CHAP and Partners Monitor Spring Nesting

Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves staff were busy in the field conducting monthly rookery surveys. Wading and diving bird rookeries were monitored for active nesting across all five aquatic preserves managed through the CHAP office. Staff also partnered with federal colleagues at US Fish and Wildlife Service and Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge to survey rookeries in southern Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass APs, where management areas overlap.  

With spring fully underway, cormorants, great blue herons, roseate spoonbills and some brown pelicans are already producing chicks. Staff anticipate seeing additional heron and egret species arrive on the islands in greater numbers as the season progresses.