Mark Rachel installs “No Trespassing” signs at the Miller Family Bird Sanctuary which was donated to Audubon in 2012.
Growing up in Chicago, Mark Rachal wanted to be a zookeeper.
About 25 years later, he’s manager of Florida Audubon’s Coastal Island Sanctuaries, including islands named the state’s most important bird colony by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and designated as a globally important site by the National Audubon Society.
Along the way, he’s braved trespassers who are angry that they can’t come ashore, photographers who scare birds into leaving their nests so they get better pictures, a helicopter and toy airplanes, invasive vines that could destroy valuable habitat, and even rattlesnakes that share the islands with the birds. He’s also learned to raise funds, operate a small boat in choppy waters, and handle injured birds – including pelicans, cormorants and herons.
Rachal arrived in Tampa Bay almost by accident after meeting and then marrying Tampa native Laura Ward (now a circuit court judge) at Davidson College in North Carolina. He started his career with Audubon as a volunteer in 2006, working with Tampa Bay Area Regional Coordinator Ann Paul to band roseate spoonbills, perhaps the region’s most photogenic resident. The bright pink birds have staged an amazing comeback after being hunted nearly to extinction for their brilliant plumage in the 1800s. They returned to Tampa Bay in the mid-1970s, first nesting at the Richard T. Paul Alafia Bank Sanctuary in Hillsborough Bay and then expanding to islands across the region.
“The colonies at the Alafia Bank are the most diverse of any colony in the contiguous U.S. with 16 species of birds,” he said.
Spoonbills nest on islands where they’re protected from predators like raccoons and feral cats, but still need protection from over-zealous photographers. “Sharing the needs of nesting birds with the public is one of the most important parts of my job,” he says. “Most people are happy to give the birds the space they need to raise their families and respect the ‘No Trespassing’ boundaries that have been set up.” (Learn more at baysoundings.com/legacy-archives/spring2013/commentary.php)
The roseate spoonbills are amazing to watch, he says, but the American oystercatchers may be his favorites. Beach-nesting birds with distinctive orange beaks – strong enough to pry open an oyster – they nest at the Alafia Bank and other islands and beaches in the Tampa Bay region. “They’re solitary nesters but the pairs stay close to each other – it’s almost an imaginary boundary line and other birds don’t enter their territories.”
Like many birds that nest on beaches, the oystercatchers are considered “threatened” in Florida where they share their habitat with beachgoers and boaters. That makes Audubon’s sanctuaries in Tampa Bay particularly important to their survival. “They hang out all year long, often on Port Tampa Bay property, and wait for Spring to nest,” Rachal said.
The newest addition to the colonies Rachal watches over is the Miller Family Bird Sanctuary, located near the Don CeSar Hotel. It had been privately owned for years until the family donated it to Audubon in late 2012. Birds have nested on the newly protected island in the past, including a group of great blue herons that set up housekeeping every year. “What seems to be going on is that they land, watch what happens around them and then decide to stay if they think it’s safe,” he said.
One of the most important new efforts focuses on teaching fishermen that monofilament line kills birds — and that they can save lives by removing hooks rather than cutting lines. “If a fisherman cuts the line, the bird flies back to its colony and becomes entangled – then dies a long slow death. Even worse, the hanging line can capture more birds over time.”
The Sunshine Skyway, like many fishing piers which tend to have a high number of hooked and entangled birds, is now patrolled by trained volunteers and a full-time staff person paid by the skyway’s concessionaire. Early Winter is the worst season for birds and monofilament line because there are fewer forage fish and a fisherman’s bait is more attractive. That makes it hard to track a successful effort, but the numbers of birds flying past with line dangling behind them seems to have dropped. (Learn more at http://baysoundings.com/kittiwake-death-a-wake-up-call/ and http://www.tampaaudubon.org/Conservation.html).
Along with the field work – almost too much fun to be called work, he says – Rachal and Paul are responsible for raising the funds that keep the Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries running. Nearly 30 sanctuaries are located from Charlotte County north to Citrus, plus they work with partnering agencies at another 29 sites to conduct surveys and improve habitat management.
“Audubon expects us to be completely self-sufficient,” Paul says. “It’s not our favorite part of the job but we have a lot of people who support us every year and we appreciate working with them.”
[su_note note_color=”#4094ad” text_color=”#ffffff”]Audubon’s Tampa Bay Islands Sanctuaries include:
- Richard T. Paul Alafia Bank Sanctuary at the mouth of the Alafia River is among the largest and most diverse nesting sites in the continental U.S.
- Green Key and Whiskey Stump Key, also in Hillsborough Bay, are the original Tampa Bay Sanctuary islands. Protected since 1934, the islands and the seagrass meadows surrounding them provide important foraging and loafing habitats.
- Miller Family Bird Colony Island, donated to Audubon in 2012, already hosts impressive numbers of birds, including the iconic great blue heron.
- Nina Griffith Washburn Sanctuary is located in Terra Ceia Bay and has been protected by Audubon wardens since 1939. With 16 nesting species, this colony is ranked the second most important by the FWC.
- The Dot-Dash Colony at the mouth of the Braden River consists of three small mangrove islands (Dot, Dash and Dit!) and is the home of the only coastal colony of wood storks in the Tampa Bay area.
- Rachal and Paul also are responsible for protecting islands in Sarasota Bay, Clearwater Harbor and St. Joseph Sound.