By Amber Prinkey

In celebration of this week of love, please enjoy some pictures of our animals eating what THEY love!
Warning: sometimes animals eat gross things

By Natalia Astaiza

Great Blue Herons are fascinating, majestic animals that are always a treat to see, whether they are soaring the coastline or standing in the shallow water looking for fish. Here are some fun facts about these creatures:

• Great Blue Herons are very tall and stand 3 to 4.5 feet high. In flight, the bird looks huge with its six-foot wingspan.
• Both parents take turns incubating the eggs for 4 weeks.
• In flight, a Great Blue Heron usually holds its head close to its body with the neck bent.
• The young can first fly at about 60 days old.
• Even though Great Blue Herons seem like a big bird, they weigh only 5-6 pounds. Like other flying birds, their bones are hollow.
• A male heron collects the sticks used for nesting material, which he then presents to the waiting female.  She will weave the sticks into a platform which will be lined with soft materials. It might take 2 weeks to build their nest.
• Great Blue Herons hunt from shallow water, moving slowly and searching the water under the surface. They will eat whatever they can catch including frogs, snakes, crayfish, fish, small mammals and even other birds.
• There is a pure white species of Great Blue Heron that lives here in southern coastal Florida. One is currently on display at the Sawgrass Nature Center. Her name is Blue!
• They can be found in both freshwater and saltwater habitats.
• For such large birds, herons are speedy, flying as fast as 30 mph. They usually fly with their necks in an S-shape and their legs trailing behind them.
• The Great Blue Heron does not have a beautiful call. The rough squawk has a guttural almost prehistoric sound to it.

By Amber Prinkey

In honor of World Wetlands Day on February 2, let’s learn a little bit about the wetlands in our backyard. Did you know there are several different ecosystems that make up the Everglades? Here are a few:

Pinelands 

Slash pine is named after the “slashes” – swampy ground overgrown with trees and bushes. Pinelands need fire to exist, it clears out fast-growing hardwoods that would block light to pine seedlings. Many plants here are adapted to fire

Animals seen here are gopher tortoises, box turtles, swallowtail kites

Plants are pond apple, elderberry

Cypress Swamps

Dominated by cypress trees that are deciduous conifers, meaning they have needles like pine trees but lose their leaves in the winter like an oak tree. These trees have a unique adaptation, a “Cypress Knee” which may help anchor the tree

Animals seen are barred owl, river otter, wood stork, screech owl

Plants here are epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants) like Spanish moss, cocoplum

Sawgrass Prairie

Known as the River of Grass, this is covered in water during the wet season, but water levels drop during the dry season. Sawgrass gets its name from the saw-like teeth along with the blades

Animals are alligators, snail kites, and wading birds

Plants include bladderwort, spatterdock

Hammock  

Because of their slight elevation, hammocks rarely flood. Acids from decaying plants dissolve the limestone around each tree island, creating a natural moat that protects the plants from fire.

Plants are tropical Hardwoods like Mahogany, Gumbo limbo

Animals include snakes, bobcats, tree snails

Mangroves 

Mangroves are very important, they provide a nursery for shrimp and fish, a nesting area for birds, they filter water, and prevent erosion during storms

Animals here are raccoons, osprey, fish

Plants are wax myrtle, hibiscus

An easy way to help our wetlands is to conserve water. Taking shorter showers, running full dishwasher loads, and turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth are all ways to reduce our use of this valuable resource.

Did you know we have an apiary on our property? An apiary is a place where bees are kept (don’t worry, it’s safe!). Ours is maintained by Dr. Leo Gosser who collects the honey and combines it with several local apiaries which we then sell onsite.

You can help bees by planting native plants they like:
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/design/gardening-with-wildlife/bee-plants.html

https://www.pollinator.org/guides

By Amber Prinkey

There are over 200 different species of squirrels but just three in Florida, the Eastern Gray Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, and Southern Flying Squirrel (which doesn’t actually fly, instead they have a special membrane between their front and back legs that allows them to glide through the air between trees). Some people think these fuzzy little rodents are pests because they may make a nest in your house or dart out in front of your car (Squirrels will use a zig-zag pattern to run away from predators, which doesn’t work very well on cars so keep an eye out for them and don’t be surprised if they double back!). They also steal birdseed from feeders and terrorize your pets… but this is Squirrel Appreciation Day so let’s focus on their good qualities!

First, where did all of these squirrels come from? Although squirrels are native to North America, in the 1800’s they were introduced to city parks to add interest and entertainment. While we have many other things to entertain us now, watching their acrobatics and other silly behaviors (like pretending to stash nuts to trick onlookers) can still be a source of fun!

Luckily, squirrels don’t want your food like rats and mice do, instead, they eat acorns, hickory nuts, butternuts, beechnuts, maple seeds, as well as berries, mushrooms, and some field crops, such as pumpkins and corn. They are well adapted to finding food and some can find food buried beneath a foot of snow with their incredible sense of smell. However, squirrels won’t dig up all the nuts that they bury under the ground which makes them responsible for planting many trees!

Gray squirrels typically mate in late winter/early spring and have litters of 2-7 “kits.” They are born blind and dependent on their mother but grow quickly and can be on their own at 8-10 weeks, allowing mom to have a second litter mid-summer.

