beachfront properties. 2) Continue B.A.R.K. Ranger Program. 3) Occasional volunteers posted on weekends with informational brochures, displays, and spotting scope for outreach, education, and volunteer recruitment. McCabes / Kenneys Beaches, Southold, private property: • PIPL - 1 pair, nest failure • LETE - 5-6 pairs, approx 6 fledglings • Human disturbance and/or predation caused nest failure for this PIPL pair, property owner would not allow symbolic fencing. LETE was able to successfully nest in the dunes with no symbolic fencing on private property. Recommendations: 1) Fence off both beaches and install adequate signage, including informational signs. 2) Work with property owners to fence off beachfronts. 3) Implement B.A.R.K. Ranger Program 4) Occasional outreach with spotting scope and informational station if nesting PIPL pair is established, or small LETE population. Additional Sites that should be fenced with adequate informational signage in 2022 in anticipation of increased number of nesting pairs: 1) Downs Creek - spit at mouth of creek 2) Conkling Point - the crescent 4 3) Hashamomuck Beach - in front of playground 4) Pipes Cove - see attached photo 5 A few key recommendations for next season:  Coordination with Town of Southold Police for ATV use during the nesting season  Improvement of adequate nesting and foraging sites for plovers, terns, and other shorebird species  Educational outreach for private property owners over the winter so more habitat is potentially protected with pre-season symbolic fencing  Scheduled education programs for all ages Prepared by Jennifer Murray on behalf of North Fork Audubon Society PO Box 862, Greenport NY 11944 631-477-6456 info@northforkaudubon.org 6