Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Resource Management Field Summary for July 15– July 21, 2010
(Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke Districts)
Piping Plover (PIPL) Observations:
|
Observations |
Thurs 7/15 |
Fri 7/16 |
Sat 7/17 |
Sun 7/18 |
Mon 7/19 |
Tues 7/20 |
Weds 7/21 |
|
Oregon Inlet |
0 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
|
Cape Point |
4 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
|
South Beach |
3 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
|
Hatteras Inlet |
0 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
|
Hatteras Overwash |
0 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
|
N. Ocracoke |
4 |
6 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
22 |
|
S. Ocracoke |
3 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
NS=Not surveyed.
Bodie District:
Bodie Island: July 15th was the last day for PIPL pre-nesting observation. No PIPLs were observed.
Hatteras District:
Cape Point: July 15th was the last day for PIPL pre-nesting observation. All PIPL breeding appears to be over.
South Beach: July 15th was the last day for PIPL pre-nesting observation. All PIPL breeding appears to be over. Migrants are being observed on South Beach.
Hatteras Overwash/Hatteras Inlet: July 15th was the last day for PIPL pre-nesting observation. No PIPLs were observed.
Ocracoke District:
North Ocracoke: All PIPL breeding appears to be over. Migrants are being observed on beaches with up to 22 PIPLs observed foraging along the inlet and ocean shorelines.
South Point: All PIPL breeding appears to be over. Nest 16, a two egg nest, was lost on Sunday 7/18 to ghost crab predation. Migrants are being observed on beaches with up to 11 PIPLs observed along the inlet and oceanside shorelines, as well as within the mudflats.
PIPL Breeding Summary:
|
Total Nests to Date |
Active Nests |
Total Nests Hatched |
Total Nests Lost |
Total Eggs Hatched |
Unfledged Chicks |
Lost Chicks |
Fledged Chicks |
|
16* |
0 |
11 |
5 |
31 |
0 |
16 |
15 |
* This counts the three egg nest on Ocracoke, found 6/29, as a separate nest, although it is believed that this nest may be a clutch continuation from Nest #15, which was predated by ghost crabs 6/23.
Nest/Brood Summary/Expected hatch dates:
Nest/Brood 1 - Cape Point. Four chicks hatched on 5/13. Four chicks fledged 6/8.
Nest/Brood 2 - Cape Point. Two chicks hatched on 5/14. One chick fledged 6/3 and the other chick fledged 6/9.
Nest/Brood 3 & 5 - Cape Point. Three chicks hatched on 5/21. One chick was lost on 5/28 and another on 6/6. The Brood 3 chick fledged on 6/17. Brood 5 chicks (2) fledged on 6/21.
Nest/Brood 4 - Cape Point. Four chicks hatched on 5/21 and four chicks fledged (three on 6/18) by 6/21.
Nest/Brood 5 - Cape Point. Four chicks hatched on 5/24. Two chicks were lost on 5/30. Two chicks joined Brood 3 on 6/1.
Nest/Brood 6 - Cape Point. Four chicks hatched on 5/21, one was lost on 5/22 and another on 5/28. Two chicks fledged on 6/16.
Nest 7 - South Point. Lost on 5/2.
Nest 8 - South Point. Lost on 5/5.
Nest/Brood 9 - South Point. Three chicks were lost to unknown predation (probably ghost crab or avian) on 6/7. The fourth egg from this nest was abandoned by 6/8.
Nest/Brood 10 - South Point. Lost to storm overwash and flooding on 5/26.
Nest/Brood 11 - South Point. Four chicks were lost between 6/13 and 6/16 (1 chick was lost to a ghost crab, the cause of loss for the other three chicks is unknown).
Nest 12 – North Ocracoke. Three chicks hatched 6/25, one was lost on or around 6/28. The other two were lost on or before 7/1.
Nest 13 – South Point. Three chicks hatched on 7/1, but only one chick was observed by 7/2. All chicks were lost by 7/4 to unknown cause.
Nest 14 – South Beach. Two eggs were lost on 7/11, cause unknown. One chick hatched on 7/11. The 9-day-old chick was observed on 7/19, but was not observed on 7/20. The adults were observed trying to distract a juvenile greater black-back gull on the morning of 7/20, but the cause of the loss cannot be definitively determined as there were also raccoon tracks in the area.
Nest 15 – South Point. Lost on or before 6/23.
Nest 16 (or Nest 15a) – South Point. This nest lost one egg to a ghost crab on or before 7/10. The remaining two eggs were lost on Sunday 7/18 to ghost crab predation.
WIPL Update:
Although the WIPL chicks are not observed daily, on 7/13 two fledged chicks were present and foraging on the sound-side shoreline of South Point. The second WIPL nest hatched on 7/20 with one chick just outside the nest cup and one egg was still in the nest cup. The brood was not located on 7/21 and one egg still remained in the nest cup.
American Oystercatchers (AMOY):
|
Location |
Total Nests to Date |
Active Nests |
Nests Hatched |
Nests Lost |
Total Chicks Hatched |
Unfledged Chicks |
Chicks Lost |
Fledged Chicks |
|
Green Island |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Bodie District |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Bodie/Hatteras District |
5 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
|
Hatteras District |
12 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
22 |
0 |
4 |
18 |
|
Ocracoke District |
6 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
9 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
|
CAHA TOTALS |
28 |
0 |
21 |
7 |
48 |
4 |
18 |
26 |
2010 AMOY Breeding Pairs: Twenty-three confirmed breeding pairs of AMOYs have been documented this year.
Bodie District:
- Green Island: The southern brood is believed to still have 2 chicks and the northern brood is believed to have 2 fledged chicks.
