The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 184NORTH LIDO BEACH–PALMER POINTNorth Lido Beach (77 acres; 30 ha) and Palmer Point County Park (30 acres; 12 ha)Sarasota County107 acres (42 ha)LOCATION: two sites along the Gulf of Mexico south of Sarasota in west-central Sarasota County,occupying the northern end of Lido Key, and the northern tip of Casey Key and southern tip of SiestaKey. The keys are separated by Midnight Pass. The number of recreationists who use the Park is notknown.DESCRIPTION: two small coastal county parks on barrier islands but connected to the mainland bybridges and causewaysOWNERSHIP: Sarasota Parks and Recreation Department (North Lido Beach), City of Sarasota, managedby Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department (Palmer Point)HABITATS: North Lido Beach: *estuarine, *coastal strand, mangrove forest, artificial. Palmer PointCounty Park: *mangrove forest, *estuarine, *coastal strand, maritime hammockLAND USE: North Lido Beach: *conservation, recreation. Palmer Point County Park: *conservation,*recreationIBA CATEGORIES: North Lido Beach: significant populations of Threatened species. Palmer PointCounty Park: significant populations of Threatened and FRCEPA species; and significant naturalhabitatsAVIAN DATA: The Parks support significant populations of breeding Snowy Plovers, and significantpopulations of wintering shorebirds and larids. Palmer Point has been documented as a shorebirdbreeding site since the 1950s.Both sites combined:SPECIES DATES NUMBERS COMMENTSSnowy Plover summer 1990summer 19918 pairs9 pairs4% (R)4% (R)Wilson's Plover summer 1992 5 pairs 2% (R)Shorebirds Nov 1997Jan 1999350 birds425 birds(W)(W)Least Tern summer 1992 50 pairs 1% (B)Data provided by Jeffrey Weber (Sarasota County Resource Management); plover data from the Fiscal Year 1992–1993 Coastal Wildlife Questionnaire of the (former) Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.OTHER RESOURCES: North Lido Beach: Sea turtles nest on the beach. Palmer Point County Park:Listed plants include ♦beach creeper (Ernodea littoralis) and ♦inkberry (Scaevola plumieri). Seaturtles nest on the beach.THREATS: North Lido Beach: *development, *exotic plants. Palmer Point County Park: *exoticplantsCONSERVATION ISSUES: Neither site was documented to contain plovers during the 1989 statewidesurvey +(Gore and Chase 1989); these sites apparently were overlooked. Furthermore, extant data onSnowy Plovers–on which IBA designation is solely based–are more than 10 years old. • North LidoBeach: The Park currently has no management plan. Regularly scheduled land management activitieshave not been implemented, but occasional monitoring does occur. The beach is actively patrolled forsea turtle nests during the summer. • Exotic plants (primarily Australian-pines) are a problem, butvolunteers have removed most of the trees, and maintain other exotic plants at low densities. • Muchof the land north and south of the Park is heavily developed. Palmer Point Park currently is a