Nature on the Net

Here are some interesting recent articles:

• Endangered Species Day is May 16th
• Top Ten Ways to Help Spring's Migrating Birds
• Rare Birds of North America – book review
• Forster’s Tern on Lake Monroe
• Can penguins cope with climate change? Scientists find different types of ice elicit different responses
• Drone Captures Stunning Birds’-eye Video of Dolphin Superpod
• Scientists discover single gene that enables multiple morphs in a butterfly
• Israel leads the way using Barn Owls and Kestrels to replace Rodenticides
• How a River Otter Can Bag an Alligator for Lunch
• Feathers fly in Norwegian wild bird reality-TV show

Get Fascinated by Feathers With New All About Bird Biology Site

From the Cornell Lab eNews

Feathers are amazing: they're light, aerodynamic, beautifully patterned, colorful, waterproof, and warm. To help curious minds of all ages learn about these impressive structures, we've just launched an in-depth, immersive website. It's the first stage of our new All About Bird Biology project, with more to come. Try out All About Feathers, including these great elements: Self-paced interactive features with custom art and video Free Powerpoint downloads of all the illustrations and animations, especially useful for teachers Accompanying reference article that provides quick access to the science  A video library featuring 90+ videos that bring bird biology to life

Eve Samples: On the marshes of Lake Okeechobee, a remarkable comeback

By Eve Samples

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

From our vantage point on the coast, looking toward Lake Okeechobee feels like looking down the barrel of a gun.

We see the looming threat of more polluted freshwater releases into the St. Lucie River estuary. Drive 45 miles west, though, and the view shifts dramatically.

It's not threatening. It's beautiful.

On the northwest side of Lake O, shoreline marshes that were obliterated during the hurricane years of 2004 and 2005 have rebounded. In the most pristine parts of the 730-square-mile lake, the water is now clear enough to see bottom. And the birds are back - big time.

Roseate spoonbills. White pelicans. Glossy ibis. Snowy egrets. Black-necked stilts, with their supermodel-like proportions (they have the longest legs compared to their body size of any bird in the world).

A dozen other species took to the air, too, as we skidded across the marshes in Audubon scientist Paul Gray's airboat last week. 

"The lake is in perfect shape," Gray told us.

The most striking indication of recovery are the 20 endangered snail kite nests recently mapped in the marshes. The raptor had virtually disappeared from the lake after the storm years. This year, it is rebounding. "I bring up people from the Everglades and they say, 'Wow, we never see this many birds,' " Gray said.

Cruising past thousands of birds in King's Bar shoal, it was hard to believe this was the same lake that wreaks such abuse on our estuary.

It's like there are two different Lake Okeechobees: one in the thriving marshes near the shore; another in the phosphorous- and nitrogen-dense center of the lake, where the bottom is thick and muddy. The latter is what's sent our way when the Army Corps of Engineers opens the flood gates from the lake into the St. Lucie Canal. But keeping those gates closed carries serious risks for the lake.

The reason the marshes of Lake O look so good this year has a lot to do with the fact that the Army Corps is keeping less water in the lake. Unlike in 2004 and 2005, when the lake surged to elevations in the 17- and 18-foot ranges, last year it barely reached 16 feet (and only briefly). The lower levels, combined with an experimental bottom-dredging project during the drought year of 2007, have allowed native plants and birds to flourish.

"All of this was open water. Not a single foot of vegetation," Gray said as he drove us across now-pristine marshes. It's not exactly what coastal advocates want to hear.

While last year was a boon for the marshes of Lake Okeechobee, it was devastating for the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. From May through October, more than 136 billion gallons of lake water were dumped into the St. Lucie alone, bringing an estimated 72 tons of phosphorous, 656 tons of nitrogen and 15 million pounds of sediment.

On the coast, the pollution prompted cries for the Army Corps of Engineers to hold the lake higher now that it has repaired part of the Herbert Hoover Dike that encircles it. But Gray knows what danger waits if we return to the old practice of holding the lake too high.

As different as the on-the-ground conditions are, the ultimate solution is the same for Lake Okeechobee and the estuaries. It lies in sending more water south, reconnecting the lake with the Everglades. That would allow Lake Okeechobee to stay at lower levels, even in the rainiest years. It would spare the estuaries the gushing discharges from the Big Lake, too.

Nathaniel Reed, vice chairman of the Everglades Foundation, called the comeback of the lake marshes "one of the miracles of Mother Nature." If we fix the plumbing, we won't have to depend on a miracle to strike again.

Eve Samples is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects her opinion. Contact her at 772-221-4217 or eve.samples@scripps.com

Scientists Acknowledge Crucial Role of Volunteers in Advancing Research

Reprinted from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Young people participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count citizen-science project, held over four days each February. Photo by Christine Bartholomew.

