Preserving and protecting the water resources and natural communities of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed
CWSF_Flyer_2015
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/
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
Get ready to meet one of Florida’s most important keystone species – the Gopher Tortoise – at CREW’s Strolling Science Seminar (SSS) on Saturday, February 7th at the CREW Cypress Dome Trails . This exciting strolling seminar – The Gopher Tortoise: How protecting one species actually protects hundreds – will be led by FGCU biology instructor, Dr. John Herman. Registration is required, sign up here.
Dr. John Herman’s enthusiasm for reptiles is contagious and his first-hand knowledge is vast. Don’t miss this chance to learn science from one of the best.
Gopher Tortoises are called ecosystem engineers because they fundamentally change the environment where they live by digging burrows. Their burrows provide critical habitat for over 300 other species. We will investigate these burrows and get to know many of these co-inhabitants. Whether you love reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, insects, or plants; this seminar will have it all, thanks to the mighty Gopher Tortoise!
What to wear/bring: Wear comfortable outdoor walking clothes and closed-toed shoes. Please bring 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.
Are there age limits for this event? Yes – this walking seminar is for adults, ages 18 and over.
Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event? No. We like to conserve resources, so print tickets will not be issued. Just check in with the CREW staff when you arrive.
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
Join Neil Wilkinson – FGCU instructor and current President of the Florida Mosquito Control Association – for our second strolling science seminar of the season, Mosquitoes of the Marsh: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly – on Friday, December 5th, 9 AM to noon at the CREW Marsh Trails. Registration is required. Register on our Eventbrite page here.
This seminar is about one of Florida’s most famous living creatures – mosquitoes. Learn the life histories of fresh floodwater and natural container species of mosquitoes common to southwest Florida. You will be surprised by the fascinating diversity of species and behaviors. We will begin with samples of adult and larval mosquitoes and learn about their life histories then hike into the preserve to check for adult mosquitoes caught in traps set the night before. We will use aquatic dip nets to survey for mosquito predators in ditches and depressions and be on the lookout for other amazing wildlife that the CREW marsh protects.
Enhanced knowledge at the species level is the basis for a greater understanding of the whole watershed system. We will have ample time to discuss issues related to controlling mosquitoes, types of control, and consider the impact of NextGen mosquito control products. Mosquito control, like watershed management is a classic environmental science case study. Humans impact the environment, often in harmful ways and as awareness and science progresses new options arise for ameliorating our actions.
Neil Wilkinson, is an instructor in the Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University. Wilkinson is currently the president of the Florida Mosquito Control Association. He is an environmental educator with extensive classroom and field teaching experience at the elementary, middle, high, and university levels. He spends half of his time teaching a science outreach program to classes in the local school district. He acts as a liaison between FGCU, the Lee County School District’s Environmental Education Program, and the Lee County Mosquito Control District facilitating interagency cooperative and collaborative efforts among students, faculty, and staff.
On November 13th, 2014, the fourth year of CREW’s popular Strolling Science Seminar series for adults will launch with a much-requested repeat of “Mad Batters of CREW” – a science workshop about bats, led by Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Kathleen Smith.
This seminar will take place at Bird Rookery Swamp from 4:30 – 7:30 PM. Space is limited, so register early at https://crewbatsss2014.eventbrite.com .
The full Strolling Science Seminar series includes:
Each seminar includes hands-on activities and in-depth scholarly discussions about the science of the topics and their relationships to the CREW watershed and southwest Florida. Registration is open for all the strolling science seminars at http://crewtrust.eventbrite.com . CREW Strolling Science Seminars are for adults 18 years and older.
We’re wrapping up the third year of the CREW Strolling Science Seminars – our scholarly walks for adults – and we want to publicly thank our seminar leaders who planned and led these fun, hands-on walks at CREW. Much thanks to Kathleen Smith, FWC’s CREW biologist for her session on Florida Black Bears; to FGCU student, Ben Dion, and Dr. William Sanders for their session on The Lives of Fungi at CREW; to Dr. billY Gunnels for his all-day scientific method session called Science in A Day; to Mike Duever for showing us how plant communities respond to Hydrology; to Jack Berninger for a fun seminar about Ferns; and to Ian Bartoszek for his lively session on the American Alligator.
