Sea turtle and shorebird nesting season on Anna Maria Island is now more than halfway over.
Nesting for sea turtles has slowed down significantly while hatching has picked up. As of Aug. 2, there were 682 total nests and 182 hatches.
The season generally is May 1-Oct. 31.
Shorebird nesting mostly runs from February through September. This year, AMI is host to a nesting least tern colony near 27th Street North, the first such colony since 2021.
While the least tern colony has done well, there have been concerns about hatchling disorientations so far, as well as two adult female loggerheads that disoriented into roads. Sea turtle disorientations usually are caused by improper lighting.
There’s also another threat to nesting birds and turtles: animal predation.
Kristen Mazzarella, executive director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, said in a conversation with The Islander July 31 that while predation rates are low this season, they still have an impact.
“This year we’ve had some predations but most of them have been after the nest has hatched,” she said of the sea turtles.
Raccoons are the primary predator of sea turtle nests. They dig up the contents of the nest, making it difficult for AMITW to tell whether a nest has hatched or torn up by a raccoon.
Crows are another predator of sea turtle nests but they don’t dig deep enough to get into a nest.
“We don’t really call it predation if a hatchling is picked up by a gull,” Mazzarella said. “We usually don’t see that and we’re more concerned about whether the nest hatches while it’s in the sand.”
Crows also can be a problem for nesting least terns, which is why crow effigies were placed around the colony near the nesting area at the 27th Street North beach access in Bradenton Beach.
Domestic animals also can be an issue.
In 2021, a least tern colony disbanded because of cat predation, which is why Mazzarella said that keeping domestic cats indoors is essential for protecting wildlife on AMI.
“Cats can kill and eat many more birds than any other predator and they do,” Mazzarella said.
To address predation, it’s important to not separate it from human behavior, as their impact on sea turtles and shorebirds can be intertwined.
“By feeding cats, by feeding birds, by feeding raccoons, we basically give them nourishment and attract them to areas where they normally aren’t,” Mazzarella said.
From the director’s report …
The trend of hatching outpacing new nests was going strong for sea turtles the week beginning July 29, with 53 hatched nests and only nine new nests added to the already record-breaking total.
Meanwhile, a dip in disorientations was credited to a full moon providing a strong guiding light for hatchlings to reach the Gulf and then, when it was gone, the number of disorientations began to rise — 23 between July 27 and Aug. 2, according to Kristen Mazzarella, executive director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.
AMITW, Aug. 2-3, was preparing for forecasted tropical weather over the weekend and into Aug. 5.
While turtle watch’s state marine turtle permit does not allow them to relocate or excavate nests, they will be documenting any overwash or inundation that occurs, Mazzarella said in her report, which was released late Aug. 2.
AMITW also asked that beachgoers who come across sea turtle eggs that have washed out of a nest to contact the group at 941-301-8434 with the number that can be found on the nest stakes.
Meanwhile, at the least tern colony in Bradenton Beach, things were going well as the second to last youngest chick began flying and the youngest was surviving despite having a bit of wanderlust and frequently venturing outside the posted colony.
AMITW, ahead of tropical weather, adjusted the enclosure for the colony and asked that people be extremely careful around the birds near the 27th Street North beach access.
— Masha Dolgoff
