Sometimes The Best Made Plans Actually Work Out

Sanibel, FL (86 degrees, blue skies with puffy clouds)

Rosette Spoonbills

We have tried for years to get a winter volunteer position at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, without any success.  There are five sites available, however, the same group of volunteers return each winter. You cannot blame them!  Sanibel is a very special place and the birding, weather, and shelling is phenomenal.  

Turtle eggs

Baby loggerhead turtles

You might remember that this spring we were getting ready to travel up to Maine and workamp for the spring/summer season with a KOA campground.  Just before we were to leave the manager of the volunteers at Ding Darling offered us a summer volunteer position due to some funding being cut for the refuge. There was a great need especially for maintenance help at the refuge and John really enjoys that type of work  After some consideration and discussion with the campground in Maine we decided to go

ahead and accept it.  We were hoping to get our foot in the door and see if we liked volunteering here.  

We have enjoyed our time tremendously and have learned so much about the birds and sea life from the rangers and volunteers we have worked with each day.  We have also made some great friends. The weather has certainly been a challenge.  August has been especially hot, humid, and buggy. The no-see-ums can be fierce and John has had frequent outbreaks of poison ivy. With three weeks left to our commitment we received a phone call from our manager telling us that one of the volunteer couples  was not returning due to health reason.  Did we want the position?  It did not take us long to give him a resounding "Yes".  

Snowy Egret

Our plan is to take a couple of months off and visit some of our favorite places in Florida.  In November and December we will be working again for Slippermania selling sport memorabilia in Port Charlotte.  Starting in January we will return to Ding Darling until April.  John's duties will remain the same, however, I'll be giving some interpretive talks to visitors about alligators/crocodiles, manatees, plants, and an auto tour of Wildlife Drive. In addition, I'll be answering the phone in the administration office.  In the winter time this is a very busy place. Over 800,000 people visit it each year.  

Killdeer

We are very happy to be returning this winter.  It could not have worked out any better.  If you are in the area, please let us know.  We'd love to show you our back yard.  

Prescribed Burn @ Bailey Tract (J.N. Ding Darling Refuge)

J.N. Ding Darling NWR - Bailey Tract (92 degrees, slight breeze, blue skies)

One of the benefits about volunteering for a Fish and Wildlife Refuge is experiencing events from behind the scenes.  Recently the refuge prepared for a prescribed burn of one of the areas at Ding Darling called the Bailey Tract.  Sixty acres were designated as an area for a prescribed burn on August 8th.  

According to Fish and Wildlife "the purpose of this prescribed burn is to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires.  In addition, it enhances wildlife habitat by reducing the spread of invasive woody vegetation and restoring the natural ecology of the area."

Photo taken by Ding Staff

Firefighter officials from several areas (Big Cypress Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge & Southern Florida/Caribbean Fire District) joined the team including Sanibel City representatives and the police department.  

Photo taken by Ding staff

A burn of this size requires a lot of advance planning and community outreach.  A meeting for the community was held well in advance.  Homes, hotels, and businesses in the nearby area were personally contacted and flyers were placed in each mailbox.  A reverse 911 call went out to folks the night prior and day of the burn.  Plus a command center was set up close by to provide information. Huge flashing information signs were set up on the main road in front of Bailey Tract advising cars passing by of the burn about a week prior.  It was a well choreographed event well before the fire crews arrived. 

Tall grasses and vegetation

We went out the evening prior to take some "before burn" photographs.  See how high the grasses have grown. Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S.  A strike to this dry grass could be a real problem.  A planned burn is much easier to handle than an unplanned fire.  Having all equipment and well trained staff in place prior is so critical.   

Prior to the burn

Dense vegetation

As we walked the trail a alligator came over to check us. out.  In fact, it came out of the water towards us which was a little too close for our comfort.  We ended up notifying staff the next day.  Obviously someone is feeding this alligator. Coming towards a human is not good alligator behavior.  Remember never to feed the wildlife.  Unfortunately a fed alligator usually ends up a dead alligator.  

Our campsite is located behind the maintenance area for the refuge.  The day before huge equipment started to arrive.  It was interesting to watch all the action. Firefighters have some great toys.

The conditions were perfect the morning of the burn and all started off as planned.  However, around 2 pm the burn was ended due to a sudden wind shift. Forty of the sixty acres were burned. and plans were made to continue the next morning.  A big rain storm at night cancelled the continuation the next morning. The firefighters left with their equipment to help out other areas. Ding's fire ranger left shortly later for a fire in Idaho and is still there.  Be safe Paul.  

Post burn

We were told the area quickly recovers after a fire.  Here you can see where most of the grasses have been burned away to water level.

If you look closely in the picture below one week later small shoots of grass are already starting to grow.  Nature is amazing.

Small shoots of grass already returning.  

We have seen evidence of prescribed burns at other parks during our travels.  It was interesting to see what happens behind the scenes this time.  At one time forest fires were quickly extinguished in National Parks and prescribed burns were not done. The hope is this burning practises will eliminate catastrophic wildfires.  

Loggerhead Hatchling Rescue - Thank You SCCF Turtle Patrol Volunteers

Sanibel, FL (92 degrees, HOT)

Railroad Vine (blooms in the morning)

We were told of another three day dig of two loggerhead turtle nests and went out early to meet up with the SCCF (Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation) turtle volunteer.  Be sure to read our earlier post for more information about loggerheads by clicking this link   Turtle nests are closely monitored on Sanibel and Captiva by a very dedicated group of volunteers.  In this case, the nest had hatched three days ago and the volunteer digs up the nest to monitor certain conditions.  We arrived early and enjoyed walking along the beach.  

