Lake Rousseau - A Haven For Florida Wading Birds

Lake Rousseau - A Haven For Florida Wading Birds

Rainbow and Withlacoochee River

Lake Rousseau Marion, Citrus and Levy Counties

Western end of Lake Rousseau

Lake Rousseau opening up toward the gulf Max. length 12 miles (19 km) Max. width 1 mile (2 km) Surface area c. 3,700 acres

Inglis Dam, Inglis Island and the Cross Florida Barge Canal

Inglis Dam and Boat Ramp

Photo from Gene Gresens home, taken 2009

Why Lake Rousseau is such a magnet for wading birds Water level is kept fairly even Shallow water for easy feeding Diversity of habitats, including underwater nurseries resulting in high numbers of fish, crustaceans, insects, turtles, small gators Many islands with good nesting shrubs, provide safety from racoons Alligators keep prey at bay Great number of submerged cypress stumps minimize boat traffic around the feeding and nesting areas.

Backwaters by Goldendale Goldendale Boat Ramp

Sandhill Cranes caught outside/inside the fence

Florida Sandhill Cranes

Bald Eagle on nest

Eagle chick begging for food

Osprey use both natural and man made nests on Lake Rousseau

About 40 birds in the islands near Goldendale 2010 nesting egrets, herons, ibis, anhingas, cormorants and 3 osprey nests

Anhinga on nest

Anhinga youngsters

East of Goldendale Boat Ramp

Glossy ibis, Great egrets, Tricolored herons, White ibis, Snowy egrets, Cattle egrets, Green herons, anhingas

Little Blue Heron breeding plumage

Little Blue Heron on nest

Glossy Ibis breeding plumage

Glossy Ibis nesting

Snowy Egret breeding plumage

Snowy Egret with chick

Great Egret with long aigrettes (plumes), lime green lores, bill turns yellow/orange

Great Egret deep in the nesting site

Hunting for food is hard work

Tricolored Heron breeding plumage

Tricolored Heron preening

Tricolored Heron with catch

Hungry White Ibis chicks

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret chicks

Black-crowned Night Heron

White Ibis tree with 26 juveniles

On the morning of April 15 th, 2011 wading birds were very active, bringing nesting material into the shrubs and flying to and from this rookery. Many birds were already on their nests and hard if not impossible to see deep into the dense shrubs. Kaykers set up positions on the western and eastern side of the islands to count the number of birds they saw with hand held counting clickers. The count was: 1,489 birds during a one hour period from 8:30-9:30 am. Later in May a retired army Colonial counted 5,122 birds flying into and out of this site. This was only on one side of the island and did not take into effect all the young birds that were heard calling for food from their nests that could not be seen.

In 2010 Lake Rousseau was identified as an area of major significance for wading nesting birds in Florida. Statistics from Florida Fish and Wildlife s surveys of 1,600 lakes over the entire state of Florida during January - June 1999 to locate wading bird nesting colonies (herons, egrets ibises, spoonbills, storks, anhingas, cormorants, pelicans, etc) found only 371 lakes with such colonies. Of these, only 13% had five or more species of wading birds. Fewer colonies were found in 1999 compared to previous statewide surveys and most species continued a trend of nesting in smaller numbers and in fewer colonies during 1999 compared to previous surveys. Eleven wading and water bird nesting areas were identified on Lake Rousseau in 2010 and in 2011. These areas included 15 nesting wading bird species: great egrets, snowy egrets and cattle egrets; great blue herons, tricolored herons, little blue herons, green herons and black-crowned night herons; white ibis and glossy ibis; least bitterns; limpkin; anhingas and double-crested cormorants; and Florida sandhill cranes. One new site found in 2011 had nesting double-crested cormorants, anhingas and great blue herons, with green herons, least bitterns, and other egrets and herons feeding along the edges.

A second smaller site was located with Florida sandhill cranes and limpkins nesting, and a third, included three islands of reeds between two major island rookeries where least bittern were located.

Closer view of Peaceful Acres Boat Ramp

Glossy Ibis chicks begging for food

Trio of Limpkins

Islands west of Peaceful Acres Boat Ramp

Birds nesting on an island in the eastern end of Lake Rousseau

Little Blue Heron

Juvenile Snowy Egret with parent

Juvenile Green Heron

Island of reeds and grasses

Least Bittern, male. 19 Least Bitterns were counted one morning in June of 2011

Juvenile Wood Storks

Least Tern

Brown Pelican

FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION FLORIDA S ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES Updated October 2011 Common Name Scientific Name Status Florida sandhill crane Grus canadensis pratensis ST Limpkin Aramus guarauna SSC Little blue heron Egretta caerulea SSC Snowy egret Egretta thula SSC Tricolored heron Egretta tricolor SSC White ibis Eudocimus albus SSC Least tern Sterna antillarum ST Brown pelican Pelecanus occidentalis SSC Wood stork Mycteria Americana FE Listed by the State of Florida as Federally-designated Endangered (FE), Federally-designated Threatened (FT), Federally-designated Threatened because of similarity of appearance [FT(S/A)], Federal non-essential experimental population (FXN), State-designated Threatened (ST), or State Species of Special Concern (SSC).

Solitary nesters, like the Least Bittern, and the Common and Purple Gallinules also need protection from nest disturbance Purple Gallinule

Known water bird rookery sites (R) in 2010 plus Bald eagle (E) and Osprey nests (O) in use during that season. The first map indicates the rookeries accessed from the Goldendale Public Boat Ramp while the second map shows the rookeries reached from the Peaceful Acres or Inglis Dam Public Boat ramps.

Because of the size of the lake and inability to kayak into many of the marsh areas, we do not know if there are more rookeries that have yet to be identified.,

NESTING TIME FOR WADING BIRDS: The breeding season of the nesting wading birds can be synchronous or spread out. They begin to gather in late February and the bulk of their egg laying is from February through July. As a general rule, incubation usually takes from 26 30 days with the first flight about six weeks after hatching. The juveniles gradually leave the nest to perch on nearby branches and may return to the nest at night during this period. During our surveys of the nesting birds on the lake, we found white ibis with various ages of chicks at the same time, indicating their egg laying was also not synchronous, making it harder to predict when the young would become fully independent of the nesting rookeries. If weather or other factors such as scarcity of food delay the nesting season, the rookeries will still be vulnerable from disturbances well into July.

155 species of birds have been located on Lake Rousseau, from Bird surveys conducted by CCAS in 2000 on and around Inglis Island, Florida, and from birds sighted while kayaking on the lake from 2007 to 2011.. Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Ruddy Duck Wild Turkey Northern Bobwhite Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Wood Stork Northern Gannet Double-crested Cormorant Anhinga American White Pelican Brown Pelican American Bittern Least Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron White Ibis Glossy Ibis Wood Stork Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Swallow-tailed Kite Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Am. Kestrel Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Purple Gallinule Common Moorhen American Coot Limpkin Sandhill Crane Killdeer Black-necked Stilt Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Least Tern Common Tern Forster's Tern Royal Tern Rock Pigeon Common Ground Dove Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Eastern Screech-Owl Great Horned Owl Barred Owl Common Nighthawk Chuck-will's-widow Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Acadian Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Loggerhead Shrike White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough winged Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren House Wren Marsh Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Veery Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing Golden-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Prothonotary Warbler Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird Kentucky Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler Yellow-breasted Chat Summer Tanager Scarlet Tanager Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch Least Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Sora Rail

If drought conditions continue in Florida, the stable level of the lake s water increases the importance of this lake for nesting wading birds. Often water birds do not nest during droughts as the colony site dries up and the birds go elsewhere to breed or skip the year until the weather conditions change. Nesting sites should not be disturbed during the nesting season. Please keep at least 300 yards from nesting birds and notify Florida Fish and Wildlife if you see that birds are being harassed. Please pick up trash if you see it on the lake. Birds and turtles may ingest plastic or other pieces of man made materials and suffer harm or death as a result. Most of all, enjoy all the wonderful diversity of bird life that exists on Lake Rousseau, the great fishing the lake provides and the wonderful vistas found in almost every direction.