Each week volunteers Dick Brewer and Rick Mears walk the trail at Bird Rookery Swamp and complete a critter count. Below is this week’s list. This is a great example of citizen science and we hope you’ll hit the trails and see if you can match any of their findings!
It’s almost March and we are nearing the end of our seasonal program schedule. If you haven’t reserved a spot on one of our guided walks or were waiting to purchase a ticket for a Strolling Science Seminar, check out our final program offerings and sign up today!
Join Dr. David Cooper, Florida Certified Master Naturalist, for a guided walk along the marsh trails. You’ll learn about wildflowers, dragonflies, the importance of the sawgrass marsh and the history of the 60,000 acre CREW Project. Reservations required; visit eventbrite.com.
Zebra longwings at CREW Marsh Trails
CREW Bird Rookery Swamp Guided Walks
Dates: February 25, 28; March 1, 2, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 30; April 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19, 22, 25, 26.
You don’t have to walk very far to see wildlife on this trail! Join one of four volunteer naturalists for a guided walk down our boardwalk and onto a wide grassy trail offering views of the swamp on both sides. You’ll learn about the swamp, the CREW Project, the importance of water and all of the wildlife along the trails, including alligators and wading birds. Reservations required; visit eventbrite.com.
photo by volunteer Bill Zaino
Birding with the Master – Bernie Master
Date: March 11
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket eventbrite.com. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
This hike is for the birds! Learn about winter residents and CREW nesters as well as what birds are using this valuable habitat and why.
An internationally recognized conservationist, Dr. Bernie Master has a Birding Life List that includes over three-quarters of the world’s bird species, in excess of 7,700 birds. He is the first American to see a representative of every bird family in the world. He was honored by HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands for his contribution to conservation. A previously unrecorded songbird in Colombia, Vireo masteri, the Choco Vireo, is named for his family and the discovery published in IBIS, October 1996.
Ovenbird, photographed by Dr. Bernie Master
SSS: Murder, Mutualism and Medicine
Date: March 18
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Join the CREW Trust and Dr. Maureen Bonness for a stroll along the CREW trails, where Dr. Bonness will use local plants to discuss the topic of plant natural products – a plant “language” generally inaudible to humans, yet with profound effects on interactions between plants and their swamp co-inhabitants. The primary focus is the role of plant natural products in swamp ecology, with an undertone of how people use these chemicals, sometimes nefariously.
Spring Wildflower Walk
Date: April 1
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $5 for members, $10 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Join FGCU instructor and wildflower expert Brenda Thomas for this fabulous walk to identify wildflowers and grasses along the trails. The spring flowers are always spectacular after the dry winter season. This is your chance to learn from someone whose passion for plants is unsurpassed!
Nature Walk for Families
Date: April 8
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $5 per family for members, $10 per family for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Come join CREW for a fun family walk in the woods with activities that will get you dirty, inspire you and engage all your senses. This is a great opportunity for families new to the CREW trails to learn from a naturalist and become familiar with the family-friendly trails. You’ll learn about the CREW project and why it is important along with learning about the flora and fauna that call the trail systems home.
SSS: Making Wildlife Observations Count
Date: April 29
For information on place and time, please reserve your spot and purchase a ticket at eventbrite.com. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration is limited and walk-ins will not be accepted.
Join Dr. John Herman for this hands-on strolling science seminar where you will learn how to turn your love of hiking into something more. On this hike, you’ll see how your every day observations can be turned into scientific data and used to help conserve wildlife.
Christmas is just days away and, once the wrapping paper settles and the cookies disappear, it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. We’ve got a few ideas for last minute holiday gifts and ways to make 2017 the best year yet.
Give the gift of guided walks
Our guided walks are free, but the knowledge of our volunteer leaders is highly valuable. Sign yourself up and head to Bird Rookery Swamp for two hours of George’s or Bobby’s stories or go out with Dr. David Cooper for a tour of CREW Marsh Trails. Better yet, sign up a friend. Guided walks are a great way to build confidence in new CREW visitors, and that confidence level increases the chances that they will return to explore more of the trails.
Share nature with kids and grandkids
The electronic hatching egg everyone is clamoring for will only engage kids for so long, and by New Year’s Day, it will be forgotten in a pile of toys. Memories last much longer, so give the gift of time and take your kids or grandkids out to your favorite trail.
The going may be slower as they stop to see every tiny flower or search for animal tracks, but it’s the memories that count, not the miles. And if they ask a question and you don’t know the answer, give them homework and tell them to google it, then get back to you with the answer.
