In this IssueDecember 14, 2025 - January 5, 2026: Audubon’s 125th Christmas Bird Count January 21 - 25, 2026: Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival Stronger Together: Cooperation Between Shorebird and Sea Turtle Monitoring Teams FSA partners and permitted sea turtle monitors are responsible for surveying thousands of miles of coastline across Florida every year. Although their primary responsibilities involve different species, shorebird and sea turtle conservation teams collaborate frequently. Sea turtle monitors assist with FSA data collection during surveys, and FSA partners support sea turtle efforts by reporting and posting new nests. In June, FSA partner Rob Mulligan, was kayaking at Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge when he spotted sea turtle tracks leading to a large depression on one of the few sandy shores in the region. Rob documented his findings and shared the images with sea turtle researchers. To everyone's surprise, this discovery was confirmed to be the first documented sea turtle nest in the Big Bend region of Florida. FSA partners in the Nature Coast Partnership and sea turtle researchers quickly coordinated to post and screen the nest to protect it from disturbance and predators. A game camera was also installed to support monitoring and FWC shorebird biologists added the site to their weekly survey route. After the nest hatched, an FWC sea turtle researcher joined the shorebird team to inventory and collect samples, and a second nest was subsequently confirmed nearby. Based on track patterns, the nests are likely from a loggerhead sea turtle, but laboratory results will provide final confirmation. Loggerhead nesting in the Big Bend region is notable, and the team is preparing a manuscript to document their findings. Without coordination and teamwork across shorebird and sea turtle monitoring groups, this would not have been possible. Protecting coastal-dependent species is a year-round undertaking, and this finding is a great example of how collaboration between FSA partners and sea turtle monitors strengthens the conservation of both groups.  Sea turtle tracks found on a sandy shore in the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge (left). Posted nest site with predator exclusion screen (right).  Shorebird and sea turtle monitoring team celebrating after inventorying and sampling. Black Skimmers Moving Across Florida and BeyondDue to increased disturbance and habitat loss, black skimmer populations have declined by half over the last 30 years, and as such, they are state-listed as a threatened species in Florida. Many individuals migrate south to Florida for the winter with a part of the population being year-round residents, yet much remains unknown about their local movements. How far do they travel from their nesting sites to forage? Are populations along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts connected? To answer these questions, Dr. Kate Goodenough, an independent researcher, partnered with Ricardo Zambrano, a regional biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. With the assistance of FSA partners and with the proper state and federal permits, they equipped nesting black skimmer adults on both coasts of Florida with small tracking devices. These devices recorded the birds’ geographic coordinates, and the data could then be downloaded whenever the skimmers were in proximity to a cell phone with a special app. The returning data revealed a surprise: the birds had traveled from the southernmost tip of the peninsula to Cuba via the Straits of Florida, spending time along Cuba's northern shores and then at southern Gulf of Guacanayabo. These movements had never been documented before. Additional findings showed that color-banded chicks from the Gulf and Atlantic coasts were later observed on the opposite sides of the state, confirming that black skimmer individuals will move between both coasts of Florida. More research efforts are still underway, and there are plans to band and put transmitters on adults and chicks for one or two more seasons. With an estimated 6,852 breeding black skimmers in Florida, continued collaboration among the Florida Shorebird Alliance Partners is helping to protect nesting sites and move the species closer to population recovery.  The movements of adult black skimmers, including migration to Cuba and travel between the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida.  Locations where black skimmer chicks were banded (stars) and locations where they have been resighted by Florida Shorebird Alliance Partners (squares).  It's data review season!The FSD data review team is currently working to approve every record that was entered into the FSD in 2025. As part of this process, most monitoring partners hear from the data review team during the winter months. From resolving typos to sharing additional context about unusual or incomplete observations, we appreciate everyone's participation in this vital process! How many records were entered into the FSD this year? Over 18,000! This includes each nest site, colony site, new rooftop site or route, all of the site visits, and roving chick/staging young observations. FSA partners have once again done an impressive job at entering their monitoring data for the 2025 breeding season. What does the data review team look at? Everything! The team looks at nesting locations, counts, renest sequences, comments, final outcomes, and more. If additional information is needed to approve a given entry, the data review team contacts monitoring partners to get clarification. How can you help? If you’ve entered data in 2025, you can log in to the FSD and make sure your dataset is in accordance with the 2025 Breeding Bird Protocol for Florida’s Shorebirds and Seabirds. Or, if someone from the data review team reaches out to you, you can share your on-the-ground expertise! If you have any questions, need assistance, or have additional information to provide about the data you’ve entered for 2025, please email us at FLShorebirdDatabase@MyFWC.com. This article from the Space Coast Daily highlights the arrival of wintering migrants to Florida shores, and how you can help. | 
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