SANDHILL LAKES MITIGATION BANK (FITZHUGH CARTER TRACT) OF ECONFINA CREEK WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA ANNUAL REPORT 2005-2006 Prepared by Kelly Gamble, Wildlife Biologist Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES.. ........................................ :...... ...... ......... ..... .... 4 LIST OF TABLES........... .................................................................. 5 INTRODUCTION............. ..................... ... ..... ............... ....... ............. 7 ECOLOGICAL AND LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION........................... .. 8 FISH AND WILDLIFEPOPULATIO NS.......................... ......................... 10 Freshwater Fish............................................................................. ... 10 Fish Population Assessment... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. ... 10 Public Fishing. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... ....... 14 White-tailed Deer. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 15 Management Objectives.. ......... ........... ....................................... ... ... 15 Population Trends...................... ............................ ................ .... .... 15 Harvest and Hunting Pressure.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 16 Wild Turkey.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 17 Management Objectives......................... .................................. ... 17 Harvest.............. ..... ............... ............... ............. ................... 17 Small Game....... ........ ............. ...... ..... .................. .................... ........ 17 Waterfowl........ ................................ ...................................... .... ..... 18 Harvest.. ... ...... ........... ........... ............. ..................... ..... ........... .... 18 Wood Duck Nest Boxes.... ................. ....... ......... ..... ....... .......... .... .... 18 Wading Birds........... ...... ... ............ .............. ... ............ ...... .... ..... ...... 20 Breeding Birds......................................... ... ............ ................. ........ 22 Neotropical Migrants.... .............................................................. ....... 23 Gopher Tortoise.. ........................... ........ .. .............................. ......... 27 Comprehensive Burrow Survey................ .......... ........... ...... .... .......... 27 Burrow Activity........ ............ ...... ...... ............ ... .......... ........ ........ .... 31 Burrow Size Classes....... ...... ... .. ................. ... .. ....... .. .. ... ....... .... 33 Soil Types..... ... ....... ............................................... .................. .... 35 Management Recommendations.... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .... 36 Areas of Cone em.................. ;................ .................. ...... ......... ....... 37 Future Plans and Expectations .............................................. :. .. ... .. 38 2 Herpetofauna ..................................... " ......... .. ....... .. ... ...... ....... ....... 38 MISCELLANEOUS MANAGEMENT ACTIVITES ...................................... 41 LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITES........................................................ 42 LITERATURE CITED ......................... '" ... ..... ...... ........ ... .. ... .. .. ..... 44 APPENDIX I - Percent occurrence offish species sampled via Wegener rings fo r Dry, Black and Green Ponds on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA, October - November 2005 and March - April 2006. ........ ... ................... .............. ..... 47 APPENDIX II - Plan fo r Special Opportunity Fishing Program on the Carter Tract ofEconfina Creek WMA.... · . ...... .. ....... .. .. ..... ...... ... ..... ...... ......... .. ......... 51 APPENDIX III - 1960 Florida Wildlife article on fish camp at Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA.................................................... ................................ 55 APPENDIX IV - Wood Duck Nest Box Monitoring Data Sheet. ........ ......... ... ... 60 APPENDIX V - Gopher Tortoise Burrow Count Survey Form. ......... ...... ......... 62 APPENDIX VI - Wading Bird Nest Monitoring Data Sheet. ......... .................... 63 APPENDIX VII - Herpetofaunal Drift Fence Monitoring Data Sheet.... .. ... .. .... 65 APPENDIXVIII - EconfinaCreek WMA2005-2006 Regulations Summary and Area Map.............................................................................................. 66 APPENDIX IX - 2005-2006 Annual Work Plan, Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA............................................................................................ 70 APPENDIX X - 2006-2007 Annual Work Plan, Carter Tract ofEconfinaCreek WMA........................................................................................... 75 3 - I LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Upland sandhills leading down to a marsh on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek Wildlife Management Area. ... 8 Figure 2. Electrofishing on Black Pond on the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA. ... ................................................................................ ....... 11 Figure 3. Fish sampling via Wegener Ring on Dyke's Mill Pond on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA, October 2005. .. 11 Figure 4. Distribution of deer survey routes established on the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA,September 2005. ..... .. 16 Figure 5. Efforts to monitor and facilitate local breeding populations of Wood Ducks on the area began in September 2005 with the construction and installation of 50 cypress/cedar nest boxes..................................... .................... .. ........... 18 Figure 6. Location of Wood Duck nest boxes placed on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA,Dece mber 2005 - January 2006.. ........................................ 19 Figure 7. This wading bird rookery was fo und on Little Deep Edge Pond on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA. Six species and over 117 individuals were recorded on the rookery in April 2006. .................................................................. 20 Figure 8. Little Blue Herons (Egretta caerulea) and Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) flushing from rookery on Little Deep Edge Pond, Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA, April 2006........................................ ............................................. 21 Figure 9. White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus), captured in mist net during surveys on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA, spring 2006. .... .................... .... ....... 23 Figure 10. Mist net placed during bird surveys in upland hardwoods on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA,spring 2006. ............ .... ........... ......... ...... .... ..... 25· Figure 11. Locations of mist net surveys on the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA.......................................................................................... 26 Figure 12. Gopher Tortoise burrows were fo und and marked on the Fitzhugh Carter Tract of Econfina CreekWMA by ATV transect surveys in areas of suitable habitat.... 28 Figure 13. Gopher tortoise survey clusters and burrows with activity status located via visual searches using systematic transects across suitable habitat on the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA, fall 2005 and summer 2006............................................................................................ 29 Figure 14. Rebar calipers used to measure the width of gopher tortoise burrows during surveys on the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA.. .. 31 4 T Figure 15. Drift fence used in herpetofaunal surveys dividing slope and wetland ecotones on the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA. .... ......... ...... ............... ..... ... 39 Figure 16. Location of driftfe nces installed for herpetofaunal surveys on the Carter Tract of Econfina CreekWMA, October 2005 - May 2006. ....... ........ ............ ...... 41 Figure 17. Plexi-glassed kiosk installed at the entrance to the Carter Tract ofEconfina Creek . WMA was designed to provide additional information to hunters, anglers and others on the area.......... ....... ...... ......... ........... ................... ........... ... 42 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Existing land cover classifications as of2005 on the Fitzhugh Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA , given by the Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCCS)...................................................................... 9 Table 2. Schnabel population estimates with 95% confidence interval fo r largemouth bass from Carter Tract, Spring 2006.............................................. ... 12 Table 3. Fish species identifiedfrom electro fishing and Wegnerring surveys conducted on . major waterways within the Carter Tract of Econfina Creek WMA, fall 2005 and spring 2006. ................ ........ .... .... ..... ......... ....... ......... ........... ... 13 Table 4. Electrofishing results fo r sportfish sampled from the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA, October - November 2005.............. .......................................................................... 14 Table 5. Electrofishing results for sportfish sampled from the Carter Tract ofEconfina Creek WMA, March - ApriI 2006..................................................... 14 Table 6. Harvest summary for the deer hunting seasons on the Carter Tract of EconfinaCreek WMA, 2005-2006. .............................................................