Friends of Padre

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, 2 nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): 0 Bolivar Peninsula 0 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 0 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 0 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 1 North Padre Island, including 1 at Padre Island National Seashore 1 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 Do not cite or quote without permission.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 8, 2015 7:30 a.m.-High Tides and winds steady at 20 mph, gusts to 30+ Overcast and cloudy day, light fog, spots of sunshine in the afternoon. Water temperature: 69 degrees Difficult driving conditions due to large amount of natural debris. Mainly large branches and trees in the common driving lanes. Majority of debris is between 7 miles (some loose sand here) and 35 miles. Surf varied as the tides dropped and winds laid near noon. Blue water was just past 3rd sandbar in the 40’s. Water murky to third sandbar from 45-Mansfield jetties. No bait activity was seen. No birds were working and no bait seen jumping. Other fishermen reported drum and whiting as their only catches. Very few people fishing. Majority of our sightings were Turtle Patrol volunteers! Park personnel stated that no Kemp’s Ridley’s had been found yet. Don’t forget…Speed Limit 15 mph!! Bird Sightings: Herring gulls Laughing gulls Franklin’s gulls Sanderlings Caspian Terns-2 Royal Terns-500+ entire length of beach Forster’s Terns-100+ near Mansfield jetties Least Terns Brown Pelicans- 500+ Blue Heron-3 Semipalmated Plover Black Bellied Plover Willets Neotropic Cormorants 500+ Cattle Egrets-100+ on beach and in dunes Barn Swallows-100+ migrating rapidly north Turkey Vultures Blue-winged Teal-1

March 28, 2015 Padre Island National Seashore Friends of Padre Beach Report   Air temperature: low to mid 70’s SE at 10 mph building to 20 mph w/ gusts to 25 mph Water clear from 0 to 35, sandy from 35-45, clear from 45 to the jetty Driving 2WD on low road, but bumpy Mid road 2WD w/ some 4HI   Numerous schools of sheepshead present in the surf Pony mullet the length of the beach Finger mullet on the south end of the beach Large trees/wood debris in the water and IN THE ROAD the entire stretch of the beach Helped tag an 83” sandbar shark at the Mansfield Jetty Reports of reds, black drum, and small sharks Lots of camps until the 30’s The Mansfield cleanup appeared to be a success with orange trash bags seen for several miles south of the Mansfield jetty. Bird notes: Least Tern Sandwich Tern Royal Tern Willet Sanderling Black Bellied Plover Brown Pelican Horned Lark Ring Billed Gull Herring Gull Laughing Gull Cormorant Wilson’s Plover Northern Herrier Ruddy Turnstone Caspian Tern Long Billed Curlew Mourning Dove Green Winged Teal Common Tern Semi-palmated Plover Crested Caracara Turkey Vulture Black Vulture Great Blue Heron        

  March 19, 2015 Padre Island National Seashore Friends of Padre report   Water temperature: 65 degrees F (Bob Hall Pier) Air temp @ 0800: 64 degrees F Fluctuated between 64 and 70 degrees F throughout the day. Heavy fog on the beach Patchy, dense fog throughout the day Moments of sun, coupled with hours of overcast and fog Light, variable winds switching to SE at 10 mph Water gets better all the way to the jetty. Sandy green to clear and green, moving South. Driving on low tide: 10/10 Driving on hide tide: 7/10, Middle road 2wd with some 4HI in the high banks   2 coyotes on the water line at the 7 Dead dolphin at the 42 Large trees in the water and IN THE ROAD from the 15 to the 50 A couple sandbar sharks reported from Mansfield Jetty as well as sheepshead Most camps within the first 5 miles Few camps south   Bird notes: Laughing Gull Herring Gull Sanderling Black Bellied Plover Ruddy Turnstone (7) Willet (100’s) Royal Tern Grackle Ring Billed Gull Great Blue Heron (12) Brown Pelican Caspian Tern Cormorant Forster’s Tern Semipalmated Plover (6) Cattle Egret Snowy Egret Reddish Egret Tricolored Heron (2) White Ibis (flocks of 15-30 flying over 1^st bar, 100’s) Long Billed Curlew (21) Black Tern (1) Barn Swallow (Scattered throughout the day, headed North) Horned Lark (19) Northern Harrier Sandwich Tern Wilson’s Plover (4) Peregrine Falcon (2) Crested Caracara (1) Black necked Stilt (1) American Avocet (1) Turkey Vulture (2) Franklin’s Gull (4) Least Tern (2)    

Friday night prior to the cleanup we hold an appreciation dinner at the Briscoe Pavilion at Padre Balli Park for the section leaders, parks personnel and all those who help us prepare for the Big Shell Cleanup the next day. Here Captain Billy Sandifer gets a commemorative golden "picker upper" award for the 20th Annual Cleanup. Ranger Buzz Botts commissioned the award and here we see section leader and Spoon'R Lure man, David Webb, presenting it to Billy. Longtime Cleanup Supporters Stephen and Donna Gregory are shown with Capt. Billy. Thanks Stephen and Donna for this year's donation of $1,000 to Friends of Padre. So far the Gregory's have contributed more than $7500 to our cleanup. Thank You! Congratulations on your recent retirement to Rockport.