- Bodie Island: No AMOY breeding behavior was observed this week.
- Bodie/Hatteras District (Rodanthe to Ramp 30): One pair has one chick that hatched on 6/26 and was banded on 7/21. Two other pairs have fledged a total of four chicks.
Hatteras District: All AMOY breeding activity has ended. 11 pair fledged 18 chicks.
Ocracoke District:
- North Ocracoke: One pair has one fledged chick.
- Other Beaches (Ramp 59-Ramp 72): The northern-most pair has fledged one chick. A second pair lost their chicks on or before 7/1.
- South Point: One pair continues to be observed in its territory. The other pair hatched one chick on Friday 7/16. The chick has been observed daily along the Ocracoke Inlet shoreline.
Colonial Waterbirds (CWB):
Bodie District:
Colony BIC01- 0.8 mi S of Ramp 4 active with LETE scrapes, nests, chicks and fledglings.
Green Island:
Colony GIC01- N, W, and S end of Green Island active with COTE scrapes, nests and chicks.
Bodie Hatteras District:
Colony BHC01- 0.3 mi N of Ramp 23 to 0.3 mi S of Ramp 23 active with LETE nests, chicks and fledglings.
Colony BHC02- 0.2 mi S of Ramp 27 active with LETE chicks and fledglings.
Colony BHC03- 2.7 mi N of Ramp 27 LETE activity has ended.
Hatteras District:
Colony HIC01 - 1.5 mi S of Ramp 38 to 2.4 mi S of Ramp 38 active with LETE nests, chicks and fledglings.
Colony HIC02 - 0.1 mi W of Ramp 45 active with LETE chicks and fledglings.
Colony HIC03 - 0.1 mi E of Salt Pond Road is active with LETE chicks and fledglings.
Ocracoke District:
Colony OIC01- 0.9 mi S of Ramp 72 active with LETE scrapes.
Colony OIC02- 0.1 mi N of Ramp 59 active with LETE, COTE, and BLSK nests and LETE and COTE chicks.
Colony OIC02-A- 0.8 mi N of Ramp 59 active with LETE, COTE, and BLSK nests and chicks.
Sea Turtle Nests (New Nests this Week):
Bodie District Nests:
None this week
Bodie District False Crawls:
None this week
Bodie Hatteras District Nests:
None this week.
Bodie Hatteras District False Crawls:
7/20 – A Loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found 1.2 mi N of R23.
Hatteras District Nests:
7/15 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 2.0 mi E of Ramp 49.
7/15 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 2.7 mi N Ramp 55.
7/16 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 1.9 mi N of Ramp 55.
7/18 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.1 mi N of Ramp 44.
7/18 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 1.0 mi E of Ramp 49.
7/19 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.3 mi S of Ramp 44.
7/19 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.5 mi W Ramp 45.
7/19 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.3 mi S of Ramp 44
7/20 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 0.1 mi W of Ramp 45.
Hatteras District False Crawls:
7/15 – A loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found 1.9 mi S R 45.
7/16 – A loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found at Ramp 45.
7/8 – A loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found 0.8 mi S of Ramp 44.
Ocracoke District Nests:
7/15 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found .81 mi N of Ramp 70
7/15 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 2.63 mi N of Ramp 67
7/19 – A loggerhead sea turtle nest was found 1.22 mi N of Ramp 67
Ocracoke District False Crawl:
7/17 – A loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found .5 mi S of Ramp 59
7/18 – A loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found 1.71 mi S of Ramp 59
7/20 – A loggerhead sea turtle false crawl was found .38 mi N of Ramp 68
New nests this week: 12
Total nests to date: 101
New false crawls this week: 7
Total false crawls to date: 79
Sea Turtle Strandings:
Bodie District:
None this week
Hatteras District:
None this week
Ocracoke District:
None this week
Marine Mammals:
Bodie District:
None this week.
Hatteras District:
None this week.
Ocracoke District:
None this week.
Closures – additions/modifications/removals:
|
Closure # |
Location |
Species |
Date Installed or Removed |
|
Bodie District |
|
|
|
|
None this week |
|
|
|
|
Hatteras District |
|
|
|
|
HI10-003-R |
Hatteras Overwash Fans |
PIPL |
7/15/2010 |
|
HI10-004-R |
Hatteras Inlet |
PIPL |
7/15/2010 |
|
HI10-007-G |
2.8 mi S of Ramp 38 |
LETE |
7/20/2010 |
|
HI10-001-J |
Cape Point |
AMOY |
7/21/2010 |
|
Ocracoke District |
|
|
|
|
OI10-004-R |
2.6 mi S of Ramp 59 |
AMOY |
7/18/2010 |
|
OI10-002-I |
0.7 mi SW of Ramp 72 |
AMOY, WIPL |
7/20/2010 |
|
OI10-001-J |
0.2 mi N of Ramp 59 |
CWBs |
7/20/2010 |
Closure intrusions:
Bodie District:
7/18 - Two sets of footprints passed through the closure 0.1- 0.3 mile N of Ramp 23 along the shoreline.
Hatteras District:
7/15 – One set of footprints documented inside the sea turtle nest closure 1.3 mi S of Ramp 34. The string was also broken.
7/16 – Two sets of children’s footprints in the closure and over the nest cavity were documented inside the sea turtle nest closure 2.2 mi S of Ramp 49.
7/17 – Dog tracks were observed in sea turtle nest closure 3.62 mi S of Ramp 38
Ocracoke District:
None this week.
