2 new camera trapped species!

Life in Eufaula, Alabama is just fine, and I’m really enjoying it! The birding is great, the weather has been great, my dog is loving exploring with me, and the food is fantastic!

Of course you know I brought my camera traps with me (Cuddeback Attack Flash and an IR Bushnell Trophy Cam), as I do where ever I move to. I’ve been here about 2 weeks, and I’ve gotten 2 new species for my bucket list. Enjoy!

Addie knows something lives just beyond her reach…but what is it?

A nine-banded armadillo! Just behind it, is a hole that it dug out to scoot under the fence, much to Addie’s frustration. This is a new species for me!

Gray fox. I first “trapped” these in the Outer Banks of NC, and then also in Cobleskill, NY.

Another new species! A fox squirrel. These are found in the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes of NY, but I’ve never seen them.

Fox squirrel

Fox squirrel

Nine-banded armadillo

Gray squirrel

Stay tuned for more! There are MANY more interesting critters here that I’m hoping to catch on camera!

Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge

I arrived in SE Alabama last Thursday, after two grueling days in the car, Addie and I were glad to be free! I'm living in a 24' camper, and it's very comfortable, right on the National Wildlife Refuge! I am currently without a personal computer, an internet connection, and I'm not even allowed on the computers at work yet... so my access to blogging will be limited. I'm currently sitting in the town library, trying to get some things done...and thought I'd try to upload a few pictures!

American alligator, ~2 feet in length

Unknown species...probably a Sora or a Rail? I don't have a book in front of me. And those massive plants! What are they?!

Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Drive

Eastern Screech Owl in a Wood Duck nest box

The Owl's view, and my truck

My first sighting of a venomous snake. Although it was dead, it was a little disconcerting. I'm guessing a rattlesnake, even though the rattles are gone. This guy was AS THICK AS MY ARM, and about 2-3 feet in length. Impressive!

Sunset at ENWR

Red-winged Black Birds feeding on a grass of some sort.

And my favorite sighting so far! I heard a scuffling around under my camper, and of course all I had available was my phone, so the image isn't great...but this is my first Nine-banded armadillo! Such an interesting critter...

Life on Big Pine Key, FL

SUNY Cobleskill graduation 

May 10, 2014

Whoa!

Life has been crazy this past month! On May 10th, I graduated with my Bachelors degree in Wildlife Management from SUNY Cobleskill. Rewind back to the week of Thanksgiving last fall, I started applying for jobs and internships to begin immediately after graduation. I watched my friends and classmates snag awesome opportunities all over the country, and I felt left out and disappointed. I felt like I was lacking somehow, and that all this work and energy was for naught. I know, kind of dramatic, but 6 months of rejection will make you think the worst of your abilities!

Finally, finally, FINALLY I got the call: Would you like to come on board??? And lucky, lucky, LUCKY me, it was for an internship in the Florida Keys! The Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex Ranger, Kristie, interviewed me on a Thursday, and hired me on a Monday. Within 5 days, I was on the road and I made it down here on June 9th. It was a quick transition from hanging out in my college town, empty of friends, trying to figure out my week/summer/life, and trying to budget my limited funds to stuff whatever I could into my car, and heading 1,500 miles South!

I’m working as a “Visitor Services” intern in the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge office on Big Pine Key. This is the most commonly visited refuge, out of the other 4 refuges in the Keys. Key West NWR, Great White Heron NWR, and Crocodile Lake NWR are the remaining refuges that make up the complex. Hey, check us out and “like” us on Facebook! You’ll see some of my pictures and writing from time to time as well as some awesome wildlife pictures –> Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex .

Ok, you’re all here for pictures. So I will post pics of the critters I’ve run into so far, and in subsequent entries I will elaborate on the natural history of some. I hope you enjoy!

The first animals are the famous Key deer. These guys are the same species of white-tailed deer found in Northern/Eastern United States and Canada. They are a subspecies. I’ll get into all of that later, but for now: notice their SIZE and how TAME they are!

A Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) buck checking me out. You’ll notice how close I am to these deer. They are very conditioned to be in close proximity to people, unfortunately, but they do make for nice photos.