If you are looking for a way to wrap up that idea, make a coupon for one guided hike with Nana or Uncle Todd (insert your name) and give it with a field guide or binoculars or kid-sized hiking stick. (Hint hint, we sell those at the CREW office).
They’ll talk for years about seeing one-eyed Ida and completely forget about whatever game they got for their NintendoDS.
This holiday season, hit the trails with friends and family and help us spread our mission of protecting and preserving our watershed.
Honor a loved one
While Christmas and New Year’s is a time of celebration, it can also be a time of reflection for those that have lost loved ones and friends this year.
Consider making a donation to CREW as a way to memorialize a grandparent who first introduced you to birding or always remember a sun-filled day when you spent the morning identifying butterflies with your visiting best friend.
New Year, new you
The top New Year’s resolution each year is fitness. Gym memberships surge and by mid-February, everyone is back to their old habits.
At CREW, we’ve got a great way for you to get active and stay active all year long: volunteer as a Trail Steward.
After a short training session, you’ll have a snazzy blue volunteer shirt and be ready to hit the trails, acting as an ambassador for CREW and answering questions as you stroll your favorite trail system. There are no set hours; we just ask that you wear your volunteer shirt when you go hiking, then log your volunteer hours when you get home.
You’ll not only stay committed to your resolution, but you’ll be sharing your love and passion with others while helping CREW continue our mission of protecting and preserving our watershed. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!
After several weeks of being closed to protect our natural resources, the CREW Bird Rookery Swamp has reopened to the public. Thank you for your patience.
Walkers, hikers, and bikers should know that the 12-mile trail is flooded and muddy in several places. Due to recent rainfall and high water, parts of the trail haven’t been mowed and grasses in those parts of the trail may be high.
*For a more detailed update on trail conditions see below.
As usual, respect the wildlife and their young. Give them plenty of space. After all, it’s their home, we’re just visiting. Thank you.
*Please use caution:Water is over the trail at the end of the boardwalk (about 4” deep), just past Trail Marker (TM) #3 heading towards TM#4 (about 9” deep) and from TM #6 to TM#3 (about 20” deep). The trail is muddy near TM#2, in the mid-section of TM#4-TM#5, and between TM#6 and TM#3.
Ready, set, go! Guided Hike season is almost upon us. The CREW Trust has outdone itself again. This coming season’s programs are over the top!
Starting in November and continuing through the end of April 2017, the CREW Trust volunteers will be presenting over 14 free guided walks each month! Come on out and take a walk with one of your old favorites or one of our new guides. If you’ve never walked with us, then makes plans to do it right away. You won’t regret it.
CREW Marsh Trails – Dr. David Cooper will present his enjoyable and informative walk every second and fourth Tuesday and the second Saturday of each month at 9:00AM.
Dr. David is the Dean of the CREW Trust guides and one of its charter volunteers. He is a wealth of knowledge and a very entertaining guide. A morning with Dr. David will change the way you think about the CREW Marsh.
CREW Bird Rookery Swamp – Bobby McLoughlin will be guiding his walk the second and fourth Tuesday and the fourth Saturday each month at 9:00AM. Every Wednesday at 9:00AM, George Luther and Bob Melin will conduct their walk.
During January through April, on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 1:30PM (notethe afternoon starting time, please), Jeff and Pauline Suss will lead their walk.
From February through, and including, April 13th., at 9:00AM, Chrissy Podos and Dr. Jack Shine will conduct their walks. Chrissy will lead on: 2/2, 2/16, 3/2, 3/23, and 4/6. Dr. Jack will lead on: 2/9, 2/23, 3/9/, 3/16, 3/30, and 4/13.
Each of these guides interpret the trail in their own style. Each has their own areas of expertise and each provides a remarkable experience. Bird Rookery Swamp was again been recognized by TripAdvisor with a Certificate of Excellence for 2016.
All of these hikes are free because of the generosity of the CREW Trust members. Donations are gratefully accepted. Registration is required for these walks. Further information can be found at CREWTrust.org.
It is important to know where you’ve been in order to better understand where you are going. The CREW lands have an interesting past. Below are 10 events in CREW’s history:
The Corkscrew Marsh and adjacent lands were acquired by Atlantic Land and Improvement Company (now known as ALICO, Inc.) from Empire Land Company in 1914.
