I’ve been scarce this summer, I know. I’ve been super busy running
around the Florida Keys working, educating, learning, playing, and
soaking in the sunshine.
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Sunset as seen from the Port Pine Heights neighborhood, July 2014
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Sunset as seen from the Port Pine Heights neighborhood, July 2014
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Highlights of my summer have included watching a pair of Anhingas court,
build a nest, lay eggs, incubate, and now care for their 2 chicks.
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Anhingas on the nest, Blue Hole, Big Pine Key, FL
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Exploring Long Beach
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I developed and help run a 6 week guided nature walk series throughout
the summer. It ran Wednesday evenings, which quickly became my favorite
time of day to be outside. The temps are lower, the sunsets are
beautiful, and the bugs aren’t that bad! We’re finished now, as the kids
here are back in school, which has surprised me! In NY I didn’t go back
to high school until after Labor Day Weekend.
Our 6 weeks of walks had a different theme. Week #1 brought the group
to the Long Beach part of the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge. This
is an ocean-side (as opposed to bay-side, this is Keys lingo) beach.
It’s not very pleasant for us humans, as there is a lot of vegetation,
coral, rocks, and sea grasses. It’s fun to explore the intertidal zones,
watch for birds, and run into Key deer along the way. We scooped up
handfuls of sand, and realized that it’s not born from granite and
quartz, like on the East Coast beaches, but it’s biological in nature.
We could pick out tiny shells and bits of corals, which was really neat.
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Gambusia sp. or more commonly known as
Mosquito-fish,
are dumped in the freshwater wetlands by a mosquito
control company. These fish are used as a biological control
for
mosquitoes, which eat the larvae, and therefore help make
the Keys
liveable.
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On our second guided walk, we ventured off the beaten path and explored a
hidden freshwater wetland. People are surprised to hear that we have an
abundance of available, fresh water. But, that’s a reason why we have
wildlife like Key deer, marsh rabbits, wading birds, and amphibians.
Personally, I wanted to find frogs during this trip. I spent a lot of
time online the day before, looking up documented NATIVE species of
frogs found on Big Pine Key. I even spoke with a herpetologist who had
done work in the Keys, and was familiar with local critters.
Unfortunately, we were skunked, and did not catch any frogs. We saw a
couple, but they were much too quick! The kids thoroughly enjoyed it
though, getting wet, catching fish with little nets, and I think just
being outside!
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| Green Heron seen at the Blue Hole during the photo safari! |
Week #3 brought us to a popular place on the Refuge, the Blue Hole. This
is an old limestone quarry, and has filled in naturally with
freshwater. Alligators, fish, turtles, birds, deer, lizards all spend a
lot of time in and around Blue Hole. There’s a nice gravel patch that
walks you through the trees, and out onto a wooden observation deck to
view the pond. We encouraged our guests during this trip to take
pictures. We called it a “photo safari”, and when we were finished, we
returned to the visitor center to view everyone’s pictures and to print a
couple of the best ones out.
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Myself and a male fiddler crab!
You can tell it’s a male, because of that
one very large claw, used for defense and courting.
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Week #4 wasn’t really a walk per se, but an adventure! We used seine
nets at a boat launch area, to try and catch some little fish, crabs, or
whatever else was present. The kids were really into it! We caught 2
different kinds of crabs (and these may not be 100% accurate names);
mangrove crab and fiddler crab. We also caught a few species of “bait”
fish which was awesome! We talked about the importance of mangroves, and
the ethics of handling live animals. The weather was “mild” (as mild as
it can be in the FL Keys in July… so, not SCORCHING), the sunset was
gorgeous, and the kids got soaked! All around a great night, one of my
favorites this summer.
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These tree snails (Liguus fasciatus), are
listed as species
of special concern in the State of Florida, and were almost
completely wiped out due to over-collection.
We were lucky to
spot some on No Name Key!
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Week #5 took us onto the No Name Key, and the goal was to learn
about and hopefully spot a White-crowned Pigeon. This is a very cool
bird that is elusive, and wary. In the United States, it’s only found in
South Florida, specifically the Keys. It is found through the Caribbean
and Bahamas as well. Of course along the way we saw other cool critters
like the tree snails, Key deer, spiders, and other birds! We had an
assortment of folks join us throughout the summer, but had 2 families
stick with us for the entire series. On this night, one of our youngest,
a 6 year old little boy, led the pack. He was outfitted with a
flashlight, binoculars, stainless steel forceps, and a “poker” stick.
This kid cracks me up, but I’m refreshed by a kid who LOVES the outdoors
and nature just as much as I do. His 3 year old sister as well was
really into it. She collected every little thing she found to show me,
and it was adorable.
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Our final walk led us to find this rare Key
ringneck snake
presented itself to us. At first, I thought it was a juvenile,
but after some research, it may be an adult! Very small,
and
that ring as seen on other ring-necked snakes, is faint.
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The final walk was my favorite. We had perfect weather, the humidity
seemed to slack off a little, and the sun was low. We took this walk to
get folks out into the pine rockland habitat, which Southern Florida
used to be in abundance of, especially the Keys. We saw birds a-plenty,
and hoped for Lower Keys marsh rabbits and Key deer, but I think our
group was a little too rambunctious!
The summer is winding down here. Even though this is the land of
perpetual summer it seems, I can feel a difference in the air, the water
looks different when I’m snorkeling, and the days are shortening. My
time here as well is dwindling. It’s bittersweet, as I’ve made some
great friends and contacts, and truly enjoyed the Keys lifestyle. But,
I’ve landed another temporary position within the National Wildlife
Refuge System, this time in Alabama! I’ll be journeying to NY the end of
next month to visit friends and family (including the Albany area!),
and to retrieve my dog Addie. Then Addie and Alyssa will make the
journey south, once again! Alabama, here I come!
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Sunset over the pine rocklands on Big Pine Key, August 2014.
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On September 14th, I went to the Dry Tortugas National Park which is
found 70 miles west of Key West. It was a beautiful trip (albeit a bit
rough going out there). After I walked Fort Jefferson, ate lunch,
snorkeled, and walked down Bush Key (see previous entry for pictures), I
wanted to check out a large flock of gulls and terns I saw when the
boat pulled up. If you’re into birding, and want to see some rare birds,
Garden Key is the place to visit, which is the Key that the Fort is
built on. Within close proximity are several rookeries, including Brown
Boobies, Sooty Terns, and Brown Noddies. I luckily saw all 3 of those
(no pics though, it all happened so fast!), and all 3 were new species
for me! In total I added 6 new species to my life list, all in one day.
Pictures to follow!
Here are some other critters I saw while walking.