Key deer fawn

I was exploring the refuge the other day, and sat on a stump when these two walked right up to me, to check me out.

No zoom. They were looking for a hand-out, which unfortunately many people have probably fed them before. This makes them less “wild” and more susceptible to getting hit by a vehicle, because they’re often fed from cars.

This is a refuge vehicle I was using the other day, and as I was walking to the car, the pair followed me and cut between me and the car. Begging for treats!

Signage is EVERYWHERE to warn visitors and residents to watch their speeds, and that it is unlawful to touch or feed the deer.

A Florida box turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) found rummaging in the yard in front of my house.

A six-lined racerunner (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus), a VERY speedy lizard!

An anole lizard, specific species unknown. Likely a brown anole (Anolis sangrei). This guy is probably a male, and he’s showing me his dewlap trying to scare me off!

I found a Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) in…the house! The poor guy was very easily caught because I think he was dehydrated and starving, but also slowed down because of the AC. I released him outside, but I found him dead later. This is an introduced species to the Keys.

Mediterranean house gecko

Sea turtle nest site on Bahia Honda State Park beach.

Sea turtles nest along the shores of the Keys, and nests are taped off. I hope to be able to see live sea turtles and hopefully snorkel with them while I’m here!

This is an interesting bird. I believe this is a Würdemann’s heron. This is a controversial bird-nerd topic, and I’ll be sure to discuss more in a later entry. For now, this is a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with a white head :)

Assorted shore birds. To be honest, I’ve not taken the time to ID them. I just thought I’d share, as they are happily feeding in the sea grass at low tide!

This was a *SPECTACULAR* capture, I thought. I believed I had photographed a rare species, the Bahama Mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii). After submitting my sighting to eBird, and conferring with some people here, and my orno professor from Cobleskill, everyone agreed this was in fact a juvenile Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) that had yet to molt into it’s adult plumage. Not as exciting as I had hoped, but neat nonetheless.

And my final picture to share, the Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)! I believe we have a nesting pair at a popular visiting location on the Key Deer NWR, which is really neat! These guys more often hang out in the Everglades than the Keys.

River otters on the Funny River, Alaska

This posting has been a LONG time coming. I finally got my hands on the video clips from the underwater video recording system that I've been waiting for for 10 months :) Better late than never! And what a nice way to remember my truly amazing summer in Alaska, than to post a year later.

On May 27th, 2012 I took a long flight to Anchorage, and then a short one to the Kenai Peninsula. I won't go into all the details of my work and life up there, but please visit my Alaska entries to catch up.

If you don't want to read through all 35ish entries, you should at least check out my River otter caught on underwater camera entry, which will greatly fill you in on what I'm about to share.

I will briefly set it up:

I was hired through the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to work in the Kenai Fish and Wildlife Field Office for 3 months during summer 2012. I was considered a volunteer for the USFWS, but the SCA funded my travel, and I was provided a place to live for free. Which was a beautiful cabin on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge... #winning. But I worked 40 hours a week and did everything a traditional seasonal tech would do.

One of my tasks as a Fisheries Technician last summer, was to monitor a fish weir location on the Funny River. We had this weir set up, so that fish were funneled through a central spot in the river, and were forced in front of a video camera. This way we could see who, what, and when certain species were migrating.

I am a mammal-lover firstly, probably because I am one. I DO like fish now, especially the mighty Chinooks. But on this certain day, I was checking recorded video at the weir by myself. In our "office away from office", a weather port with a computer, I sat counting fish and reviewing video from days before. I finished what I was doing, and clicked back to the "live feed" just in time to see a river otter (Lontra canadensis) zip past the camera! My jaw dropped and I started muttering under my breath a mantra of "ohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigod" over and over. And back zipped the otter upstream! I was torn between sitting there and watching this otter on the screen -LIVE- or running 300 yards upstream to the weir to try and watch it with my eye balls! Curiosity won, and I ran. Apparently not fast enough though, because there was no otter to be seen.

This is my home-video I made...please note: I am NOT a videographer.

