Today’s Strolling Science Seminar is “The Lives of Fungi at CREW” with CREW intern Ben Dion… It’s a beautiful day to learn about how our world works at CREW.
CREW at Florida Panther Festival Today
Come visit intern Kersey at the CREW table at the 3rd annual Florida Panther Festival today 10 to 4.
Andrew West of News-Press Creates Stunning Video of CREW
Andrew West, accomplished photo-journalist with the Fort Myers News-Press, publishes weekly online videos which represent his views of southwest Florida and his experiences photographing for a variety of news stories.
This week Andrew has created a spectacular video about his experience with high waters and a snake at CREW. His photography is stunning and his narration speaks to the magic that is CREW. Be sure to take a few minutes to watch this fabulous piece “Andrew’s View: High Waters and a Snake” from the News-Press website. It’s worth it!
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CREW Deer Monitoring Reveals Unexpected Wildlife Encounter
Monitoring wildlife populations helps us understand the health and status of various species and provides essential information when making land and wildlife management decisions at CREW.
Kathleen Smith, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission biologist assigned to CREW, conducts deer surveys in portions of CREW using remote sensing cameras. In addition to providing information on the deer populations, these surveys help test specific methods for estimating deer populations. Using baited stations with remote sensing cameras set up nearby, the bait stations and cameras are deployed for about two weeks. Then the photos are analyzed and deer numbers, gender, ages, and activity recorded.
Anytime remote cameras are set up in the woods, it is expected that a variety of wildlife will appear and be captured as they enter the viewfinder of the camera. But you don’t always expect “action shots” of animals doing crazy things in the wild. This year, however, was an exception. As the photos got downloaded to the computers, and Kathleen and her team were quickly flipping through them, one particular action shot caught their attention. Take a look at the following sequence of photos to see what caught their eye… (click on each photo for a larger image)
How’s that for a surprise? Pretty amazing timing for a remote camera shot! And so much for the bait station! What do you think…did the raccoon get away?
SFWMD Land Assessment Draft Recommendations Ready for Review
As you know, most of the CREW lands are owned by the South Florida Water Management District. The District is currently conducting a Lands Assessment of all the lands they hold within the 16-county region they govern. The assessment is to determine if there are some parcels that could be surplused.
Back in May, we told you about the opportunity to provide public comment on the Lands Assessment. You all did a fabulous job of submitting comments. You can see them here. You can also download additional documents from here.
Today (July 30), the District is holding another public hearing for comment on the DRAFT staff recommendations which resulted from your earlier public comment. The meeting will be held at the SFWMD West Coast Service Center Office on McGregor Blvd. in Ft. Myers at 10 AM this morning (July 30). If you cannot make the meeting, additional public comment will be accepted online between now and August 12th.
Thank you all for your participation in this important process and for submitting your thoughts about CREW. It takes everyone’s participation to make sure sound decisions are made.
Deb Hanson in News-Press video on Rainfall
The CREW Land & Water Trust’s environmental education specialist, Deb Hanson, went for a rainy season walk through the White loop at the CREW Cypress Dome Trails last week with news-Press reporter Chad Gillis and photographer Andrew West. Today, the News-Press published the article about rainfall in southwest Florida, and Deb is featured on the front page of the print paper and on a video here on the News-Press website. Nice to see CREW in the newspaper. Thanks to Chad and Andrew for both the fun walk and the great spread in the paper!
CREW Water Levels Rising Fast
The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) encompasses approximately 60,000 acres, running from Corkscrew Road in Lee County south beyond Immokalee Road in Collier County. You can see a map of the whole watershed here. When it rains enough for the ground to get saturated, water levels rise and then the water “sheet flows” downhill across the surface of the land.
In CREW, it takes about a week for the water to flow from the north part of the watershed to the south part. With the summer rains we’ve been lucky to get this year, we are seeing that sheet flow in action. CREW volunteer George Luther installed a few water level posts at Bird Rookery Swamp last year. He’s been recording measurements regularly and recently reported the change in water levels at the parking lot pond there. Take a look at the chart below showing the rise since July 1st.
We haven’t seen water levels like this during the early summer months here at CREW for a long time. This is great for water recharge and our drinking water supply. And the woods are teeming with wetland critters. It’ll be interesting to see what other changes occur as levels continue to rise as the summer goes on… What’s the highest water level you’ve experienced at CREW?
Swallow-tailed Kite Roost in CREW
Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission biologist Kathleen Smith shot this photo of a swallow-tailed kite roost in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary just over the CREW Bird Rookery Swamp border while doing wading bird survey flights over CREW in June.
Swallow-tailed kites migrate to southwest Florida from South America (Brazil) to nest during our spring/summer seasons. By June, the young are fledging and flying with the adults in preparation for their journey back to South America in August. Here, you can count as many as 19 birds roosting together on one tree with a few others scattered in nearby trees.
The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) provides critical habitat for this at-risk species. Your support of CREW and other conservation organizations that protect habitat helps species like these kites survive.
Learn more from Audubon’s WatchList
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