Pine timber was first harvested in the 1930’s in a “clear-cut” fashion that left the land virtually bare. (see top right)
From 1948 to 1952, pine trees were replanted. (see right)
1970-1974 the pine trees were finally mature. (see left)
In 1989, Southwest Florida faced a serious drought which shook people to action, resulting in the formation of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) Land & Water Trust.
Joel Kuperberg spearheaded the land trust idea, and a public/private partnership was formed to protect the land for water. “ In Southwest Florida preserving land means preserving water” -Dave Allen
In 1991, the South Florida Water Management District used funds from their Save Our Rivers program to purchase 6,779.95 acres in and around the Corkscrew Marsh.
With the help of Lee County, South Florida Water Management District, Florida’s Conservation and Recreation Lands Program and Collier County, more land around the Corkscrew Marsh was purchased
In 1995, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission designated parts of the CREW Project as a Wildlife & Environmental Area (WEA).
The CREW Marsh Trails opened to the public in 1994. The Cypress Dome Trails opened in 2008 and the Bird Rookery Swamp trails opened in 2011. The Flint Pen trail system is coming soon.
The CREW Land & Water Trust promotes public use of CREW trails and continues to work with its partners to acquire and preserve more land. It is astonishing to hike the CREW Marsh trails and realize that the area was clear-cutted as recently as the 1980’s. When I look that those beautiful tall pine trees and the abundant undergrowth beneath them, I can’t help but think of the power we have as humans. We can create such destruction, but CREW is a living, breathing example of the healing we can do. If you would like to learn more about our partners who helped make the CREW project possible, please visit: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/about/partners/
Bird Rookery Swamp observations Saturday, January 30 7:30 am-12:15 pm
“I wasn’t expecting a lot because of the cool start to the day, but by the end, 42 species of birds were confirmed. However, the temperatures definitely affected herps and insects. I only
saw six gators, five butterflies (2 species), and one dragonfly. One of the gators was Ida, who came up to sun in the late morning, her picture is below. One of the highlights early was a family of five River Otters that was playing on the trail by the second bench. They would chase each other, jump on each other, roll in the grass, and generally seem to have a great time. A visitor was there early and saw them too. The otters
slipped into the water, swam to where we were, looked us over and huffed a lot. Then they swam back to where they began and continued to frolic. Here is there video on the CREW Trust facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/crew.environmental.ed
It must be prime time for hawk nesting. Two nests had hawks bringing in material and settling into the nest. The first photo is looking south from the first culvert past marker 3 heading toward marker 6. The second photo is a little past Ida’s Pond and on the left almost
over the trail. A third previously used nest just past marker 3 had a hawk visiting but not bringing anything in or staying at the nest.
Water is flowing over the trails in several spots, and in the deepest there’s actually a pretty strong current. The deepest areas are between markers 6 and 3. I deepest part I walked through was 11-12 inches, but a couple of channels I could step over were perhaps 16
inches deep”.
BIRDS
Black-bellied Whistling Duck – 1
Pied-billed Grebe – 3
Anhinga – 9
Great Blue Heron – 4
Great Egret – 15
Snowy Egret – 7
Cattle Egret – 2
Little Blue Heron – 13
Tri-colored Heron – 6
Green Heron – 3
Black-crowned Night Heron – 3
Yellow-crowned Night Heron – 1
White Ibis – 152
Roseate Spoonbill – 3
Wood Stork – 1
Black Vulture – 55
Turkey Vulture – 39
Red-shouldered Hawk – 13
Common Ground Dove – 9
Belted Kingfisher – 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 16
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Pileated Woodpecker – 3
Eastern Phoebe – 9
Great-crested Flycatcher – 4
Tree Swallow – 2
Blue Jay – 1
Tufted Titmouse – 7
Carolina Wren – 7
House Wren – 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 7
Gray Catbird – 32
Northern Mockingbird – 3
White-eyed Vireo – 13
Blue-headed Vireo – 1
Palm Warbler – 14
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 37
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Northern Cardinal – 24
Red-winged Blackbird – 15
Common Grackle – 5
Want more opportunities to be guided through the beautiful Bird Rookery Swamp, then February and March are what you have been waiting for! During the months of February and March new programs will be introduced at the CREW Trust’s busiest trail.
In addition to the long standing Wednesday morning walks which will still be available at 9:00AM, the CREW Trust is adding walks on Wednesday afternoons and Thursday mornings. These walks not only offer more opportunities to enjoy the Bird Rookery Swamp but they also add four other guides to provide you with a variety of presentations.