 

So, I gave up the hunt and went back to the Weatherport in hopes of watching the otter on the video. He left though, and just had this great memory left. But I remembered that the video was RECORDING! There was a digital copy of the otter!

 

I begged and pleaded with my boss to let me have the clips, and he very graciously agreed. I bought a jump drive for him to put them on, and I just got it in the mail. Better late than never, thanks Ken!



 

A couple of things to keep in mind while watching:

 

-This camera is very similar to a traditional camera trap. You can't buy this set up though in a store- you should consider it a "home brew" set up. The camera is a motion-sensing security camera you might hang from your garage.

 

-The box is a welded box with glass panels.

 

-The camera is submerged in filtered water, and stream water is allowed to pass through the channel, which from glass panel to the white wall in the back is ~6-7" wide. Just wide enough for large salmon or...an otter...to get through.

 

-The sandbag is blocking a gap at the bottom so no fish can sneak through unnoticed by the camera.

 

-Watch as the otter periodically goes up for air!

 

-A few times you can see him kick off the glass, which gives a great view of his cool feet.

 

Enjoy the antics of the river otter (which by the way, is the same species we have in New York!)...

Watching this video brings me right back to my summer on the Kenai Peninsula, and makes me very wistful to be back in my Alaskan home away from home...

Alyssa on Aqua Kids in Alaska!

Well, the time has come to share this hilarious video with the world!

Back in July 2012, I was interning through the Student Conservation Association for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the Kenai Field Office.

That's a mouthful.

I lived in Alaska for 3 months. Yeah, I know...it was amazing!

A perk of the job, was that when a children's TV show came down to spend the day with us, I got to explain my internship on camera to be shared with children far and wide. It was a hectic day, hilarious, stressful, unnerving, but fun. To see the back story, check out my blog entry: Aqua Kids in Alaska!

That picture above is myself with the cast of Aqua Kids TV: Katie (pink), Clark (yellow), Rachael (orange), and Drew (blue). 

Skip ahead if you just want to see "my" part at ~12:28. But anything about the Funny River was pretty much my day to day job this summer. 

And if you can't view the video on my blog, click this link to get to Alaska 2012 Salmon Urbanization on YouTube.

Hope you enjoy it!

The SCA, CDIP and USFWS!

I'm still getting caught up on Alaska entries, and I really wanted to share my room mate's story...even though I've been back for 3 weeks now.

Mercedes was involved in a really cool program through the Student Conservation Association, of which we were both interns. The Career Discovery Internship Program (CDIP), is a partnership between the SCA and the USFWS. It is designed to recruit traditionally underrepresented students for summer internships in the conservation field. Mercedes came all the way from Georgia where she's an undergraduate in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. Her time in Alaska was not spent in the field office that I worked for, but she worked at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, where we both lived.

Founded in 2008, CDIP introduces culturally and ethnically diverse college freshman and sophomores to careers in the USFWS. The internship equips SCA members with the hands-on learning they need to begin pursuing professional work in the conservation arena.

 

 

To read more about her experience in Barrow, check out the article she wrote for the Peninsula Clarion: Lemmings: Never Too Small to Make an Impact.

 

I had been wanting to share her experiences, to expand on what the Student Conservation Association has to offer. Several other past classmates were and are working for the SCA currently. Please check out their blogs at: Gawn Wilder and Kelly Manktelow. I can not express enough what the SCA has done for me, and I am hoping to get hooked up with the National Park Service partnership for next summer, if I don't go back to the Kenai Peninsula. EVERY conservation student, regardless of age and level in school, should know about this awesome organization.

 

 

Eilson Visitor Center, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Rest in peace to those who were apart of the 9/11/01 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

 

 

 

Aqua Kids in Alaska!

At the very end of July, I was afforded a really fun opportunity. A children's television cast and crew came to the Funny River Weir to film us and learn about the project! The Aqua Kids travel the country filming about awesome aquatic and marine research going on, and present in a way that's appealing to kids. I think their target demographic was the "tweens".

My boss, Ken, told me that morning that he wanted me to do the talking. I was flattered of course, because that meant he trusted me to represent the Service well, the office, him, and myself...and I that knew what I was talking about.

