Summertime is fast approaching! As a native Floridian, summer for me has always been synonymous with the beach. Growing up, my mom was (and still is) an elementary school teacher, so my summer vacation was her summer vacation, and we spent it at the beach. I remember countless carefree days splashing in the Gulf and soaking up the sunshine on Siesta Key – playing mermaids in the water, walking the length of the beach with my younger brother, collecting coquinas and sand dollars to show my mom. Then later in life, summer nights spent under dark star-filled skies, high-school parties between accesses 9 and 10, meteor showers watched from sailboats perched on sandy dunes.
Like most of Sarasota, Siesta Key Beach has changed a lot in my lifetime. While the walk from the parking lot seems as far as ever, the beach itself seems smaller. Houses and condos have popped up in spaces where there used to only be dunes and sand as far as the eye could see. More people, more buildings, more activity all around. It does seem, however, that there is less of one thing – wildlife.
More people and more buildings mean fewer natural areas for wildlife to claim as their own. More activity means more noise and more commotion. More comings and goings. Less quiet and calm. For some species, more noise and activity may not be a big deal. For others, it’s the difference between life and death.
Take, for example, the snowy plover.
Reaching a length of no more than 6.7 inches and a wingspan of 13.4 inches at most, these tiny shorebirds almost look like miniature seagulls (my apologies to the birders for the generalization and usage of the term seagulls!). They have grayish to light-brown upper bodies, white bellies, black on their forehead and ears, short, thin black bills, and gray legs. They build their nests along open stretches of sandy beaches, and in Florida, their nesting season occurs between the months of February and August – prime beach time.
Snowy plovers are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act and listed as a State-designated Threatened Species by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule. Because they are so small and make their nests directly on the sand, they face a variety of threats and are extremely vulnerable to disturbance and predation. A 2010 study on Sanibel and La Costa Islands found that snowy plovers will evacuate their nests if there are pedestrians within 13 feet or dogs within 70 feet! When nests are abandoned the eggs within don’t have a chance: they bake in the sun, get eaten by other birds and predators, or are accidentally stepped on and crushed by unaware beachgoers.
For the snowy plover, more noise and activity are kind of a big deal.
Enter Conservation Foundation. In early 2007, we were contacted by the owners of a vacant lot on Siesta Key. The landowners cared about the environment and wanted to donate their beach property to Conservation Foundation to ensure its permanent protection.
Their generous donation of land is now our small but mighty Siesta Key Preserve. Though it is only an acre in size, it is very significant, providing nesting habitat for shorebirds like the snowy plover who depend on undisturbed stretches of sandy beach to survive.
Since taking over ownership and management of this land, we have partnered with Sarasota Audubon Society to help further protect the threatened snowy plover as part of the Florida Audubon Beach Nesting Birds’ program. Sarasota Audubon Society stakes off nesting areas on Siesta Key during the breeding season, and volunteers monitor the area and protect the birds nesting on the property when they (nesting birds) are present.
Our partnership with Sarasota Audubon has been very successful over its 15+ year history. In fact, it’s been so successful that in 2020, we teamed up with them once again for another community initiative, the Re-Wilding of the Quad Parcels. Together, we are fundraising to create new habitat and public access opportunities at the 33-acre Quad Parcels located next to the Celery Fields. You can learn more about this ongoing initiative here.
If you’re interested in helping with snowy plover protection efforts, consider volunteering with Sarasota Audubon to be a nest watcher, a chick checker, or an Audubon Beach Ambassador. Learn more by contacting Audubon’s Shorebird Coordinator, Kylie Wilson, at kylie.wilson@audubon.org.
To learn more about the snowy plover in general, visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s snowy plover overview page.
And next time you’re out on the beach making memories, remember to be considerate of the creatures who call the sandy shores their home. Happy Summer!
