It's summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime

I took this photo while on a recent field trip to Port Canaveral. Is this a good day at the beach, or what? (Click to enlarge.)

I believe the lyrics to summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime are by The Jamies. It's not deathless prose, but ... it's summertime!

Nesting Skimmers

It is to be hoped that the crowded beach and fireworks did not disturb the ground nesting black skimmers located in Cocoa Beach. Friend Margie (beach coordinator for the City) had found two nesting pairs late last month during her morning patrols, but we decided not to draw attention to it. Now, Margie reports: the Species Conservation Planning Section of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (regional office in Ocala) is working with the City of Cocoa Beach to help protect the birds. They are quite excited about it.

We have staked off a pretty good-sized area around the two nests, and each of the nests is individually staked off inside the larger buffer zone.

If all goes well, the 6 eggs should hatch in a week or 10 days or so. Fingers crossed at this point. One of the guys at FWC said this is the first ground nesting colony in Brevard County he's heard of.

The black skimmer is listed as a species of special concern in Florida, and like the least terns we posted about recently, loss of habitat has driven skimmers to nesting on rooftops. We'll hope for good things for these nests.

Margie and her trusty camera will keep us posted. (Click on photos to enlarge)

A good beach story

Ann is on the beach daily as part of her Sea Turtle Preservation Society volunteer efforts, so she sees things that us mainland-bound folks don't. This week, she discovered Chuck, a camera-shy retired fireman who does cool sand sculptures early every morning while he and his wife are in the area. Chuck said it was ok to use the photos of his creations on here, so Ann snapped a photo of the lobster one day, then went back the next day to capture the mermaid. Check out the jewelry and seaweed hairdo on the mermaid - pretty clever! (Click on photos to enlarge.)

We've had problems lately with people digging deep holes in the sand and leaving them - a hazard for beach-goers and sea turtles. Ann was quick to report that Chuck is a responsible beach- goer. He does the sculptures right about at the tide line. He uses a garden type shovel, but the sand he digs up is wet sand down low where there are no turtle nests, and he does not leave a hole. He and his wife are only here for a couple of more days, so the folks around Ocean Landings in Cocoa Beach won't see any more of his scuptures for a while. Meanwhile, we thank Chuck for his artistic talents and Ann for spotting and photographing his creations.

Enjoy the 4th, and remember to give thanks for our freedom and the folks out protecting it. (I'm using Robin Chapman's antique postcard again because I think it is so lovely.)

Jay Watch

Besides being wonderful photographers and generous friends, Charlie Corbeil and Vince Lamb are both Florida Master Naturalists and active in Florida scrub-jay activities. Vince invited me to travel with them to a Jay Watch scrub-jay survey this past Saturday. I couldn't go, but he was kind enough to write up this guest blog, and he and Charlie contributed photos. Here is Vince's report:

Photo by Vince Lamb

Jay Watch is an annual survey of Florida Scrub-jays conducted at approximately 67 sites in 14 counties to monitor the status of this threatened bird. During 2002, the Nature Conservancy developed Jay Watch, utilizing volunteers to perform annual surveys. Buck Lake Conservation Area, a property located northwest of Titusville, has been included in the annual survey since 2007.

Photo by Charlie Corbeil

Maria Zondervan, biologist with St. Johns River Water management District, leads the surveys at Buck Lake. The 2009 survey took place on June 27-29. After a briefing session each morning, the participants were driven to selected locations. After confirming that no predators were present, each participant played a recorded scrub-jay call at intervals for several minutes and observed for scrub-jays. The numbers of adult birds and the number of fledglings were recorded. Band information was optionally collected. Calling and observing was repeated at six locations per participant.

Fledgling scrub-jay Photo by Vince Lamb

Juvenile scrub-jays are distinguished by the brown feathers on their heads until their first molt, typically in September. Jay Watch is conducted in June and July to allow the observers to detect the juveniles, which represent reproductive success. Seeing the juveniles with the scrub-jay families is always a treat.

Juvenile scrub-jay Photo by Vince Lamb

The Buck Lake Conservation Area, managed by The St Johns River Water Management District, is located north of State Road 46 and west of I-95, The eastern portion of the 9,638-acre property includes oak-palmetto scrub, the chosen habitat of the Florida Scrub-jays. The Jay Watch volunteers observed many other species of birds on the property, including a great horned owl, red-shouldered hawks, blue-jays and red-bellied woodpeckers.