Amateur naturalists and hobbyists are getting their due today after more than a century of volunteering for bird counts and other studies. An article in the top journal Science recognizes these “citizen scientists” as crucial contributors whose work can stand on equal footing with professional science. Lead author Rick Bonney, director of program development and evaluation at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, notes that it’s uniquely human talents like passion, curiosity, and perception that make citizen scientists indispensable sources of data and insight.

Bonney says:

"For most of history science was something people did as amateurs or hobbyists, but in the twentieth century it became a very specialized profession. Today the doors have been thrown open again. Anyone can be the eyes and ears on the ground, collecting data that even the most sophisticated instruments can’t."

"It’s people in their backyards looking at flowers and looking at birds, but it’s way bigger than that, too. There are well over a million citizen scientists solving real-world problems: figuring out protein structures; transcribing the writing on ancient scrolls. People are studying genes to galaxies and everything in between."

"We’re seeing participation growing exponentially, and that’s largely because of the Internet. Online tools and especially smartphones are really clearing away the barriers to participation. Social media makes it easy to find new opportunities, including for communities who previously haven’t had the means to get involved."

"Citizen science appeals to people’s innate curiosity, and also to their desire to make the world a better place. It adds meaning and value to their hobbies, and gives them a way to contribute to social or environmental causes."

NOTE: The news appears as a policy paper in the journal Science by Bonney and coauthors Jennifer Shirk, Tina Phillips, and Andrea Wiggins of the Cornell Lab; Heidi Ballard of the University of California, Davis; Abraham Miller-Rushing of the National Park Service; and Julia Parrish of the University of Washington.

April 12, 2014 Field Trip

We will be taking a road trip field trip to Green Cay & Wakodahatchee Wetlands in the Delray, Boyton Beach area of Palm Beach County on Saturday April 12th.  We will meet at the Cracker Barrel on Wickham Rd just west of I-95 at Exit #191. We will meet at 6:00 am and I will allow a 15 minute grace period and we will pull out at 6:15 am sharp.  It is about a 2 hr drive.  I would suggest on bringing snacks, drinks, sunscreen and lunch.  We will carpool to reduce the amount of vehicles going and it is customary to share the gas expense.  If we don't have a large turnout we might be able to stop for lunch somewhere along the way. 

Those of you that have not been to these 2 places it is easy walking on wooden boardwalks.  There are

restrooms at both locations and Green Cay has a nature center and gift shop.  We will go to Wakodahatchee

Wetlands first and then Green Cay.  They are only about a 5-10 minute drive apart.  In case folks show up

after our 6:15 am departure time below are the address for both locations.  The weather looks very favorable.  High 78 and 0% rain chances as of today.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

13026 Jog Rd

Delray Beach, FL

561-434-5372

Green Cay Nature Center

12800 Hagen Ranch Road
Boynton Beach, FL
561 966-7000

Jim Eager

Space Coast Audubon Society

Publicity Chair

Join Space Coast Audubon Society for April 18th Meeting “Turtles and More”

WHO:  Space Coast Audubon Society (SCAS)

WHERE:  Rockledge Presbyterian Church, 921 Rockledge Dr, Rockledge, FL.

WHEN:   April 18, 2014 at 7:30 pm

Jim Angy of Jim Angy Nature Photography will be our speaker and will be presenting Turtles and More

Jim Angy is an award winning nature photographer who has not only mastered the skill of wildlife photography, but who also has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subjects.  Jim has been a resident of Brevard County for more than 40 years growing up in Satellite Beach and now lives with his family in Indialantic.  For the past 30 years, Jim has been photographing Florida’s wildlife.  His images have appeared in books, calendars, post cards, and magazines including The Nature of series of books by Cathie Katz, Florida’s Fabulous Birds, Florida’s Fabulous Reptiles, Florida Wildlife, Popular Photography and The Florida Naturalist.  Jim enjoys sharing his knowledge of finding and photographing wild animals and has led numerous photographic classes and field trips and presented his wildlife slides for many organizations.  His photographs have won local and national contests and he currently has three (3) images from Pelican Island NWR as part of the America’s Wild Places exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

Jim spends a lot of time with camera in-hand, observantly poking around in the Brevard County wilds looking for the perfect shot of who-knows-what.  One of his favorite subjects is sea turtles. Egg laying season is the time sea turtles present a photo-op for land-based photographers.  Jim has been a long-time supporter of all things environmental in Brevard County and is well-known in the county as a naturalist, and public speaker.

 

                                                                    

Visit the Space Coast Audubon Society website at www.spacecoastaudubon.org

Look forward to another great turnout.

Jim Eager/Space Coast Audubon Society Publicity Chair