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Little island is for the birds, more than ever

Nesting birds on a spoil island in Coffee Pot Bayou win police guard.

By JON WILSON
Published March 9, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - A flight of white ibis glided over Coffee Pot Bayou, and Ann Paul's voice soared like a sports announcer's describing the winning score.

"We've never had white ibis nest here before. If they do, that takes us up to 14 species, and whoa, that's exciting!"

Paul is manager of Audubon of Florida's Coastal Islands Sanctuary program, which looks out for nesting birds on islands around Pinellas, Sarasota and Hillsborough counties.

The newest one is Coffee Pot Bayou Bird Island, a mangrove-covered feature easily visible between Snell Isle and Coffee Pot Boulevard and just east of the Snell Isle bridge.

The island has new protection for its bird population, thanks to an agreement between Audubon and the island's owners, the Holland family of St. Petersburg, Audubon officials said.

Audubon members have posted no-trespassing signs to discourage humans from landing on the island, an iffy proposition under any circumstances. But now those who try risk visits from the St. Petersburg police boat patrol.

The island's nesting birds, which include at least half a dozen protected species, can't tolerate the presence of humans, Paul said.

On Sunday, about 50 people, many from Snell Isle and Historic Old Northeast, cruised around the island aboard the Dolphin Queen, a tour boat based at the Pier. The trip was an Audubon outreach event intended to acquaint neighbors with the island's purpose - and to ask their help in reporting scofflaws.

"I think local people are better prepared to take care of resources than anyone else," said Joyce King, president of Audubon's St. Petersburg chapter. "People who are familiar with their surroundings tend to know how to share that respect."

Binoculars and cameras popped up when Paul pointed out one of Sunday's highlights: a reddish egret, which she called one of Florida's rarest birds.

Plume hunters wiped out reddish egrets in the 19th century, and the bird didn't return to Tampa Bay until the mid 1970s. Last year's survey noted eight pairs nesting on the island, compared to two in 1998.

The law protects reddish egrets, as it does roseate spoonbills, another species hunters wiped out, selling their wings to make fans for tourists.

The spoonbills began showing up again in Tampa Bay in 1975, according to Audubon of Florida. About 15 percent of the state's population roosts on the Alafia Bank across Tampa Bay. The 2004 survey recorded five pairs in the Coffee Pot Bayou colony, compared to one pair in 1998.

The island is home to nearly 500 pairs of birds during nesting seasons, Paul said. They represent 13 species.

"It isn't the largest (rookery), but it's certainly one of the most diverse," Paul said.

Great blue herons start the cycle in winter. Brown pelicans, cormorants, anhingas, egrets and spoonbills are nesting by February, and other kinds of herons show up through March and April.

During the entire cycle, nesting birds are vulnerable, Paul said. Disturbances can cause adult birds to leave the nests, which endangers the eggs or young birds.

There was plenty of avian action Sunday.

Juvenile cormorants and pelicans begged their parents for food. A foot away, a great egret pair flapped in signature seasonal activity. In its own mating routine, a snowy egret flared its head feathers. A small flight of white pelicans, Canadian tourists on patrol from the Alafia Bank, made a pass over the island.

The island has room for more birds, Paul said. "But it's pretty busy. I love it."

As a bird haven, "it's reached its ultimate goal, its highest and best use."

[Last modified March 9, 2005, 00:55:19]