Many people may find baby squirrels and want to help them but often mom can rescue them by picking them up by their scruff and returning them to the nest. People idealize raising baby wild animals like squirrels as their own pets, but it is not only illegal in Florida but also dangerous- to the humans and to the squirrels. They can be aggressive plus they require extra care and special food. The best thing you can do if you find a baby squirrel is to call a wildlife center like ours for advice before you remove the animal from the wild.

By Amber Prinkey

One might ask, do eagles still need saving? You may know about their difficult past, but how are they doing now? Let’s have a look.

In 1782 there were approximately 75,000 bald eagles in the U.S. when they were named our national symbol.

By the 1950s they dropped down to an estimated 412 breeding pairs due to the pesticide DDT. DDT went into the waterways, fish and other prey absorbed it, the buildup of pesticides in the eagle’s systems caused the eggs they laid to be thin and cracked when they sat on them.

In 1972 DDT was banned in the U.S. when the Environmental Protection Agency was formed although it is still in use in South America, Africa, and Asia.  Additionally, the bald eagle became protected by the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

By 1995 with regulation enforcement, habitat restoration, and breeding programs, the numbers rose to nearly 4,500 bald eagles.

In 2007 they were removed from the Endangered Species list

Current estimates put their numbers at about 316,700, which means their population is INCREASING! Over the past 40 years, the population has steadily increased. Part of the reason we know this is from data submitted during the Christmas Bird Count, a reason to feel good about participating if you did so this year!

While we did fix the problem with pesticides, humans continue to be the reason for most bald eagle fatalities. Trauma caused by impact with manmade structures, gunshots, and poisoning (from eating other animals affected by lead gunshots) are the leading causes of death.

Interested in helping our nation’s symbol? Become an Eagle Watcher with the Audubon Society! Details here:  https://cbop.audubon.org/get-involved/be-eaglewatcher

By Amber Prinkey

We had a flurry of fun during Winter Camp, check it out:

Don’t forget to check our website for upcoming Camp Wild opportunities!

From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to The Tortoise and the Hare, everyone can agree that these shelled creatures are adorable. Here are some turtle-y awesome facts you may not know:

Turtles spend most of their lives in water… usually. Some turtles, like Box Turtles, stay on land.

^{One of our resident box turtles peeks out from below a rock}

Slow-moving tortoises have an advantage – they might be ignored because they look like rocks!

Some tortoises LOVE to dig! Gopher Tortoises may construct many burrows and they can be up to 40 feet long and 10 feet deep.

Scientists believe they can see the color red best.

Their shells are made of bone and covered in thick scutes made of keratin (like our fingernails!)

It is illegal to move gopher tortoises from their home. They are a keystone species, those burrows they dig provide shelter for up to 400 species of animals!

It is also illegal to take sea turtle eggs. Sea turtles have a rough time of it, only about 1 in 1,000 makes it to adulthood! If caught poaching these eggs, offenders face a fine of up to $100,000 and up to a year in jail.

Many species of turtles and tortoises are endangered. In some countries, it is believed that their parts have medicinal properties which leads them to be poached – taken illegally from the wild.

Some turtles and tortoises can live up to 200 years! But the average of most species is about 50 years. That’s still a long time if you are considering getting one as a pet. Red-eared sliders have been a common pet for many years and unfortunately, our native turtles are suffering because of it. Many people have released their turtles into the wild and these non-native reptiles are taking resources from our native turtles. They are now a conditional species in Florida, you’ll need a permit to keep one as a pet. 

Please always do your research before getting any animal as a pet and NEVER release unwanted pets into the wild.

^{A red-eared slider basks in the small wetland behind the nature center}

By Amber Prinkey

With the increased focus on nature that has happened over the past year and a half because of Covid, why not continue by participating in this year’s Christmas Bird Count which lasts from December 14 to January 5? Ornithologist Frank M Chapman created the Christmas Bird Count in 1900 to bring more attention to conservation efforts. He and his fellow conservationists thought we should be counting the birds instead of hunting them! This work continues and helps the Audubon society understand bird populations. There are rules and a sign up required, get the details here: https://www.audubon.org/answers-your-top-questions-about-christmas-bird-count

If competition is your thing, consider a Big Year. Just like the 2011 movie shows us, birders compete to see the most bird species in the U.S. in an entire year. The current record was set in 2019 and stands at 836 of the just over a thousand species here in the U.S. There are also worldwide competitions to see as many of the over 10,000 bird species we know of, that record stands at 6,852. That’s a lot of birds!

If you’re like us here at Sawgrass Nature Center and just want to enjoy birds whenever and wherever consider a life list. This is just a list of birds you’ve seen. No pressure, just enjoyment of birds and their silly, strange, fun, and beautiful behaviors. 

Want to learn more about birds? Book a Bird Adaptations class with us. Your group will learn about birds, see them up close, and even dissect pellets from them! See our website for details.

A flock of Mourning Doves visits the field at our nature center

By Amber Prinkey

A few months ago we talked about citizen science when regular people help researchers understand animal movements and patterns. Interested in helping out some more scientists? For the next few months, researchers at Journey North would like our help in tracking Monarch butterflies. If you live in the Southeastern U.S. you can sign up to report your Monarch sightings this December through March. Visit https://journeynorth.org/monarchs for details.