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Navy
and IDNR Set Up New Sanctuary to Protect Rare Nesting Terns
Last
year, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center Environmental
Department and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
(IDNR) identified remnants of a common tern nesting colony
that had been preyed upon and abandoned. The state-endangered
common tern had chosen to nest along an area adjacent to
the tip of the center’s north breakwater along the
shore of Lake Michigan. Evidently, the birds had been disturbed
by people and the nests had been ransacked by mammalian
predators. Since these migratory birds require specific
sandy habitats in which to nest, the Naval Training Center
decided to provide them a safe space to do so.
This
spring, the Navy and IDNR created a Protected Bird Sanctuary
enclosed by a four-foot high, vinyl-coated, gardening fence
and electric fencing. The space encompasses about two acres
of transitional area that will someday be completely submerged
when Lake Michigan waters are restored to their normal level
from the current low level.
Donald
Dann, an avid birder and concerned environmental leader,
brought this site to the attention of Brad Semel, IDNR natural
heritage biologist. Semel and Dann recognized that the only
other site known to support nesting common terns had been
abandoned earlier in the year due to repeated attacks by
a pair of peregrine falcons that had established a nesting
site nearby. "The Navy’s willingness to protect this
site is a significant step in protecting the state’s
only known nesting colony," said Semel.
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