Little Estero Island beach just for the birds
Humans banned through summer
BY KEVIN LOLLAR • KLOLLAR@NEWS-PRESS.COM • MARCH 31, 2010 1:10 A.M. — When Bru Randall took a walk on Little Estero Island on Tuesday, he saw something that hadn’t been there the day before — no trespassing signs.
State, county and Fort Myers Beach officials, along with a team of volunteers, were posting a 1-mile section of beach to protect shorebirds, their nests and chicks. The area will be off-limits to people through August.
“That’s what they ought to be doing,” said Randall, a retired science teacher from Petersburg, W.Va. “I’m very supportive of protecting wildlife areas and critical habitat.”
The section of beach being posted is a small portion of the state-owned Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area on the south end of Estero Island, a popular birding destination and an important nesting area for least terns, snowy plovers, willets and black skimmers. Least terns and snowy plovers are listed as threatened in Florida; the black skimmer is a species of special concern.
“Most people on the beach are looking down collecting shells, or flying kites, or whatever,” said Nancy Douglass, a wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “They’re not looking out for birds.
“We post the area to give the birds a safe place without human disturbance. For these birds, disturbance kills. It’s not just an inconvenience. It kills.”
When people get too close to a shorebird nest, for example, the adult birds fly or run away, leaving chicks or eggs exposed to the elements. The big killer is summer heat.
“When adults leave the nest, the chicks and eggs are also vulnerable to predators — crows, gulls and herons,” Douglass said. “It’s bird-eat-bird,and there’s always a predator in the wings waiting for vulnerable chicks or eggs.”
Although part of the critical wildlife area will be posted, most will be open to the public.
“This is just a tiny, tiny percentage of the beach,” Douglass said. “It’s a small spot to give birds one place where they won’t be harassed and have their young destroyed.”
Wildlife law enforcement officers will be on patrol to make sure people stay out of the posted area.
“Like most things in life, 90-plus percent of people are good, responsible citizens who comply with the rules,” Douglass said. “But there are always a few who feel compelled to defy the rules just because they’re rules. That’s what law enforcement is for, folks who just don’t care.”
In some cases, breaking the rules is not a matter of not caring as much as it is a matter of not knowing any better, as Keith Laakkonen, Fort Myers Beach’s environmental sciences coordinator, found out earlier this week.
Laakkonen was on the beach rescuing an injured gannet when he saw a small boy surrounded by gulls and terns.
“He reaches down and picks up a shell and chucks it at one of the birds,” Laakkonen said. “I asked why he threw the shell at the bird, and he said, ‘I don’t know.’ Clearly, people need to learn respect for wildlife. These birds are federally protected. You can’t be throwing stuff at them.”
Posting Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area to protect shorebirds is a way of sharing the beach, said Roger Clark, a Lee County Parks and Recreation manager.
“This is an incredibly productive and dynamic area,” he said. “It’s attractive to wildlife and people. We need to educate people about how to enjoy the beach and protect wildlife.”
Thks Adam, so if you park at the holiday inn, and go behind it, can you walk down the beach and photograph in the lagoon, and cross the lagoon. It's a long drive form Boca raton, to walkup, and see that i'm un able to photograph.
Thks for any "intell"
Don
Hi Don,
Yes, the area roped off is about 1/2mile south of the Holiday inn parking lot. and you can walk along the bch and along the lagoon. The area was very active today with shore birds.
Snowy plovers, Piping plovers, wilson's plovers, Oystercatchers, Ospreys and a Bald Eagle.
LIttle Estero Island Update
Reply With Quote
