Wild File Q & A: Why do owls turn and bob their heads so much?

Q: Why do owls turn and bob their heads so much?

A young Barred Owl watches activity below.
By Dick Brewer

A: Owl eyes are very large. They are so large that they cannot move in their sockets. Imagine having a pair of binoculars up to your eyes and looking straight ahead. If you hear a sound to the side, you can’t see what made it unless you turn your whole head so the binoculars are pointed toward the sound. That’s how an owl sees all of the time.
Without binoculars, you can roll your eyes up or down and move your eyes left or right without moving your head, but an owl can’t. And even when looking forward, owls have a smaller field of vision than people do.

To see what your visual field looks like try this experiment. Hold your arms out with both of your index fingers in front of your nose. While you stare straight ahead, move your arms in an arc toward your sides, still staring forward. When you can no longer see your fingers
stop moving your arms. The arc that your arms made is your visual field and measures approximately 180 degrees.

An owl’s visual field is only about 110 degrees. For an owl to focus well, it must turn its head to get an object into its visual field. In addition, owls often bob their heads up and down to judge distance.

By Dick Brewer

http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html

February 23, 2015June 29, 2015

A View of Bird Rookery Swamp- “A fun day for Otters”

Below are first hand observations from our volunteer Dick Brewer. He does weekly visits to Bird Rookery Swamp and very week sends us incredible stories of the magical 12 mile loop. If you would like to see more of his observations visit: http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html

“Saturday, February 21st- Fun day for River Otters. One was just past Ida’s pond where I’ve seen it before. It came up on land, rolled in some leaves, and went to the base of a tree. Then, it jumped into ferns at the base of the tree. I didn’t know that otters could jump. It was pulling dead vegetation out and eventually made a small pile of leaves and vegetations and then
marked its territory.

The second group was a family by the dual culverts between markers 6 & 3. There was a large gator dozing by the entrance to one of the culverts and the otters were apparently teaching the young about predators. They were huffing, snorting, and barking and then harassed the gator by dashing at it and in a few cases touching its hindquarters. The gator finally had enough and raised its head, at which time all of the otters dispersed, still very noisy. A couple of bikers came by and were totally entertained.

BIRDS
Pied-billed Grebe – 1
Anhinga – 9
Great Blue Heron – 7
Great Egret – 35
Snowy Egret – 3
Little Blue Heron – 4
Tri-colored Heron – 2
Green Heron – 1
Black-crowned Night Heron – 21
Yellow-crowned Night Heron – 1
White Ibis – 91
Glossy Ibis – 1
Wood Stork – 1
Black Vulture – 13
Turkey Vulture – 18
Red-shouldered Hawk – 12
Osprey – 1
Killdeer – 1
Common Ground Dove – 1
Belted Kingfisher – 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 7
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Pileated Woodpecker – 2
Eastern Phoebe – 8
Great-crested Flycatcher – 3
Tree Swallow – 56
Tufted Titmouse – 4
Carolina Wren – 14
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 19
Northern Mockingbird – 3
Gray Catbird – 6
White-eyed Vireo – 6
Black-and-white Warbler – 1
Palm Warbler – 11
Northern Cardinal – 2
Common Grackle – 4

BUTTERFLIES
Palamedes Swallowtail – 1
Zebra Longwing – 11
Queen – 2
Viceroy – 2
White Peacock – 15
Gulf Fritillary – 1
Dorantes Longtail – 2
Dun Skipper – 1
Tropical Checker – 2
Barred Yellow – 1

OTHER
River Otter – 8
Gray Squirrel – 2
Red-bellied Turtle – 11
Banded Water Snake – 3
Water Moccasin – 2
Alligator – 84 ”

Visit Bird Rookery Swamp today and experience the beauty of CREW: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/2013/06/26/bird-rookery-swamp-trail/

February 19, 2015February 25, 2015

Bike the Loop: Bird Rookery Swamp

Like to bike? Come out to Bird Rookery Swamp on February 27th, 2015 from 9 am- 1pm and join CREW Trust volunteers Peter Tomlinson and Jan Watson for a guided tour of the picturesque 12-mile loop.

View beautiful scenery, great wildlife, and enjoy the company of like-minded souls.

Activity Level: Strenuous-This is a trail ride on uneven, soft, grassy/sandy trails. Ground level with swamp on both sides of the trail.

BRING YOUR OWN BICYCLE: Mountain, hybrid or fat tire bikes are recommended. Not appropriate for road bicycles. CREW does NOT provide bikes for this tour.

Space is limited to first 20 riders that register, so use the link below and sign up fast:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bird-rookery-swamp-bike-tour-registration-15294104077

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

Wild File Q&A: Why do turtles spread their legs and feet out when they rest on logs?

Q: Why do turtles spread their legs and feet out when they rest on logs?

turtle on a log — A Red-bellied Turtle basks in Bird Rookery Swamp.

A: Turtles are cold-blooded animals, so they cannot control their body temperature internally. The only way they have to raise their body temperature is to bask to absorb warmth and vital UV rays. While heat is radiated to their bodies from their shells, they often stretch out their legs to collect additional heat.

Usually, their feet completely widen out at the same time to increase the surface area even more. They are able to engage in thermoregulation and their metabolism functions become elevated. As a result, the efficiency of their immune and digestive systems increases. Another benefit is that they absorb important UVB rays in sunlight. UVB rays become metabolized into vitamin D3 which is necessary to process calcium.

– Dick Brewer

www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html.