We also want to thank the 113 folks who registered and attended these seminars. Their participation makes it all work!
So, what did they like and learn? As we scanned the participant surveys, we were delighted to discover these insights:
“This was my first attendance at a CREW event (and very definitely not the last). I appreciated the warm welcome and the introduction to other attendees. Three hours packed with information, enthusiasm and laughter. Thoroughly enjoyed it.”
- From the Bear seminar: “Kathleen Smith, FWC biologist was well prepared, knowledgeable and pleasant. She answered all questions even if they were off topic. Very informative. I learned a lot about black bears that I didn’t know before.”
- From the Fern seminar: “I had never heard of the Azolla event. Learned this is a very important and helpful fern. We saw 15+ different ferns. We learned how ferns reproduce. He also gave us hints on how to tell them apart. We saw that the spores are in different places depending on the type of fern.”
- From the Hydrology seminar: “I learned that in Florida two feet of change in elevation can take you through five different ecosystems. (Excellent visual evidence) Maintaining constant water levels is not a good idea even if possible because diversity of plant life needs periods of drought and flooding to create various species that acclimate to changing conditions.”
- From the Fungi seminar: “Don’t eat the blue latex ‘shrooms, and orchids need mycelium to grow.” And… “Lichens incorporate cyanobacteria to fix nitrogen.” and “Most of the fungi is underground. What is seen is only the reproductive part. This underground part is being used to further several ecological goals such as filtering pollutants and replacing Styrofoam packing materials.”
- From Science in a Day: “As a longtime hiker I finally took the time to stop and understand the spiders in the canopy..prior to this they were just something I brushed away. Then I learned about Cabbage Palm “Boots’ , Wax Myrtle, etc. I also learned I can write a rap song in 5 minutes.” And…”I would have loved to have billY [Gunnels] for a professor, and I wished I had been exposed to these kinds of experiences and these sorts of people when I was a student, as I feel my life would have been much different.” And…”The scientific process is complicated Learning is easier when you are having fun.”
“Nature attracts a diverse, curious population.”
Thanks to CHNEP for partial funding of this environmental education program and to all our participants for making this year’s Strolling Science Seminars such a great success!
The CREW Trust is pleased to announce an exciting schedule of 2013-2014 CREW Strolling Science Seminars. These seminars are scholarly walks for adults through the CREW trails, led by experts who engage participants in in-depth discussions about specific topics related to the CREW watershed. This is the third season for these scholarly walks at CREW. The past two years of seminars have been funded partially by CHNEP Public Outreach grants.
This year’s seminars include:
For details about each seminar and to register, go to the CREWTrust page on Eventbrite and scroll to the title of the seminar you want to know more about.
After an outstanding first year of Strolling Science Seminars, we are happy to announce our second season of scholarly outdoor seminars for adults. The CREW Strolling Science Seminars is a series of six scholarly walking lectures – with some hands-on activities thrown in – designed specifically for inquiring adults. Each seminar engages participants in scholarly discourse and citizen science on a specific topic related to the watershed and wildlife of CREW.
Seminar leaders are experts in their fields – either academic professors or working professionals in environmental sciences. Gain in-depth knowledge, hands-on field experiences, and get access to exclusive online resources.
Fee per seminar: $15 CREW Members, $25 non-members
Have you ever wondered how scientists catch bats or how they determine what species of bat is flying above you? Come learn about these fascinating creatures of the night in this seminar. We’ll dispel myths about bats, teach you their importance in our ecosystem, and tell you how you can help.
The presentation will describe native bat species found at CREW and their role in the ecosystem. Bats are critically important to the functioning of the natural ecosystem by consuming insects and agriculture pests.