Sandwich Terns

Ruddy Turnstones & Black-bellied Plovers

I think my favorite shore bird is the Ruddy Turnstone.  What a busy little bird.  He uses his wedge shaped bill to flip over stones, shells, and debris looking for tasty morsels.  It's fun to watch them flipping over everything within their path.  

We found the nest and waited for Irene to arrive.  She was a little late because a Green Turtle Test had been found this morning.  This is a very rare event.  

Turtle Nest (see depression where hatchling emerged)

Irene quickly started digging and found lots of eggs.  Most of them had hatched. She dug and dug pulling out more and more.  

Eggs which did not hatch

Suddenly a small live hatchling appeared in her hand.  Wow!  It had been trying for three days to get out of the nest and could not find it's way out.  Irene thought it had gotten tangled in some of the roots in the sand. 

Suddenly there were four little hatchlings.  Needless to say the crowd was very excited.  She quickly put them in a dark bucket and added a little bit of sea water and sand to recreate the nest environment. She covered the bucket with a dark towel and told us where they would be released in the evening. Letting them go out to sea now would be too dangerous.  There were lots of shorebirds around looking for breakfast.  Hatchlings leave the nest at night and even with these precautions it's a tough life for them.  It's a very hungry world out there.

The hatchlings were tumbling all over themselves in the bucket and appeared to be very healthy.  Irene said the little turtles would calm down once she covered the bucket.  We decided to return in the evening to bid them farewell.

Our friend, France's picture

Florida Softshell Turtle

As we were driving home we saw this turtle in the middle of the road.  This is a Florida Softshell Turtle and a favorite food for the alligators.  Don't get too close to one of these.  They can bite and are very aggressive.  

Irene returned in the evening exactly as planned.  A small crowd had gathered.  News spreads quickly!

Irene removed the towel and quickly placed the four hatchlings on the sand.  It was off to the races. Instinctively the turtles headed for the ocean and traveled at a very quick pace.

Free at last!

John took this video of the race.

In all our excitement it was hard to get good photographs.  Watching them go out into the water and with just a little uncertainty figuring out how to swim and handle the waves was amazing.  This was one of those moments we will always remember.  Life as a fulltimer sure is good! A special thank you goes out to all the turtle volunteers for helping to save these endangered species.

Where River and Prairie Meet the Sky - Myakka River State Park

Sarasota, FL (82 degrees, blue skies, low humidity, light breeze)

The title of our blog comes from the brochure we received upon entering this beautiful park and it's a perfect description. We planned a road trip with our friends France and Tony to Myakka River State Park, one of the oldest and largest Florida parks. It was about a two hour trip from Sanibel and an easy drive.   What a perfect day!  Temperatures were cooler, low humidity, and  thankfully no rain. Much of this park is wetlands and due to the frequent heavy rain storms over the past few weeks many of the trails were flooded. Despite this fact, we had a wonderful time.  

Myakka Lake

There is a picturesque seven mile drive which winds through numerous oak and palm hammocks.  The park is remarkable and we look forward to returning for more hiking and maybe a nice kayak paddle.  

Myakka River with beautiful palm and oak hammocks

Myakka River

We tried to hike the River Walk but quickly turned around due to very muddy conditions.  Everything was so lush and green.  We saw some cute Key Deer and many Wild Turkeys as we continued our drive.  

Myakka Lake

There were water lilies, purple iris, and hyacinth blooming on the lake and river.  The most popular inhabitants are alligators.  A guide later told us there were 500-1000 hanging out here. Yikes!  In addition, there are also over 2500 wild pigs and  evidence of their destructive behavior was noted on the trails.    

Birdwalk trail

Gator Girl

We signed up for an hour long airboat tour aboard the Gator Gal. It involved a very leisurely cruise on the upper lake.  This is not your typical high speed airboat tour and travels very slowly.  It was enjoyable but the sooner you get in line the better for getting a window seat.  It was narrated by a knowledgeable park ranger and he told us a lot about alligators.  He spotted many of them and the crowd sure enjoyed seeing them.  

The park gave us a very extensive list of the birds who frequent this area especially during the winter. We did not see very many this time due to the high water.

Afterwards we ate lunch at the restaurant next to the ticket booth.  It was excellent and the menu was quite extensive.  They also rent canoes and bicycles at the out post.  

The highlight for us was the Canopy Walk and Nature Trail.  It was a short walk to tower. and then you climb up a series of steps to reach a walkway suspended 25 feet in the air.  As you walk across, the view below is spectacular.  The resurrection fern was in all it's glory and there were beautiful air plants suspended everywhere.  I could have stayed up there for a long time but your time is limited due to others wanting to go across too.  

Nature Trail

John hiking over the walkway

Ferns and Spanish Moss

Resurrection Fern

At the end of the walkway you can choose to climb a 74 foot tower to get more of a birds eye view of the area.  John was the only one brave enough to hike up to the top.  It's not for the faint of heart.  :) The kids visiting the tower were having the best time.  The rest of us walked back down and waved at John as he climbed up and up.

Click on link for our e-bird list.  

We also checked out the campground and sites were roomy with good privacy in-between.  Water and electricity were available at each site.  Big rigs could easily fit is this very nice campground.

If you are in the Sarasota area, be sure to check out the tree tops.  It's a splendid way to get another viewpoint of nature.  

John Muir once wrote "in every walk with Nature one receive far more than he seeks". 

Don't you agree?