Watch out for nesting shorebirds or you could get a ticket!

Be careful if you are boating around bird nesting sites in Franklin County as FWC officers are ticketing people who are speeding through bird nesting zones.

Earlier this month FWC officers targeted speeding violations in the bird nesting zone of St. George Island State Park.

The officers issued five citations and 11 written warnings for subjects speeding through shorebird nesting zone.

A variety of protected birds are currently nesting on Franklin County’s beaches, including terns, black skimmers, snowy plovers and Wilson’s plovers. 

Most of these species nest in the open and lay well-camouflaged eggs directly on the sand, making them nearly invisible to predators and to the untrained human eye. 

You can help protect the birds by moving parties, picnics and fireworks away from nesting areas.

Just approaching a bird is enough to flush birds away from their nest. 

When birds are forced to fly off their eggs, it exposes the chicks to predators and to the impacts of the Sun.

Many beach nesting areas are marked to keep people away.

In Franklin County many birds also nest on the old St. George Island bridge causeway, and on the island near the big hump of the Apalachicola bridge.

Those area are only accessible by boat and are off limits to humans through August.

http://live.oysterradio.com/