The day was, of course, overcast and threatening rain. I think the previous WEEK of weather was blue skies and sunny, so of course according to Murphy's Law, the day we'd have filming equipment in the field, it would be wet out. When we got to the location, we were briefed on the process, topics of questions, ways to stand, answer questions, "never look at the camera!", getting microphones hooked up, sound checks, lighting checks, etc. It was a bit intimidating, but really neat to watch.

Photo credit: Katrina Mueller/USFWS

Getting my microphone hooked up by George, the producer.

 

Photo credit: Katrina Mueller/USFWS

And the filming begins!

 

Photo credit: Katrina Mueller/USFWS

Showing the hosts, Rachael and Clark, a spawned-out dead female chinook salmon. It was DISGUSTING, but I was coerced into handling it for the show :)

 

Photo credit: Katrina Mueller/USFWS

Myself, Rachael, and Clark in the trap! I was walking them through how we take biological samples from the passing chinook salmon.

 

Photo credit: Forrest Hannan

Quiet on the set!

 

Then it was Ken's turn to film. He took care of explaning how the underwater video surveillance system works. It's his baby, it was only right!

 

Photo credit: Forrest Hannan

And finally, a picture of myself and the cast!

From left to right: Katie, Myself, Clark, Rachael, and Drew.

 

It was a really fun day, and I had a great time with them. I can't wait to see the episode when it airs later this fall...I'll be sure to share the air date if anyone is interested in viewing :)

Lake Trout Acoustic Tagging on Hidden Lake

During my stint in Alaska this summer (2012), working out of the USFWS Kenai Field Office (Soldotna, AK), I've been involved with several projects. One of the projects I've been involved with is the tracking of acoustic-tagged lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) on Hidden Lake within the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

To see another entry I wrote about this project, see: Tracking Hidden Lake & Kokanee Otolith Removal.

Hidden Lake has been historically sport-fished for lake trout, and apparently over the last 'X' number of years, there have been complaints by anglers that the fishing is drying up. So, the task has been given to the biologists out of this office to do some research and try to get a population estimate, and also where the trout are hanging out throughout the year, specifically during the fall spawning season.

During this entry, I'm going to share this project and what I literally get paid to do.

Go fishing.

My last few days of work this week consisted of heading to Hidden Lake, which is about an hour from our office, loading gear into a boat, and going fishing. All lake trout that were caught had measurements taken, and some had acoustic tags surgically implanted.

Our days began at 5 am at the office, which is early for me. As the boys I work with learned, this girl is NOT a morning person. But, I had an hour drive to wake up and prepare myself. After unloading the boat and finally getting on the water it was around 6:30 each morning...and we had a gorgeous morning on Thursday (8/15/2012)...

Sunrise over the mountains surrounding Hidden Lake.

The crew: Ken (project biologist), Lucas (seasonal technician), myself (SCA intern/seasonal technician), and last and least, Kevin (seasonal technician)  :)

Captain Ken manning the helm and watching the fish finder...

Lucas

And Kevin teaching me how to "reel down"...

So not to be immodest, but before a series of unfortunate events (which I will eventually get to), I was whooping butt on the fish catching. Ken gave me several options of lures, and I picked the "pretty" one, since I have no idea what works and doesn't. Well, apparently pretty worked!!! I chose a single-hook, blue/silver, KwikFish lure. And the fishing was hot! I have to give credit to Ken for figuring out where the fish were hanging out, and guiding me...but I caught 4 nice lake trout that day that I was pretty proud of!

Photo credit: Ken Gates

Photo credit: Ken Gates

As this was my first lake trout, they initiated me into the "club"...and strongly urged that I kiss my fish!

Photo credit: Ken Gates

I'm an "instant gratification" type of person, one who enjoys seeing a tangible result of effort. So, catching fish when they're biting is really satisfying!

If we caught a female, she would get processed on board the boat. We were only tagging healthy males, and the reason being apparently females can/will skip spawning some years. The biologists are really interested in knowing where the lake trout are spawning in Hidden Lake, so tagging a non-spawning female would be a waste of time, effort, equipment, and stress on the fish.  

