Panther Island Impressions

I can't believe it's already been two months since I first started down here at Corkscrew. There's always so much to learn and do that the time has just flown by.

My first month was spent pretty much entirely at the main section of Corkscrew, but the last couple of weeks, I've been working up at the Panther Island Mitigation Bank instead. It's been a bit of an adjustment, having to learn a whole new set of procedures, and just when I was finally starting to feel comfortable with the first ones!

Even so, I've absolutely loved getting to work up there. For a week or so, I got to work on a project pretty much independently, and getting it completed was extremely satisfying. Not to mention, I got to see some neat wildlife while I was out working as well, like this Florida Softshell Turtle, and this mama deer with her fawn.

And even though I don't know my way around very well yet, I absolutely think that Panther Island is one of the most beautiful places I've seen here in Florida.

Until next time!
~Amanda

After Work Ritual II

Hey Folks,

It has been a bit since I last showed photos from my after work walks on the boardwalk. Since it is summer time our field work decreases, and we are mainly in the office entering data. I have a little over 2 months left, and I need to take advantage of walking on the boardwalk. Every time I go out on the boardwalk I experience something different than my last walk. Here are some of those photos.


In my feeding frenzy blog post, I showed you the north lettuce lake still filled with a lot of water and birds. However, in the photos below you can see how dry the lettuce lake got. We were almost at a complete dry down before the summer rain started.





On the other side of the north lettuce lake you can see how dry the lake got. It was nice to get a different perspective of the lake being dry since I had seen it filled with water when I got to Corkscrew. I thought it was a cool to see the alligators tracks throughout the lake.

Green Heron

At the south lettuce lake we had two Green Heron fledglings who were inseparable! I only saw the parent once nearby, but most of the time these little ones were on their own. They were so precious, they did everything together from fishing, to exploring the tree they were on, and the surrounding area. They hung out at the south lettuce lake for a couple weeks before they left the nest some point at the end of May.

Red-Shouldered Hawk

This Red-shouldered Hawk was 4 feet from my face one evening on the boardwalk. I was closing the boardwalk this afternoon. I was walking with a man who was pushing his wife on a wheel chair, they were visiting from Michigan. We were walking towards the north lettuce lake when all of a sudden I notice this hawk on the branch right in front of our face. I am not going to lie, when I saw its dark brown eyes he spooked me at first. It blended in so well that I probably would have walked past it. We had to go right by it to continue to the rain shelter by the north lettuce lake. As we continued to approach the hawk it stood its ground and was not scared or alarmed by how close were to it. After the man and his wife walked by, the hawk was completely unfazed. Then it was my turn to walk past it. I took this photo when I was right in front of it, and I could feel its focused eyes burning through my camera. The eye contact was intense, and it did not take its gaze off me until I went past it. Also I have to mention that I was wearing my BRIGHT HOT PINK wind breaker. I thought that this color would make me look like a threat, and that it could possibly attack. However, I am here to say that I walked by this beautiful creature unscathed haha!

Green Tree Frog

Another evening I was walking on the boardwalk when my eye caught this Green Tree Frog camouflaged pretty well on the boardwalk. Green Tree Frogs can be green, and gray like this one. I managed to get close to it, and it was unfazed by me as well.

Northern Parula 

One evening Shelby and I were on the short loop heading towards the north lettuce lake. As we are walking  we hear frantic chirping. We got closer to the bush that had all this commotion, and found a Northern Parula feeding its fledgling. We sat at this spot with our binoculars observing the parent coming in to feed its young, and flying away to catch more insects. Every time the parent got near the fledgling would chirp a lot which let us know that its parent was back to feed it. While the parent would fly off to catch more food, the Northern Parula fledgling would take a nap while it waited for its parents return. It was one of the most precious interactions I have ever seen, and one of my favorite memories from Corkscrew. After 30 minutes of observing, capturing photos, and videos through our binoculars it was time to go. In the first photo you can see the fledgling sleeping.

Green Heron, Great Egret

The photo on the right was on an evening when the north lettuce lake was drying, and there were multiple birds foraging there. However, I spooked this Green Heron when I got to the lake. The Green Heron loudly called, and I am assuming it was angry that I had disturbed it. It quickly decided to get back to foraging. I was so happy to see it, because Green Herons are not only my favorite wading birds, but it is the one I see less at Corkscrew. Not only that, this Green Heron decided to forage out in the open with all the other wading birds, which I thought was interesting for a Green Heron. They usually like to forage on the banks or on branches. This Green Heron was also very particular on who was in its personal space which I thought was hilarious.   

Caterpillar I found on the boardwalk

I do not have quite the deep experience with this caterpillar. However, I just really appreciated its existence when I saw it. I have never liked bugs, and have always had quite a phobia of them. However, since working at Corkscrew I have found a deeper understanding, and appreciation for the bugs around me. I would have never thought that I would take a photo of a caterpillar, but here I was, snapping photos because I loved how black it was with red on its face. I have made some progress with bugs, especially during our aquatic fauna sampling days where we might encounter beetles and dragonfly larvae. However, I still am not able to just pick one up for fun on the boardwalk. Maybe one day.

This was during another boardwalk closing, I was walking out a lovely married couple that were visiting from Switzerland. I was giving them some background on the wildlife at Corkscrew. As we were heading to the north lettuce lake it started to rain, however, the sun was shining while it was raining. I have only been caught in a handful sun showers before, but they make me very happy. There is a strange, but beautiful feeling about getting rained on when the sun is bright and shining. It always feels right. Thankfully the guests thought so as well, and we were not bothered that we were getting soaked. Once we arrived to the lettuce lake, we were greeted by this bright rainbow. I took this as a sign that great things were to come, a bright future perhaps.








Thank you for following my after work ritual. This is not as epic as my panther sighting, but I hope you enjoy these experiences I have had.
-Melissa 

Morning Reflections

I've never really been much of a morning person, so when I first came to Corkscrew, I was a little apprehensive about starting work at 6:30 every day. But now, even though I've only been here for a little over a month, I almost can't imagine doing things otherwise. Which I guess just goes to show how quickly people can adapt to new situations.

There's just something so peaceful about the early morning. Everything seems so much more still and quiet, and as you walk along the sun comes up over the horizon and the rest of the world starts to wake.

 

In the relative cool of the morning, you can often see animals up and about as well. So far, I've managed to spot a family of hogs, some deer, baby gators, and even this Sandhill Crane.

 

 



 

These last few days, I have been up at the Panther Island Mitigation Bank, which is about a 45 minute drive up through the backcountry. Even though it means I have to get up even earlier, I've found that I don't mind, since it means I get to watch the complete transition from darkness to light, and the drive is the perfect amount of time to listen to some music and get mentally prepared to face the day.

 

A year ago when I was a senior in college, I never would have thought that I would ever willingly wake up before 6, let alone begin to enjoy being up so early! (Though being done with work by 2:30 most days is a nice plus too!)

 

Until next time,

~Intern Amanda