Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
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Snake Key Rookery Update from Vic Doig, Refuge Biologist

5/31/2019

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Who is Nesting on Snake Key this Season?

The mixed species wading bird rookery at Snake Key is thriving this year.  The numbers of birds are beginning to approximate the "glory days" of nesting at the recently abandoned Seahorse Key colony.  Refuge staff and volunteers completed the annual wading bird flight line surveys for the Snake Key rookery in May.  White Ibis have returned to nest in the area in huge numbers, with an estimated 2,500 - 3,000 nesting pairs.  Also nesting in large numbers are Tri-colored Herons (est. 500 nests), Snowy Egrets (est. 400 nests), Great Egrets (est. 120 nests), Brown Pelicans (est. 100 nests), and Double Crested Cormorants (est. 200 nests).  Other notables include an estimated 60 Roseate Spoonbill nests and 3-4 Reddish Egret nesting pairs.  We also recently completed drone flights over the colony in an effort to count and validate nesting data, but have not yet completed digital post-processing to begin analyzing that information. 
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photo by Larry Woodward
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photo by Ed DeHaan
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photo by Richard Herman

Speaking of Babies – An Aside

Project Engineer Josh Havird - formerly of Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, now posted at St Mark's NWR is a brand new proud papa of a baby girl. Mom and little Emily are both doing great.  Josh is taking some family leave to be with them.

Closure Limits Nesting Disturbances at Snake Key

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This is the first season with an official island closure during the nesting period at Snake Key. Refuge staff installed the signage back in February. Despite a few violations, most folks seem to be respecting the 300' buffer around the island in an effort to limit disturbance to this critically important wildlife area.

Largest Wading Bird Rookery

The Seahorse / Snake Key rookery is the largest wading bird rookery on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and with nesting numbers reduced in the Everglades this year, the importance of our own colony cannot be understated. 
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Do Different Bird Colonies have Unique Sounds?

As mentioned in an April post, Rookery Audio Project, collaborative efforts are underway to collect mating and nesting sounds from the Snake Key rookery. In the future, we will broadcast the audio back on Seahorse Key, using the sounds in conjunction with bird decoys to attempt to lure some nesting back to Seahorse Key. The much smaller Snake Key landmass is filled almost to capacity.
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What Happened to the Seahorse Key Rookery?

Most folks will recall that the large Seahorse Key rookery was suddenly abandoned during the nesting season back in April of 2015.  Popular interest was so high that the national media covered "Our Bird Mystery" extensively.  We still cannot definitively say why all the birds left their nests during that event, although disturbance was likely a factor.
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"Solstice Feasts and Other Gatherings"

5/29/2019

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Cover of the magazine of the Florida Historical Society
Adventures in Florida Archaeology, the magazine of the Florida Historical Society, recently included an article by Dr. Ken Sassaman about Shell Mound. Dr. Sassaman is the  Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida.

The article, "Solstice Feasts and Other Gatherings",  updates the understanding of life at Shell Mound in earlier times, and provides a window to better appreciate what we observe when we visit today.

He mentions the involvement of his many graduate students, the support of the Refuge staff for this research and in preserving the site. There is even a mention of the role of Friends in helping develop the interpretive panels for the Shell Mound trail. The photo below is from the article.

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Photo from Solstices Feasts and Other Gatherings, 2019 Adventures in Florida Archaeology. Topographic map shows the locality of Shell Mound with 3-D inset (lower right) of the C-shaped ridge and open plaza. Image by the author and Terry Barbour from both open-access LiDAR data and higher-resolution LiDAR data provided by GatorEye
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The Shell Mound Trail now includes the area of the "plaza", which is clearly visible in the inset in the above photo. This area was not previously part of the trail. Refuge staff members, Larry Woodward, Vic Doig, Daniel Barrand, Jason Coates, and Shell Mound volunteer Ron Black expanded the trail through the plaza and built a boardwalk over the section that floods from time to time. Friends helped with the preparation of the interpretive panels.
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Help Needed for Summer Bird Rescues

5/28/2019

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rescued turkey vulture photo by Doug Maple
Members of the Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys NWRs share an interest in nature and especially our birds with members of the Cedar Keys Audubon Society. If you are available during the summer months to help with the Audubon bird rescue program, your help would be greatly appreciated.
Cedar Keys Audubon's Capt Doug Maple needs folks to answer their new bird rescue line and use the phone tree to notify volunteers.  This is a great way to help our nesting and roosting birds.   You don't have to be a rescuer or even leave your air conditioned house.   You just have to be able send text and voice messages.  If you can help please call Doug at 352 949 1995.
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Seahorse Key Events

5/27/2019

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Photo by the Nature Coast Biological Station
With support from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, the Cedar Key Light Station on Seahorse Key has a new replica lens. On Friday, July 5, from 7 to 9:30 pm, all are invited to Cedar Key for the official lens-lighting celebration. The lighting ceremony itself will be at 9:00. Details are in the Nature Coast Biological Station May newsletter and soon on the NCBS website.
The following day, Saturday, July 6 from 9 am to 3 pm, there will be an Open House on Seahorse Key. Come out, enjoy time on the island which is part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. Visit the marine lab and the Light Station which are managed on the island by the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station. This will be one of only about four Seahorse Key Open Houses during the year.
Access to Seahorse Key is available to the public through Tidewater Tours, Cedar Key Boat Rentals and Island Tours, or it can be accessed by private boats during the Open Houses.
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Swallow-tailed Kites on the Refuge

5/24/2019

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Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys t-shirt image. Photo by Ann Kamzelski.
Earlier in May, Dr. Ken Meyer, executive director of the  Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) in Gainesville FL, visited the Lower Suwannee Refuge  with several research associates to consult with Refuge staff members Larry Woodward and Daniel Barrand about Swallow-tailed Kite habitat and conservation efforts.

According to the ARCI website, the Swallow-tailed Kite's range, which once went along the Mississippi River as far north as Minnesota, is now just a third its historic size. ARCI works to develop management techniques for these at-risk birds. Since 1996, they have used satellite telemetry to study the ecology of Swallow-tailed Kites, including the 10,000 mile migration they make each year to the humid plains of Brazil and back to the lowlands of the southeast U.S.

At the May meeting of the Friends Board, discussion about Swallow-tailed Kite research on the Refuge led to an interest in Friends possibly supporting the cost for ARCI to tag a "Refuge" bird and follow its migration.

Almost all of us have seen these iconic birds at the Refuge and awaited their annual return in Spring. Perhaps some of us would want to participate in the research about them and their relationship to our Refuge and the habitat it preserves for them.

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Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
P. O. Box 532
Cedar Key, FL 32625
friends@friendsofrefuges.org

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.


  • Home
    • Current News
  • About
    • About Friends >
      • Who We Are
      • What We Do
      • Current News
      • Contact Us
    • About the Refuges >
      • Our Refuges
      • Places of Interest
      • Hunting Brochure
  • Join
    • Donate
  • Maps
    • Paddling Guides
    • Refuge Maps
    • Trail Brochures
    • Places of Interest
  • Wildlife
    • Science
  • Hunt & Fish
    • Hunting
    • FWS Hunting Brochure
    • Fishing
    • Hunter SignUp
  • Search
  • Store
    • Shirts
    • Hats
    • Books
    • Earrings
    • Gift Donation
    • On Sale