Photo credit: Ken Gates

We'd fill a tote with lake water, and that was the holding tank for the fish. We'd try to keep them in the water as much as possible to lessen the effects of being handled.

Photo credit: Ken Gates

We'd then take 4 measurements: a fork length (tip of snout to the fork in the tail), total length (tip of snout to the tips of the tail squeezed together), girth (just forward of the dorsal fin), and a weight.

All of that would take about 5 minutes, with each of us with a "job". Getting the fish in/out of the boat as fast as possible, safely, was key. Of course handling a wild animal always causes some amount of stress and damage, but it's a necessary cost to be able to study and learn.

When one of us caught a male, the protocol was a bit different. We had the processing station set up on an island, as there was too much stuff and not enough room on the boat.

The fish that were deemed healthy enough and of course male, were brought to this spot in their tote, and then were subjected to a bit more than the females.

The same set of measurements were taken (FL, TL, girth, weight), but the fish were also anesthetized to render them still and I'm sure ease the pain of the implant.

A solution of mainly clove oil and water was used, and then the fish was placed in that for a few minutes for it to take effect. The whole thing was really interesting to watch. I couldn't really help, other than take down data, so I was able to really pay attention to the whole procedure. I admire Ken's ethic and attention to detail. He has a protocol, assigned us all a task, and the whole effort moved smoothly. I'm reassured that my personal need for this type of organization and control is necessary.



Ken taking measurements on the left (fish in the clove oil solution), and on right, Ken instructing Kevin on keeping the gills irrigated. There was one container with the clove oil solution, and then when they were finishing, one of fresh water to begin bringing the fish out of it.

After measurements were taken, the fish was then implanted with the Lotek acoustic tag.

Going...

Going...

Gone!

Then Ken stitched the incision back up, and applied a kind of "super glue" to keep the suture knots tight. The thread will eventually dissolve.

After all of this, the fish was moved to the "recovery" cooler, filled with fresh water, and was given probably between 5-10 minutes to come to.

Nurse Kevin, tending the fish :)

The last piece was to get the fish some final bling-bling. The fish would get one of these placed near it's dorsal fin, and the gray part is outside of the fish, so it can be visually identified by us, or another angler if it's caught.

The "Series of Unfortunate Events" that I mentioned earlier HAD to be shared on my blog, as they will make tagging lake trout forever memorable to me.

On our second morning, there was less down time for us. We knew exactly where the fish were hanging out, what lures were working, and we got to business. Within 5 minutes, I had a nice male on my line. We brought him in, and proceeded to implant him with the monitoring devices. When we were back on the water, and the fish was revived, Ken asked for someone to release the fish.

Lucas started to lift the tote, but I jumped in and wanted to release "my fish" back to the wild.

Photo credit: Lucas Young

The tote had more water in it than I expected, and when I lifted it over the side of the boat to dump, it quickly filled with lake water and pulled me off the boat.

I fell OFF the boat!

Photo credit: Lucas Young

Who does that?! I've taken the NYS Boating Safety Course, and the Department of the Interior's Motorboat Operator's Certification Course, American Red Cross life guarding courses...and grown up in/around water. And I fell off the boat! In the middle of the lake, fully clothed and in rain gear/boots too. I was wearing a life jacket though, and popped right up and stared at the guys in the boat in complete disbelief that I was no longer in the boat. It was like slow-motion too, as I was dumping the tote, I said out loud "Haha, I'm sooo going to fall off this boat!". And then I did.

After a beat, I was offered help (amongst much laughing), and I denied it opting to swim to shore instead. It wasn't that far and I was so beyond mad at myself I needed to cool down (literally, figuratively). The water was in the low 50's and the air temp maybe in the high 50's, low 60's, so it was breath-taking, but not immediately debilitating. Many thanks to coworker, Lucas, for acting quick to capture the following moments forever...

Photo credit: Lucas Young

Photo credit: Lucas Young

I think Ken was in disbelief that I wasn't accepting his offered help!

I was SO mad at this moment, but now that I'm reliving it through pictures, I'm cracking up!

No harm, no foul! A great way to end the season and my work time here in Alaska!