Goodbye Green Cay

Well the goodbyes are starting and it's a little bit like a snowball.  I guess I am on the ride whether I want to get off or not.  I am looking forward to my new life in Colorado but I am leaving so many wonderful people and places behind.  I am going to miss Green Cay Nature Center, the volunteers, the visitors (most of them), my coworkers, and of course all my friends.  It's been a fun and crazy ride these last 6 years.  Thank you all for being a part of it.  For those in the area, stop by on Friday, May 3rd at 1:30PM if you would like to say farewell.  Refreshments will be provided and it will be great to see you all again.

Green Cay update

On Friday I gave my 2 weeks notice at Green Cay Nature Center.  I have worked at the nature center since 2007 and shortly after beginning my new life in Florida I started this blog.  It's been a great ride full of Everglades adventures, nature center life, and trips.  I am leaving with some sadness but mostly excitement at the new beginnings.  In two weeks I will be living in Fort Collins, Colorado.  I can't wait to share with all of you my new life in the mountains.  Until then, I plan to post some Green Cay photos and remember all the good times I've had here in Florida.

Baby Pine Snake

Green Cay has a new education snake.  We traded in our very large Pine Snake for a smaller more docile Florida Pine Snake.  So far our little guy has hissed a bit but overall seems pretty acclimated.  We'll be phasing him into some education programs in the near future.  Welcome to your new home little buddy. 

Education Birds

The Crossley ID Guide Blog Tour continues today with a great post about Raptors as Education Ambassadors.  I am lucky enough at my nature center to have two education raptors.  In case you haven't met my little friends I thought I would share a few recent photos.

Bobby Falco is an American Kestrel and has been in captivity for over 12 years.  The first ten years was spent at Okeeheelee Nature Center and for the past 2 years he has been with me at Green Cay Nature Center.  He's a high strung, active bird but handles really well.  Unfortunately his feet are not in the best of shape and he doesn't have full flight so he became an education bird.  Now he delights visitors and school children at the nature center.

Our newest education bird is Olliver Jr.  For those that know, Oliver One died this past year at the vet's office.  It's taken a little while but we have a replacement.  He's new at being handled on the glove and so far is doing okay but doesn't have complete trust in his new human companions.  I hope to have Ollie Jr. out on display at the nature center in the coming months.  Until then he will continue to train with staff and volunteers until he settles down.  Olliver Two has partial flight but couldn't be released.  We're happy to have him as part of our education team.



Otters and Bobcats

This week has been exciting at Green Cay because a River Otter has joined the daily routine of the wetlands.  Each day the otter can be seen eating tadpoles and fish in the Alligator Hole area.  We also watch it swim around the nature center and run through the front entranceway on its way to its next feeding destination.  Some people this week even saw it run right by our baby Bobcat as she rested in some brush.  The otter didn't even notice as the still Bobcat watched it pass. 

For those not familiar with our Bobcats, we have a family of three currently spending much of their time near the entranceway to the nature center.  The mother has two kittens and they are nearing full grown cats.  I expect in the next month she will kick them out of her territory but until then, our visitors are delighted to see such a nice looking feline prowling the grounds.

When Bobcats are born they usually have blue eyes that turn to a brownish-yellow.  One of the kittens has one blue eye and one yellowish eye right now which seems odd.  I don't know if its other eye will change color or not but until then, it's an interesting sight.

You never know what you may see at Green Cay.  Right now, it's very busy with "snow birds," families, birders, and nature ethusiasts.  I would recommend coming late in the evening before sunset when the exercise walkers aren't here and the boardwalk crowds have calmed down.  It's one of my favorite times of day at the wetlands.  And surprisingly, the wildlife seems just as active if not more so than in the morning.  Just keep in mind that all parts of the park can be productive for wildlife and the parking lot/entrancway is some of our best habitat to see the Bobcat, Barn Owl, or our wintering LaSagra's Flycatcher.

