Huguenot Memorial Park is a crucial Northeast Florida nesting website for coastal birds, together with Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls. Hundreds of birds nest right here annually, sometimes on the north finish of the park. Fashionable for beachgoers as effectively, park managers normally shut among the seaside to automobiles throughout nesting season to permit chicks protected entry to the water.
2024: A PROBLEM EMERGES
In 2024, nesting shifted considerably south of the standard closed space, which meant the birds moved into areas the place automobiles drive and park as they moved from the dunes to the water. Tragically, greater than 40 birds perished on account of car strikes. Moreover, the state of affairs highlighted limits of counting on historic nesting patterns to information protections.
2025: A TURNAROUND
“The park employees and metropolis workers deserve enormous kudos as they labored on completely different methods to assist the fowl households,” explains Northeast Florida Coverage Affiliate Chris Farrell. They labored with Audubon and employed adjusted administration methods to guard the birds the place they determined to nest. One other enormous shout out to our Audubon volunteer stewards — you performed an necessary position in each safeguarding the birds and speaking to seaside customers about how one can share the shore.
The protected space was expanded to incorporate new nesting places, reaching roughly 450 toes past the standard closure. Plus, a seasonal protecting “field” was added alongside the dunes to increase protections to the south utilizing a “shifting field” method — particularly on weekends — so safety may shift as birds and chicks moved. Legislation enforcement companions actively intervened when wanted, stopping site visitors to permit chicks protected passage to the shoreline. Extra posted areas had been created when flightless chicks moved exterior designated zones.
The end result? Higher safety for the birds. Screens and stewards recorded solely 17 fowl fatalities in 2025 from car strikes.
LOOKING AHEAD
The objective, in fact, is to cut back these fatalities to zero. “The 2025 method shall be repeated and refined shifting ahead,” explains Farrell. “We sit up for continued cooperation between Audubon, the Metropolis of Jacksonville, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Workplace — all of which meet as a part of the park’s Shorebird Administration Staff.”
This text initially appeared within the 2025 Coastal Report. Click here to read the full report.
