Parks & Natural Resources
Coastal
This week Coastal staff found a new Bald Eagle’s nest on Manasota Key! This now brings staff’s Bald Eagle nest count to 40 nests total being monitored for the whole County, with 24 nests and Eagle pairs sitting on eggs. Coastal staff has also completed all preseason prep for their preseason mailing and goodie bag distribution coming up after the first of the year in preparation for Shorebird and Sea Turtle nesting seasons coming up. Coastal staff also participated in a DarkSky International (IDA) presentation for Palm Island Estates and Bocilla Island Conservancy on Knight Island to discuss the importance of a dark sky for our ecosystems, wildlife, human health and economic benefit. Finally, Coastal staff also participated in the Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count on Stump Pass Beach State Park. Staff monitored the island, intercoastal side and gulf side, for every species they could see and kept a running count. Staff was elated to count not only 1, but 2 Piping Plovers, which is very rare for our area! Venice Audubon shared with staff it’s the first Piping Plovers spotted in our area in the history of the Christmas Bird Count.
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