Nemesis Bird: Yellow-breasted Chat, plus a Bobcat or three

Everyone has a nemesis bird, one that alludes you no mater how many times you seek it out.  I've been looking for a Yellow-breasted Chat for a few years now.  Many days have been spent searching for one at Lucky Hammock but this chunky skulker has escaped me again and again.  

Imagine my surprise today when I heard a chat was spotted from the front entranceway boardwalk at my work.  I rushed out and looked around.  Within 10 minutes I had my bird.  There it was in a Saw-toothed Palmetto, out in the open at eye level only 15 feet from the boardwalk.

Green Cay Nature Center is a special place and I am lucky to work there.  Even more lucky to find such a great bird to start my 2013 off right!  After the chat dipped back down in the vegetation I turned my head and there was mother Bobcat slinking from the opposite direction.  She stopped and looked in our direction.  Her two kittens followed her out and gave us a quick glimpse.

Two great wildlife sightings in a matter of minutes!  Thanks goes to Anita Holland and Linda Fell who helped my find the Yellow-breasted Chat.  Special thanks to Linda for emailing all these great photos from our time together on the boardwalk.

A LaSagra's Flycatcher has been hanging out in the Green Cay parking lot this week but it wasn't spotted this morning.  I was so elated about the chat that I wasn't even disappointed in missing it.  I may be the only birder in Palm Beach County that would rather catch a nemesis bird like the chat than a rare stray.  Good birding everyone!  

Purple Gallinule, Purple Flowers

Purple Gallinules love to eat the purple flowers of Fireflag.  They use their long toes to climb into the tops of the plant and bend the flower heads over. The school children that visit always tell me that since they eat purple flowers, of course they have purple feathers. If you're lucky, you may spot a Purple Gallinule or two on Green Cay's mile trail. 

Migration Day: Big Sit

This year for Green Cay's annual Migration Celebration, we decided to host our first festival Big Sit.  Starting at 7AM, faithful volunteers and visitors counted all the birds seen from our 17 foot circle on the back deck.  The winds that day were gusting up to 20mph due to nearby Hurricane Sandy but the skies turned blue and the birds were around, albeit blowing about a little more than normal. 

I suspect our Big Sit totals were a little low due to the small passerines hunkering down and not attempting flights over the open water near out spot.  We still squeaked out a nice list of 42 species seen from 7AM-2PM.

Above shows you a photo of the nature center and in the center is the back deck count circle.  If you zoom in you will even see our faithful volunteers: Emily and Kimmie.  Special thanks for the optics go to The Friends of Green Cay, and the volunteers that really put in the hours which include Emily, Kimmie, and Holly.  Thanks everyone else that stopped by or helped with the count! 

The next Green Cay Big Sit is scheduled for December 22, 2012, starting at 7AM.  No reservations required, just stop by the back deck.

Green Cay Morning

The skies were beautiful this morning at Green Cay.  The above photo was taken at 7:30AM.  You can tell by the yellow coloration of the marsh plants that it's autumn in Florida.  We don't see many leaves change color but generally everything becomes a little dull, more brown and yellow than green. 

No matter what time of year, the marsh is always pretty at sunrise.  I could take this photo every day for a hundred days and it would always look just a little bit different, the Green Cay Wetlands have become dear to me. 

For those that don't know, I am almost done with my first semester of graduate school.  So far, things are going quite well in my classes and I'm learning a lot which is the most important.  When school is finished (or maybe before) I will be departing South Florida.  I guess I better appreciate every sunrise I see at Green Cay until then.

Bobcat vs. Gator

Here at the flyingmullet I keep it real and even when photos are a little graphic in nature, I think it's important to show nature at work.  On election day this year we had an alligator attack one of the baby Bobcats.  Needless to say, it never stood a chance against the spectacular power of an alligator.  If you ever wonder how you would stack up against a predator like this then these photos will show you what it's like to be on the receiving end of an the jaws of a huge reptile.  

I apologize if you find the image upsetting but remember, alligators need to eat too.  It's all part of the big food chain.

