Friends of Padre

FOP REPORT 05/30/2015   Air Temp: 83 Water Temp: 82 Wind: 5-10 increasing to 20 late out of the SE Waves:  2-4 ft Water:  Clear the length of the beach Weed:  Still very little the length of the beach Driving:  Not much road at high tide, excellent at low tide Birds:  468 Black Terns 2 White-tailed Hawks 5 Blue-winged Teal 4 American Oystercatchers 20 Red Knots 2 Greater Yellowlegs   Foresters, Sandwich, Royal and Least Terns One large staging flock of Sanderlings Most of the common shorebirds are present but in small numbers as we are in nesting season Many little Green Turtles from the 50 mile beach to the Port Mansfield jetties.   PINS was in rare form today for the spring time.  Very little weed on the beach or in the water this time of year is rare to say the least.  Light winds, clear water and bait the length of the beach is providing for excellent fishing!   There are large mats of oil washing in over the first couple of miles in the park.  GLO was out this evening cleaning up the mess.

Via Dr. Donna Shaver Today, two Kemp’s ridley nests were found in Texas, including one on Bryan Beach and one on the Matagorda Peninsula. KEMP'S RIDLEY TURTLE So far this year, 75 nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): 3 Bolivar Peninsula 1 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 1 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 2 Bryan Beach 0 Brazoria County, N. of Sargent Beach 0 Sargent Beach 1 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 0 San Jose Island 0 Mustang Island 48 North Padre Island, including 47 at Padre Island National Seashore 19 South Padre Island 0 Boca Chica Beach Data presented here are preliminary. Do not cite or quote without permission. Contact Donna Shaver for further information. Updates regarding nesting are also posted at the Padre Island National Seashore website: www.nps.gov/pais

Via Cody Moravits Mostly cloudy weather with big thunderstorms developing throughout the day on thursday. Winds were blowing 5-10 mph out of the SE until a thunderstorm would get near and winds would increase to 30 mph, then would calm back down. Water temperature stayed around 80-81 degrees F Driving has improved over the past few week with all the rainfall and the higher than normal tides that have pushed a good portion of the natural debris up closer to the dunes. There are still big trees on the beach so use caution while driving. At low tide the driving is 2wd the length of the beach. Water clarity greatly improved on Thursday morning and was clear the length of the beach, with schools of mullet frequently seen. The only birds working were Least Terns feeding on smaller baitfish the length of the beach. Surf varied in size as the storms moved by but stayed relatively calm at around 2 foot. Still no sargassum presesnt... Not many people fishing the beach. Speed limit is still 15 mph the length of the beach and be sure to buckle up! Birds sighted: Willet Sanderling Cattle Egret Cormorant Black Bellied Plover Wilson's Plover Black Tern Least Tern Forster's Tern Sandwich Tern Royal Tern Herring Gull Laughing Gull Ring-Billed Gull Great Blue Heron Brown Pelican Ruddy Turnstone American Oystercatcher Caracara Barn Swallow

Via Dr. Donna Shaver Today, 4 Kemp’s ridley nests were confirmed on the Texas coast, including 3 at Padre Island National Seashore and 1 on South Padre Island. KEMP'S RIDLEY TURTLE So far this year, 71 nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): 2 Bolivar Peninsula 1 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 1 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 1 Bryan Beach 0 Brazoria County, N. of Sargent Beach 0 Sargent Beach 0 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 0 San Jose Island 0 Mustang Island 47 North Padre Island, including 46 at Padre Island National Seashore 19 South Padre Island 0 Boca Chica Beach Data presented here are preliminary. Do not cite or quote without permission. Contact Donna Shaver for further information. Updates regarding nesting are also posted at the Padre Island National Seashore website: www.nps.gov/pais