Photo by Charlie Corbeil

Links:
Florida Scrub Jay
Florida Scrub Jay Watch
2008 Jay Watch Report
Florida Master Naturalist Program
Buck Lake Conservation Area
Vince Lamb Photos
Charlie Corbeil Photos
Our "it's a wild world" post with Charlie's fledgling pix

Think Mink!

Internet friend Sandra Baker-Hinton is an acclaimed artist and gallery owner living on Amelia Island. She's also “Senior Volunteer Turtle Lady” for the Ft. Clinch Park Service, and she writes a personal newsletter filled with photographs of the Park critters and scenery that I am lucky enough to receive. The other day, she forwarded some photos taken by a friend of hers, Pat Foster-Turley, showing an exciting find at the Park. In case you do not recognize the little guy in the photo below - it's a mink!


I did a little research and found that indeed, minks can be found in the salt marshes of the north Gulf coast and the north Atlantic coast down to Ft. Mantanzas. A threatened subspecies called the Everglades Mink is found in south Florida. (If you search on Florida mink, most of the hits refer to either coats or a rock band. However, I've included a Conservancy of Southwest Florida link below that provides some critter information.)

Is this cute, or what!

I asked Pat if I might share her photos with you, and she graciously agreed. Pat is a wildlife biologist with a specialty in otters - follow the link below to read more about her. Her husband is a Ranger at the Park, so I can imagine there is not much that goes on there, critter-wise, that they don't know about! She writes a Wild Ways newspaper column - when she writes up her mink sighting, she's going to send me the link and I'll post about it. Meanwhile, she says: I saw the mink around where a turtle nest was marked, but it was not after any eggs at the time. It was cruising along hunting the embankment where lots of grasshoppers and small crabs were evident. At one point it looked to me like it ate a crab.

Pat included her email address so folks can contact her directly for photos or more information - pfosterturley@yahoo.com . Our thanks to her for sharing her experience and her photos with us!

Links:
Sandra Baker-Hinton
Amelia SanJon Gallery
Florida Minks
Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D

A Monarch Emerges

You've heard me speak of Ed Perry - Park Ranger at McLarty Treasure Museum in Sebastian, leader of the Sea-Bean Symposium, maker of sea grape jelly, and all-around good guy. Ed has a butterfly garden at his home, and he recently sent us this cool video that he made of a Monarch butterfly emerging. His notes include the following: This is a Monarch butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. I found the chrysalis in my garden - it had fallen after a storm, so I pinned it back up and was able to follow it through development. It emerged in the morning at about 8 a.m., and I was able to capture this miracle on video.

I showed the video to Jim and asked him if there was any significance to the twirling back and forth at the end - he said it was probably because Ed had pinned the chrysalis back up, and that under normal circumstances, the chrysalis would have been stable and there would not have been the twirling. In any event, the butterfly coped beautifully!

As always, our thanks for talented friends like Ed that are willing to share their adventures (and their sea grape jelly).

Ed always closes his emails with some quotations - this one seems particularly appropriate :

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."Albert Einstein

One good Tern deserves another!

Saturday, friend Margie picked up five rehabilitated Least Terns from the Florida Wildlife Hospital to release in Cocoa Beach, near where they had been rescued. This is her account. The Least Tern release went really well. I had five of them in a mesh cage. They were quiet all the way to Cocoa Beach in the back seat. They stayed quiet, but watchful, while I carried them down a very long walkway to an area of the beach where a large flock of Least Terns gathers every day. As soon as we stepped onto the beach and heard the first cry of an adult Least Tern flying overhead, all the little ones in my carrier went wild. A couple started trying to fly out, and they all started chirping like mad. I took them down toward the water, as close as I could get to the flock, which had at least 50 birds in it.

As soon as I opened the top of the carrier, one flew out, then another, then a third. The last two were confused and needed a little encouragement, but they all flew well and joined the other birds.


The youngsters are on the far left of the below photo , with the light heads. (Margie titled this photo Everybody is facing this way, so I will too!)

A reminder - many shorebirds are beach nesters. Watch where you step, and don't approach birds that look as though they may be nesting. Be mindful of posted signs that warn of bird nesting areas. Don't let children run into flocks of birds just to see them fly - birds need their rest, too. Birds such as these Least Terns are designated as Protected, so please do your part in protecting them. For more information on nesting shorebirds, visit http://www.myfwc.com/ (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission).

Thanks to Florida Wildlife Hospital for their work on behalf of our wildlife, and to Margie for her volunteer efforts and her photographic ability - taking photos and releasing birds simultaneously is quite a feat! Good thing our Florida birds know how to pose.