Biology of Sub-Tropical Florida

ALYSSA PORADA:

“Water is incredibly important to the habitiats that we have visited in Florida. They influence the behaviors of different species in each separate environment. In the Keys, there is little fresh water, and it is very hard on the species that live in those areas. They have developed ways of holding in as much fresh water as possible whenever it is available to them. Farther north, towards the Everglades, more fresh water is available, but this water is controlled by levies that are set up across the state.

Starting in the Everglades, and then heading north to Big Cypress, we saw varying water levels, from the highest ever seen by some of the professors, to some water levels that were fairly low, some at historic lows. The Anhinga Trail was an area where the water was on the lower side, but it still allowed for wading birds to feed and nest in the area. As we headed up the Tamiami Trail, we found that the water levels were at record highs. We went to a trail in Big Cypress, and were surprised to see that the trail was covered in water. It was the highest that Dr. Carrier has ever seen since his days as a graduate student at the University of Miami in the early 70’s. The canals that we saw that were running alongside of the Tamiami Trail were also very high, but were still able to support some wading birds.

The following day, we went to Corkscrew Wildlife Sanctuary, an Audubon Society preserve. This sanctuary was well know for its wading birds. It is also a nesting ground for Wood Storks. While walking around the park, we were able to observe how low the water was. Because the water was so low, the wading birds were virtually non-existent. In one area - a traditional nesting grounds - we should have been able to see large amounts of Wood Storks, but the area was completely dry and nesting this year was unsuccessful. The only place we actually saw any standing water was in the Lettuce Lakes. At these “lakes” we were able to see a few White Ibis, a Wood Stork, a Great Blue Heron, a Little Blue Heron, a Tri-Colored Heron, an egret, and Purple Gallinule. This area was supposed to be flourishing with wading birds, but we were only able to find about one of each species. There were some species that we should have been able to find there, like Snowy Egrets, Roseated Spoonbills and Red Egrets, but were no where in sight.”

The biggest effect that these low water levels at Corkscrew have is on the Wood Stork. The Wood Stork do not nest if they cannot find food, and since the water levels are so drastically low in Corkscrew, they have not nested for two years. The unfortunate thing is that these low water levels have very little to do with a lack of rainfall in the area, but because of water control efforts in south Florida. Human control of the water has disrupted the natural flow of water in some areas of the Everglades as well as in the Big Cypress area, putting a lot of stress on the natural species that are found within these environments.”

DORI WILLIAMS:

“Today we spent three hours walking the boardwalk at Corkscrew National Park. Coming into the day I had one main goal, and that was to see a painted bunting. Fortunately for me, almost the first thing that I saw was a painted bunting. The bird was absolutely beautiful! I couldnt believe how colorful it was. The bird has pretty much every color of the rainbow on it. Then this got me thinking, because I wondered what on Earth could have caused this bird to have evolved so that in a habitat that is mostly green it is very bright colored. This is even stranger because of the fact that the female is actually perfectly blended into its habitat and the male is so NOT camouflaged in its habitat at all.

The other bird that was really a highlight was the swallowtail kite. It looked bluish in the sunlight when it flew directly over us and then made a sweep back towards us and flew off. Besides being a thrilling experience it was also quite comical. I say this because when we (Kendall and I) saw the kite, we were trying to get a hold of Dr. Kennedy to point it out, but she was too far away. Because we couldn’t talk louder than a whisper Kendall and and I started jumping up and down fanatically and waving at her in loud whispers. At one point in the freak-out, we actually ran into each other a few times and in the chaos of it all we still failed to get Dr. Kennedy’s attention. Overall it was really funny, because we didn’t really get anyone’s attention even though we were jumping around like idiots.”

ADAM LUCK: 

“Today we went to the Corkscrew Sanctuary that got the name from the river nearby.  The highlight of this particular location is the birds because there are many species located here.  However, the animal that I was able to observe that most others did not have the chance to see was the rat snake.  This snake is identified by its brilliantly colored yellow/orange body with a black stripe running its length.  I was actually able to see two of them!  Both snakes were longer than four feet and seemed to be comfortable with people because they were located right off of the Corkscrew boardwalk.  The most interesting part was crossing over the ecotomes.  Within one hundred feet we walked across pond cypress, saw grass, and bald cypress habitats.  Why this is so curious is because these plants characterize different levels of water availability.  Just in one park the water that is available ranges so much it is unbelievable.  I could have spent more than the three hours we were there.”

KARL SMITH: 

“While I was in Corkscrew Sanctuary I went exploring by myself to see if I could see some interesting wildlife.  I found myself at Lettuce Lake, which looked rather low on the water supply.  I saw a Little Blue Heron walking in barely knee high water for the bird, and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  I had not seen the warbler before and found the bright yellow on its back right above the tail to be dazzling.  The most impressive part of my experience at Lettuce Lake was after about seven or eight minutes watching those two birds I decided to leave and I saw a Red-Shouldered Hawk sitting on a tree branch.  It had been there the whole time not making a sound.  It was just watching the other birds in the area.  The hawk was only about ten feet away from me.  I found that it is amazing raptors and other birds can turn their heads 180 degrees to look for their prey.  The ability do to this gives them an advantage over their prey since they are able to see behind them.”