Volunteers needed to protect bird nesting areas this summer

This is the time of year that shorebirds nest along the coast and volunteers are needed to help protect them.

Franklin County is a very popular nesting site – species that nest here include pelicans and sea gulls.

We also have Royal terns, Caspian Terns, black skimmers, Sandwich terns, and Gull billed terns.

The Audubon of Florida group will once again offer its Shorebird Stewardship Program along Gulf Coast beaches this summer.

The program works in a couple of ways – first, Audubon workers and partners post signs and twine around important nesting areas.

Then for added protection, volunteers chaperon the posted areas on busy warm-weather weekends to educate beach-goers about the birds and the reason for the posted areas.

Research has found beach-goers are nine times more likely to respect posted areas when stewards are present.

This year Audubon is coordinating stewards at key nesting sites from Franklin to Escambia counties.

Sites will vary from weekend to weekend depending upon where active nesting is occurring, but locally will include the St. George Island State Park, Alligator Point and the St. Joseph Peninsula State pArk in Gulf County.

If you would be willing to hang out with cute chicks at the beach for an afternoon, just contact  Bonnie Samuelsen by phone at 850-866-7152 or e-mail at bsamuelsen@audubon.org.

http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments