Georgia, USA
Regional Site
Contact: Kevin McIntyre
The Lodge on
Little St. Simon’s Island
PO Box 21078
Little St Simon’s Island, GA 31522 USA
Tel: (888)
733-5774
WHSRN Site Location
Area of Site:
Altamaha Land Description:
Second largest river on the Eastern Seaboard. Surrounded
largely by protected areas. St Simons
Island is a10,000 acre private island.
Land Use:
fishing, recreation
Protection:
Current Threats:
·
Beach
erosion
·
marine
pollution,
·
oil/chemical
spill (low probability)
·
increasing
human population in area.
Physical Geography:
·
highly
dynamic sandy beach
·
extensive
inter-tidal flats
·
dune
grassland
·
salt
marsh
Major Causes of
Disturbance:
·
Greater
frequency/intensity of recreational boating
·
recreational
beach-going
·
recreational
fishing
·
low-flying
aircraft (private and military).
Biology: What Shorebird
Species Use This Site?
Common
species:
Red Knot Calidris cantus
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Black-bellied
Plover Pluvialus squatarola
Sanderling
Calidris alba
Semipalmated
Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Western
Sandpiper Calirus mauri
Semipalmated
Sandpiper Calidris pusilla
Short-billed
Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
Marbled
Godwit Limosa fedoa
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
Ruddy
Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Least
Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Piping
plover Charadrius melodus
Greater
Yellowlegs Tringa melanolueca
Lesser
Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Spotted
Sandpiper Actitis macularia
Breeding:
Wilson’s
Plover Charadrius milsonia
American
Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus
Willet Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
Recent Management
& Research Activities
Management & Research :
Visitor management, education, human exclusion, preservation of shorebird/wildlife habitat. ISS surveys. Documenting Shorebird activity on Egg Bar.
Information
Relating to WHSRN
Land Owners of Areas Signed to WHSRN:
Federal:
Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge
USFWS
Savannah Coastal Refuges
Parkway
Business Center, Suite 10
1000
Business Center Drive
Savannah,
GA 31405
Sam Drake,
John Robinette: contacts
State: Egg
Island Bar, Sapelo Island
Georgia
DNR Coastal Resources Division
1
Conservation Way
Brunswick,
GA 31520
Brad Winn;
contact
Private: Little St Simons Island
Berolzheimer
Family
P.O. Box
21078
St Simons
Island, GA 31522
Kevin
McIntyre; contact
Date Site Joined WHSRN:
April 2000
Locally Involved Agencies, Communities
& Organizations:
TNC
Altamaha River Bioreserve
Christi
Lambert, Director
P.O. Box
484
Darien, GA
31305-0484
Georgia
Wildlife Federation
Jerry
McCollum
1930 Iris
Drive
Conyers,
GA 30094
Georgia
Ornithological Society
P.O. Box
1684
Cantersville,
GA 30120
Coastal
Georgia Audubon
Mike
Chapman
213
Brighton Cir.
Brinswick,
GA 31525
Local Community Contacts:
Local Activities:
Bird-watching,
canoeing, kayaking, fly fishing, horseback riding www.LittleStSimonsIsland.com. Same contact information as site.
Ceremony Celebrating Altamaha’s
Inclusion in WHSRN:
April 28,
2000
Bibliography:
Corbat,
C.A. 1990. Nesting ecology of selected beach-nesting birds in Georgia. Ph.D.
dissertation. University of Georgia,
Athens, GA.
Nichols,
J.L. 1989. Distribution and the
ecological aspects of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodius) wintering along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
M.S. Thesis. Auburn University, Auburn, AL.