January 27, 2015January 29, 2015

Flint Pen Clean Up

We need your help…

Come out and join us for a community wide Flint Pen Clean Up

Friday, February 6th from 8-1pm

Be prepared to get your hands dirty and plan ahead by bringing/wearing the following:

leather gloves
long-sleeved shirt & long pants
closed-toe shoes
lunch
water
Trucks, Mules, and Swamp Buggies are allowed but for the clean up only

Please RSVP by emailing Jessi Drummond at education@crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com or call 239-657-2253 by February 4^th 2015.

January 22, 2015

CREW Concert & Silent Eco-Auction Flyer

For more information: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/crew-concert/

January 19, 2015

Wild File Q&A: What causes the small brown and yellow patches on healthy plant leaves?

Q: What causes the small brown and yellow patches on healthy plant leaves?

An Alligator Flag leaf by the Bird Rookery Swamp boardwalk protects itself from further damage by isolating an invasive pathogen. — An Alligator Flag leaf by the Bird Rookery Swamp
boardwalk protects itself from further damage by isolating an invasive
pathogen.

A:

It’s often apoptosis, a term that comes from plant kingdom where the Greek apoptosis originally meant the loss of petals of leaves. Now, it can refer to both the plant and animal kingdoms and is also called Programmed Cell Death (PCD).

Cells in plants and animals can self-destruct when they are no longer needed or if they are damaged. For plants, this achieves and maintains stability within the internal environment when it is dealing with external changes.

Natural PCD (not caused by external factors) includes the timely death of petals after fertilization and the senescence of leaves. Host-controlled PCD is also a means of resistance to pathogens. Cells challenged by pathogens initiate a hypersensitive response, which is a rapid PCD process that is activated in order to inhibit the spread of invading pathogen.

PCD in plants has a number of molecular similarities to animal apoptosis, but it also has differences. The most obvious is the lack of an immune system to remove the pieces of the dead cell.

Greatly simplified, instead of an immune response, an enzyme is activated that destroys the central vacuole (a bubble-like cavity) in the plant cell, which is followed by disintegration of the rest of the cell. This creates a protective, dead “envelope” around the pathogen to limit its spread. This is what may appear on some leaves as a yellow and brown blotch.

Some examples of apoptosis in the animal kingdom include the resorption of the tadpole tail at the time of its metamorphosis into a frog, the removal of tissue between fingers and toes of the fetus as it develops, the elimination of T cells that might otherwise mount an autoimmune attack on the body, and during the pupal stage of insects that undergo a complete metamorphosis, the death of most of the cells of the larva which provide nutrients for the development of the adult structures.

For more than you would ever want to know about apoptosis, visit
http://jcmb.halic.edu.tr/pdf/4-1/Programmed.pdf

For a simpler explanation of apoptosis, visit
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/apoptosis.htm

January 4, 2015December 29, 2014

Bike the Bird Rookery Swamp Loop

Like to bike? Well come out to Bird Rookery Swamp on January 9th, 2015 and join CREW Trust volunteers Peter Tomlinson and Jan Watson for a guided tour of the picturesque 12-mile loop.

View beautiful scenery, great wildlife, and enjoy the company of like-minded souls.

Activity Level: Strenuous-This is a trail ride on uneven, soft, grassy/sandy trails. Ground level with swamp on both sides of the trail.

BRING YOUR OWN BICYCLE: Mountain, hybrid or fat tire bikes are recommended. Not appropriate for road bicycles. CREW does NOT provide bikes for this tour.

Space is limited to first 20 riders that register, so use the link below and sign up fast:

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/bird-rookery-swamp-bike-tour-registration-11948031885

January 1, 2015December 29, 2014

A Look Back on our 25th Anniversary

CREW has had an incredible 25th Anniversary Year:

* Over 38,000 visitors to CREW Trails
* Two amazing fundraisers brought in over $30,000
* CREW volunteers donated 3,906 hours
* 4,600 people participated in our environmental education programs

January 2014, the CREW Trust began its 25th anniversary, celebrating 25 years of land conservation and environmental education in southwest Florida. From the kick-off event in frigid cold weather last January to our final #GivingTuesday end-of-year fundraising campaign running through December 31st, this celebration has had something for everyone – a wine & cheese social and a BBQ for CREW members, trail events that included a variety of guided walks about everything from mushrooms to mammals, a geocaching day, a horseback ride through Flint Pen Strand, a guided bicycle ride at Bird Rookery Swamp, a Vitamin N Walk for families, a fabulous 25th anniversary concert featuring the Sarah Hadeka Band and Deb & the Dynamics, and our first #GivingTuesday fundraiser. Thank you to every one of you who volunteered, participated, sponsored, supported, and gave to CREW during 2014, making our 25th anniversary such a success! We look forward to the next 25 years…

Category: Volunteers

Wild File Q & A: Why do owls turn and bob their heads so much?

Q: Why do owls turn and bob their heads so much?

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A View of Bird Rookery Swamp- “A fun day for Otters”

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Bike the Loop: Bird Rookery Swamp

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Wild File Q&A: Why do turtles spread their legs and feet out when they rest on logs?

Q: Why do turtles spread their legs and feet out when they rest on logs?

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Flint Pen Clean Up

We need your help…

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CREW Concert & Silent Eco-Auction Flyer

For more information: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/crew-concert/

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Wild File Q&A: What causes the small brown and yellow patches on healthy plant leaves?

Q: What causes the small brown and yellow patches on healthy plant leaves?

A:

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Bike the Bird Rookery Swamp Loop

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A Look Back on our 25th Anniversary

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Q: Why do owls turn and bob their heads so much?

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Become a CREW member TODAY and RSVP for our Members Only Campfire & S’mores

This Friday February 20th, 2015 from 6-8

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Q: Why do turtles spread their legs and feet out when they rest on logs?

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We need your help…

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For more information: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/crew-concert/

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