Via Capt. Jeff Wolda Air Temp: 78 Water Temp: 76 Wind: 20 SE up to 40 with storms Water Clarity: Clear Waves: 3-4ft Weed: Very little washing in the length of the beach. Driving: 2 wheel drive the length of the beach (see below) Birds: There were small numbers of birds on the PINS beach today. Many have migrated North to nest and high winds and rough seas didn’t’ help. Black Terns were the most common bird seen with a few hundred seen. Laughing Gulls, Least Terns, Sandwich Terns, Forester’s Terns and Royal Terns were seen in small numbers. Unusual sightings were 12 Red Knots which have been absent on the beach for some time and 5 American Oystercatchers. Regular shorebird species were seen but in very low numbers. Driving was good at low tide until the storms moved in and pushed water up. There is a lot of debris on the beach, mostly wood. With the high water driving is treacherous due to the debris. There will be high tides of almost 2ft in the morning both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. They are also calling for sustained winds near 30mph. The combination of the 2 will cause the water to go over the high road in the mornings and not fall until late in the day so plan accordingly. There is bait the length of the beach. Lots of skipjacks in the surf. Trout, reds and jacks should be in the surf zone if the weather doesn’t blow the beach out. At least 5 more turtle nests were found today.

via Dr. Donna Shaver Yesterday, 5 Kemp’s ridley nests were found on the Texas coast, including 1 on Galveston Island, 1 on Surfside Beach, 1 at Padre Island National Seashore, and 2 on South Padre Island. KEMP'S RIDLEY TURTLE So far this year, 51 nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): 2 Bolivar Peninsula 1 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 1 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 1 Bryan Beach 0 Brazoria County, N. of Sargent Beach 0 Sargent Beach 0 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 0 San Jose Island 0 Mustang Island 32 North Padre Island, including 31 at Padre Island National Seashore 14 South Padre Island 0 Boca Chica Beach

Via Dr. Donna Shaver Yesterday, 1 Kemp’s ridley nest was found on the Texas coast, at Padre Island National Seashore. KEMP'S RIDLEY TURTLE So far this year, 17 nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): 2 Bolivar Peninsula 0 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 0 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 1 Bryan Beach 0 Brazoria County, N. of Sargent Beach 0 Sargent Beach 0 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 0 San Jose Island 0 Mustang Island 8 North Padre Island, including 7 at Padre Island National Seashore 6 South Padre Island 0 Boca Chica Beach Data presented here are preliminary. Do not cite or quote without permission. Contact Donna Shaver for further information. Updates regarding nesting are also posted at the Padre Island National Seashore website: www.nps.gov/pais

Friends of Padre beach report: April 29, 2015 Partly cloudy throughout the day, NW winds 20mph in the morning diminishing to 10 mph in the afternoon. Water temperature: 74 degrees F Driving is still difficult due to the large amount of natural debris that is still present, mainly large branches and logs. At low tide the sand is hard packed but super bumpy, with loose blow sand filling the ruts in the high road. Water clarity started off sandy green in the morning and then clearing up with the incoming tide and as the day continued. Surf varied throughout the day but started decreasing as the day went on. No bait activity was observed; didn’t see any birds working or bait jumping the length of the beach. Other fishermen reported large whiting are plentiful and one man had a couple of shark runs. Picked up 3 abandoned EZ-up canopies. Please do not leave these on the beach if you choose to bring one. They do not hold up to the wind, sand, and salt on the beach and eventually end up being an eyesore on the beach. Speed limit is still 15 mph the length of the beach. Birds sighted: Spotted Sandpiper: 8 Black Phoebe: 1 White Tail Hawk: 2 Caracara: 2 Skimmer: 1 Long-Billed Curlew: 1 American Oystercatcher: 1 Black-Necked Stilt: 1 Herring Gulls Laughing Gulls Ring-Billed Gulls Royal Terns Forster’s Tern Least Terns Brown Pelican s Blue Herons Black Bellied Plovers Willets Sanderlings Ruddy Turnstone Cormorants Cattle Egrets Barn Swallows Turkey Vultures Blue-Winged Teal Cowbirds