Due to all the cold, wind, and rain I’ve been more concerned about this cleanup than usual. Then about 2 weeks before the cleanup date, our long term forecast got worse. The night before the cleanup we were forecasted 50 degrees, 25 mph East winds and rain from Friday night through Sunday night, nonstop. What worried me worse were those East winds. East winds like that are almost a sure bet to push the tide to, and sometimes beyond, the sand dunes. After meeting with PINS personnel Thursday, we all decided if the National Weather Service came out with a coastal flood advisory we would cancel the event. If they didn’t, we’d have the cleanup as planned. Saturday morning we were stunned to arise to a light North wind and light drizzle. But we were still concerned about the forecasted high East winds. At Malaquite winds were light but tides were high and there were 13’ seas. We decided to play it on the side of prudence and sent our sections out in smaller groups than normal and each group had a radio. We sent the first group to the South with instructions to stop and turn around if the tide got too high. We got to the 22 mile beach before being forced to the North. Each group to the North stopped when the one at the 22 mile did and started picking up trash as they headed back. Based on the weather forecast it’s amazing that 400 volunteers showed up and stuck it out. We picked up 25 tons of trash. Not as much as in some other years, but the tide beat us. We’ve now removed 2,336,000 pounds of thrash.  The loyalty of our volunteers fascinates me. Good weather or bad weather, they just stand out there and fight it; as if it were a life or death battle while elsewhere others seem intent on tearing up everything they can. And of course there are our sponsors without whom this and similar events could not go on at all. Getting the word out is a big deal and we’d like to thank outdoor writer, David Sikes, and the Corpus Christi Caller Times, Everett and Pam Johnson of Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, the Island Moon, Saltwater Angler as well as other publications who put in a good word for us. Thanks also to the board of Friends of Padre and all the coordinators and section leaders. I cannot say enough about the great folks at PINS NPS, Coastal Bend Audubon Society, Sharkathon, David Webb and Spooner Lures, Ben Beaty, Stephen and Donna Gregory, and Mr. David Ainsworth and the continued invaluable help of Ainsworth Trucking Company. Mr. Leon McNinch of the Ruth Parr Sparks Foundation, CCA Corpus Christi Chapter, Daniel Dain and Domino’s Pizza, H. E. B, as well as Gambler Graphics. A big thank you to Michael Laskowski Sr. and Jr. of Track Work Inc. Railroad Maintenance of San Antonio who again furnished volunteers with work gloves. Remember that the speed limit on PINS changed from 15 mph to 25 mph on March 1 and nesting turtles won’t be too long behind that. Take care of yourself and each other, be safe and have a good season. If we don’t leave any there won’t be any.   Billy Sandifer Photo Courtesy of NPS

via Dr. Donna Shaver Yesterday (25 February 2015), two live cold stunned green turtles were located in Texas, both in the Upper Laguna Madre. So far during the 2014-2015 cold stunning season (which began on 13 November 2014), the following cold stunned sea turtles have been found in Texas: Area Total Galveston Area/ Inshore 63 Lavaca/San Antonio Bay 35 Port O’Connor 1 Copano Bay 7 San Jose Island 2 Mustang Island/Aransas Pass 52 Upper Laguna Madre/Corpus Christi Bay 430 Padre Island National Seashore Gulf Beach 3 Lower Laguna Madre 115 TOTAL 708 Condition Total Alive 524 Dead 184 TOTAL 708 All were green turtles except for two loggerheads, one Kemp’s ridley, and one hawksbill turtle. Thank you to staff and volunteers from the National Park Service, ARK, Sea Turtle, Inc., Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Sea World San Antonio, NOAA-Fisheries, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas Sea Life Center, Texas General Land Office, Texas Master Naturalists, University of Texas, Gladys Porter Zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas State Aquarium, other organizations, and private citizens for their help to find, document, rehabilitate, and release cold stunned turtles on the Texas coast this year. Data presented here are preliminary. Do not cite or quote without permission. Contact Donna Shaver, Texas Coordinator of the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network, for further information.

FOP REPORT 021815 Air Temp: 54 Water Temp: 57 Wind: 10 NNW Waves: 3ft Water Clarity: Dirty to 3rd bar. Starting to clear on the north end. Weed: None Driving: Like a highway Birds: 3 White Tailed Hawks, 7 Caracara, 1 Peregrine, 70 Ruddy Turnstone, 43 Long Billed Curlew, 514 Sanderling Didn’t even bring the rods today. Just wanted to check the conditions after the front. Driving is as good as it gets. No bait was observed in the surf with the exception of 1 large cold stunned mullet. According to the weatherman, today and tomorrow may be the only days to be down PINS due to the weather. Lots of wind starting late tomorrow. The 20th Big Shell Cleanup is Feb. 28th. See you there!!! Check out this huge mullet next to size 11 boot. Capt Sandifer estimated the mullet to be close to 7lbs!