Participants: Click here for resources and more information about Bats
Snakes may be the most maligned and misunderstood group of animals in the natural world; long-serving as a symbol of evil in many cultures. However, the reality is more closely outlined in a quote by noted American herpetologist Clifford Pope, “snakes are first cowards, then bluffers, and last of all warriors.” On this 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.
Click here for resources and more information about snakes.
January 5, 2013—9:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Evolution & Natural Selection, with Dr. Billy Gunnels, FGCUEvolution is the most powerful force in life, shaping all interactions and features of the natural and human environment. The beauty and diversity that you experience every moment of your life is a direct result of evolution. This process is so critical that the survival of every single species depends on evolution; a world without evolution would result in the extinction of all life on planet Earth. Furthermore, evolution is a never-ending phenomenon. Evolution is not history, evolution is not dead, and evolution is not static. Evolution is a dynamic phenomenon that can be observed during any walk through the woods, visit to the hospital, or bite of food.
Come join us as we examine the life altering reality of evolution and natural selection in the CREW. Dr. billY Gunnels is a dynamic, passionate, knowledgeable educator. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the best teachers in southwest Florida.
Click here for resources and more information about snakes.
Participants will learn about hydrological impacts that cause or contribute to invasion of exotic plants and how to identify some of the most common exotic plants and animals occurring in different habitats at the Corkscrew Well Field, which is a Lee County Utilities water plant. Howard Wegis with Lee County Utilities will give an introduction to the wellfield and the relationship of water use to healthy native plant communities. Additionally, we will discuss the impact that exotic plants and animals have on native biota at the well field and methods used to manage exotic biota.
Understanding the impacts of altering ecological processes will provide a broader understanding of how ecosystems are changing as a result of hydrologic alterations and exotic biota impacts which often follow. Examples of how exotic plants and animals affect competition, predation, disease transmission and parasitism will be provided in the context of ecosystem function.
A master storyteller and teacher, Clyde has been voted a favorite professor by students at NC State University. South Florida is a uniquely tropical region in the continental United States, and its insect fauna dramatically illustrates this. Of the 155 regularly occurring butterflies in Florida, 88 can be found in and around CREW properties; about 25 of these won’t be found any further north! There are also about 130 species of dragonflies and damselflies in the state. Among all these species are some of the most spectacular insects in North America, and every one of has an important and interesting role in the ecosystem it inhabits. Come learn about this unique and beautiful sub-tropical diversity!
Many of the butterflies of CREW have important relationships with native host plants which may be scarce in the rapidly developing, non-protected areas surrounding the properties. All of the dragonflies and damselflies of CREW rely on healthy, high quality aquatic habitats during their immature phases, and all play critical roles as vigorous predators of other arthropods both in the aquatic habitats of their youth and the aerial habitats of their adulthood. During this presentation, we will not only address identification of these insects; we will also try to impart an appreciation for their ecological significance.
Click here for resources and more information about butterflies and dragonflies.
Florida panthers are where it’s at! Come and learn what a panther is, why kittens have a tough life, how to catch a panther, and how much space a panther really needs! Panthers are one of the most recognizable and endangered species in Florida as well as the official state animal and only the citizens of Florida can save them!
Participants will gain the perspective that CREW provides a habitat island in a sea of development and intensive land use which is critically important to help maintain the Florida panther in its current range and sustain the species into the foreseeable future. Click here for resources related to Florida panthers.
Participants: Click this link for resource pages on Citizen Science. To get more info on resources related to tall the seminar topics, go to our homepage and search (top right corner) for the topic by name.
The Strolling Science Seminars are supported in part by a Public Outreach Grant from the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP). The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program is a partnership to protect estuaries in southwest Florida from Venice to Estero Bay.
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Other Adult Education Opportunities: The CREW Trust offers other specially designed interpretive hikes and field trips for adult groups – from garden clubs to leadership teams to local businesses. These hikes typically last 2 to 3 hours and include information about the history of CREW, the importance of the watershed to quality of life, water and wildlife issues, and natural history of the land. To schedule a hike for your adult group, email or call the office using the contact information on our home page.