On a beautiful day in southwest Florida a group of nature-lovers gathers around a bear trap and a stuffed bear cub to learn about black bear ecology and management. Kathleen Smith, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission biologist, enlists someone in the group to enter the trap to demonstrate how it works and then explains how it is used to trap “nuisance bears”. The trap is a round metal culvert tube with bait (often donuts) tied inside one end and a trap door on the other. When the bait is pulled, the door slams shut. After the demonstration, she leads the group on a stroll through the CREW Marsh Trails off Corkscrew Road looking for bear sign and explaining the natural history of Florida black bears. As the walk ends the group is ready to explore more on their own in hopes of catching a glimpse of a rare Florida black bear. full story>>
By Deb Hanson It’s summer at CREW. Thunder rumbles in the distance, lightning flashes and rain comes pouring down. As the storm passes, new sounds begin. Is that a sheep bleating? Ducks quacking? Pigs grunting? No, it’s a chorus of frogs and toads taking advantage of the rainy season - calling to attract mates, establish territory, or simply to announce that the humidity is higher. An evening walk on any of the CREW trails during the rainy season will reward you with a symphony of frog and toad calls. Calling occurs primarily by males to attract females in or near wet places so eggs can be laid and fertilized in the water. But calls are also an easy way to identify species of frogs and toads. Our native green tree frogs give a nasal honk sometimes described as a cow-bell. In a chorus they sound like they are calling “hey-babe”, hey-babe”. Squirrel tree frogs quack like ducks. Narrow-mouthed toads bleat like sheep. Southern cricket frogs sound like marbles clinking together, and barking tree frogs sound like – well, hound dogs barking. Seeing frogs isn’t as easy as hearing them, though. Look around the water’s edge, under plant leaves, or on blades of sawgrass in the marsh. The bright green of squirrel and green tree frogs is striking. Barking tree frogs have a beautiful green and gray spotted pattern. The gray and brown of tiny oak toads camouflage them well until they hop along the trail. Finding one is a real treat and a reward to the attentive observer. The 16 species of frogs and toads found in CREW are important indicators of the health of the ecosystem. Because they take in water and air through their skin, they are especially sensitive to pollutants of all kinds. Their dependence on water for reproduction makes them good indicators of changes in wetlands, too. When frog and toad populations show health problems or decline, it’s a sign that something is wrong. And the loss of frogs means the loss of medicines and pest controls, too. CREW is part of the SW Florida Amphibian Monitoring Network (www.frogwatch.net), a local group of volunteers who go out once a month during the summer to listen for and record frog and toad species. Started in 2000, the Network’s 10-year report shows that SW Florida’s frog population is still doing okay, but is losing some species from the landscape. Development is causing a decline in frog communities here, and exotic frog species (like those big Cuban tree frogs on your lanai) are increasing. Come take a walk at CREW or step outside your door this summer and listen. You may just hear the sounds of a changing ecosystem. This is one of the most wonderful "takes" in Estero. read here>>
©2014 Deb Hanson, CREW Land & Water Trust Spring has in full-swing in southwest Florida - the swallow-tailed kites are back, the cypress trees are leafing out, and every day new spring wildflowers are popping up along the roadsides and trails. It only takes a glance out your car window to see a splash of yellow or purple petals announcing spring. April and May mark the peak of spring wildflower season at CREW. On any given day over 50 different species of wildflowers can be found along the CREW Marsh or CREW Cypress Dome Trails off Corkscrew Road. Don’t expect big showy flowers or vast fields of brilliance, though. Looking for wildflowers here is kind of like going on an Easter-egg hunt - lots of green with spots of color here and there. To an observant eye, though, the rewards are plenty. From the cute yellow bachelor’s buttons that greet you on arrival to the bright, showy grass pink orchids popping up along the marsh’s edge, every twist and turn along the trail reveals a new floral delight! Since most flowers bloom for a very short time period, the color scheme and variety of flowers changes fast. Walk through the high, dry pine flatwoods and you’ll see the subtle purple penny royal. Get down close to it, rub the leaves between your fingers, and you’ll be rewarded with a sweet minty fragrance. Nearby the shiny blueberry’s dainty white and pink flowers hang from low-growing stems beside the taller four-petaled St. Peter’s wort (from the St. John’s wort family). If you hike the trails between 10 AM and 3 PM, you’ll see the delicate blush of the Roserush, which only blooms mid-day. And you can’t miss the tall pink thistle, which attract butterflies, beetles, and many other kinds of insects to its flower. Further along the trail in moister soils, look for Southern dewberry (south Florida’s version of the blackberry) with its bright white flowers, tiny white or purple violets, blue-eyed grass, and the tall yellow butterweed or the daisy-like sneezeweed. In these same moist soils grows the beautiful lavender-colored butterwort – an insectivorous plant with sticky leaves. In wet spots along the marsh edge grass pink orchids, water pimpernel, duck potato, marsh pinks and lemon bacopa will all delight your senses. So, come take a stroll at CREW and see how many of these beautiful flowers you can find. No need to know them all by name, just look, smell and enjoy the beauty on a warm spring day. |
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