Details: Written by DOUG MAPLE, CEDAR KEYS AUDUBON

…A note from Cedar Keys Audubon

Vice-President Doug Maple

On Monday May 22, I discovered a new pelican rookery.  It is a small rookery located near the point at which the Number Three and Number Four channels come together, near Rye Key. This has been the site of large numbers of roosting pelicans as well as herons and egrets since the Sea Horse Key rookery was abandoned approximately two years ago.  I have been observing the site since that time and I am relatively sure that no birds nested there last spring.

I returned to the site today with my camera.  I counted nine adult pelicans and seven babies.  See photos here.

This is the first pelican nesting site that I know of outside of Sea Horse Key in the 20 years that I have been exploring our waters.  Let’s hope the raccoons stay away.

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