So come on over to Bird Rookery Swamp and experience Old Florida!
All of these walks are FREE due to the generosity of CREW Members but we do appreciate donations at the time of registration or on the day of the walk.
Join Dr. John Herman an instructor at FGCU for a fun filled hike at Bird Rookery Swamp. This hike is a part of our Strolling Science Seminar series, scholarly hikes for adults. On this strolling expedition you will learn how to safely observe and share outdoor areas with snakes, as well as their importance to the ecosystem.
Any ecosystem, including CREW, can only truly be healthy if all of its parts are filling their roles. We can’t pick and choose which parts to protect based on if we find them “cute” or “cuddly”. This seminar’s purpose is to bring snakes out from the shadows of fear and into the light of respect and protection.
What to wear/bring: Wear comfortable outdoor walking clothes and closed-toed shoes. Please bring some water to drink and to use to rinse hands. Also please avoid putting sunscreen, lotion, hand sanitizer, or any other chemical on the palms of your hands during this session.
Become a CREW Member and get a discount on your ticket TODAY. Non-members may join CREW and become eligible to take advantage of the member discount for all workshops by going to https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/become-a-member/ or by calling 239-657-2253.
Bird Rookery Swamp observations
Saturday, December 5 6:30 am–1:05 pm
“Cloudy skies and light rain all morning should have made sightings rather slim, and it did for butterflies, dragonflies, mammals, and herps. However, it was a great day for birds with 42 species seen and identified.
A 6:30 start in the parking lot caught a lot of the early birds flying in and out from their night time roosts. We were up to 25 species before we reached the start of the boardwalk.
The large flocks of White Ibis and other waders including three Roseate Spoonbills; Wood Storks; Little Blue, Great Blue, Black-crowned Night and Tri-colored Herons; Great and Snowy Egrets all flew in within 15 minutes of each other. A Barred Owl called from deeper in the cypress while Goldfinches, Common Yellowthroats, Cardinals, a House Wren, and Palm Warblers were active in the shrubby vegetation to the west of the parking lot and gravel path.
A quartet of Pied-billed Grebes swam, dove, and preened in the canal beside the gravel path while Red-shouldered Hawks and a trio of Double-crested Cormorants flew over. It was a great way to begin the day.
One pocket of small birds a little later included a Black-and-white Warbler, a Yellow-throated Warbler, several Yellow-rumped Warblers, lots of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and a few woodpeckers. The most unexpected avian sighting was a Cooper’s Hawk that flew over while we were watching a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks.
The only mammals we saw were a Raccoon and a River Otter, plus several Gray Squirrels. Due to the inclement weather, we could only find 18 gators. Other herps were a Red-bellied Turtle and Green and Brown Anoles.
Butterflies were limited because of the weather, too. We only found eight species. The Long-tailed Skipper in the photo was one of two seen. White Peacocks were again the most common with 47 individuals counted, followed by 11 Barred Yellows.
Even with the rain and cloudy skies, visitors still came. Most were bicyclists, but one early jogger did the entire 12-mile loop. Walkers didn’t appear until late morning and early afternoon. Ida was in her pond but floating in the back next to the raft”.
BIRDS
Pied-billed Grebe – 4
Anhinga – 10
Double-crested Cormorant – 3
Great Blue Heron – 6
Great Egret – 15
Snowy Egret – 2
Little Blue Heron – 11
Tri-colored Heron – 4
Green Heron – 4
Black-crowned Night Heron – 13
White Ibis – 81
Roseate Spoonbill – 3
Wood Stork – 3
Black Vulture – 19
Turkey Vulture – 48
Red-shouldered Hawk – 13
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Mourning Dove – 26
Common Ground Dove – 2
Barred Owl – 1
Belted Kingfisher – 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 16
Downy Woodpecker – 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Pileated Woodpecker – 3
Eastern Phoebe – 8
Great-crested Flycatcher – 5
Tree Swallow – 1
Carolina Wren – 9
House Wren – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 9
American Robin – 3
Gray Catbird – 21
Blue-headed Vireo – 2
Black-and-white Warbler – 1
Yellow-throated Warbler – 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 5
Palm Warbler – 12
Common Yellowthroat – 5
Northern Cardinal – 8
Common Grackle – 23
American Goldfinch – 2
One of the highlights early was a family of five River Otters that was playing on the trail by the second bench. They would chase each other, jump on each other, roll in the grass, and generally seem to have a great time. A visitor was there early and saw them too. The otters
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f the parking lot and gravel path.