I know my updates have been few and far between.  I hope to remedy this soon.  Until then, I will have a post up next week about the best outdoor/birding/etc gifts since we're in that time of year again.  Also a little update from South Carolina since that's where I will be spending my Thanksgiving holiday.

Oliver's Passing

Oliver at Migration Celebration - October 27, 2012

This week brought sad news to Green Cay Nature Center with the passing of our beloved Eastern Screech-owl Oliver.  We will miss him greatly.  He was such a good ambassador for the nature center and delighted many visitors. 

R.I.P. little Oliver.

Migration Celebration

Green Cay Nature Center

12800 Hagen Ranch Road

Boynton Beach, FL 33437

FREE EVENT

PRESENTATIONS

10:00 am: “Bats – The Other Flying Animal”

                                    Sydelle Dombrowsky, Green Cay PLT Coordinator

11:00 am: “Submarine Fields of Green – The Manatee Kitchen”

                                   Dr. Chris Buzzelli, Senior Scientist, Coastal Ecosystem 

                                                                  Section, SFWMD

1:00 pm:  “Lifestyles of Butterflies in the Garden”

                                   Alana Edwards, Education & Training Coordinator,

                                                                  FAU Center for Environmental Studies

2:00 pm:  “Rescue, Rehab & Release of Florida Native Wildlife”                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                   Sherry Schleuter, South Florida Wildlife Center

SPECIAL EVENTS

7:00 am – 2:00 pm: The “Big Sit” Bird Count

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Children’s Story Time Hour

9:00 am – 2:00 pm: Raffle & Silent Auction

9:00 am – 3:00 pm: Environmental Exhibits, Bird Passports & Crafts

For additional information contact Green Cay Nature Center at 561-966-7000.

Green Cay Updates

Working at Green Cay is going well these days.  We are funded for 2013, our Migration Celebration is happening on October 27th, and I won a Golden Palm Award.  October is the beginning of snow bird season so attendance should be picking up.  We already have a few migrant birds coming through including a recently seen Wilson's Warbler, a male Painted Bunting, and our first winter Blue-winged Teal.  Plus, the baby Bobcats are making daily appearances. 

It's been so busy that I haven't had the time to update the blog but you better believe I finished out a great year of Bird-a-Day.  Look for my posted list of birds later this week!  And in other news, I'm in a graduate school program so if you don't see me much online I haven't forgotten The Flying Mullet days of life.  You better believe I have some camping trips planned, a few fun trips coming up, and the birding will continue.  Next up: The Big Sit at Green Cay's Migration Celebration.  We start counting birds from the back deck at 7AM.  Join us! 

Spring NAMC at Green Cay

The results for Green Cay's spring North American Migration Count are below. It was a great day spent with some of my favorite birders. Thanks guys for joining me again!

Species	Count
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck	3
Mottled Duck	24
Pied-billed Grebe	2
Wood Stork	5
Double-crested Cormorant	7
Anhinga	19
Least Bittern	8
Great Blue Heron	4
Great Egret	6
Snowy Egret	1
Little Blue Heron	2
Tricolored Heron	14
Cattle Egret	1
Green Heron	7
Black-crowned Night-Heron	2
White Ibis	12
Glossy Ibis	7
Roseate Spoonbill	20
Black Vulture	3
Turkey Vulture	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	1
Purple Gallinule	2
Common Gallinule	48
American Coot	9
Limpkin	2
Killdeer	1
Least Tern	1
Rock Pigeon	2
Eurasian Collared-Dove	1
White-winged Dove	10
Mourning Dove	9
Chimney Swift	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	4
Blue Jay	13
Fish Crow	5
Purple Martin	62
Northern Mockingbird	9
Brown Thrasher	2
European Starling	20
Northern Waterthrush	3
American Redstart	7
Northern Cardinal	24
Red-winged Blackbird	83
Common Grackle	34
Boat-tailed Grackle	62

Species Total: 45

Date and Effort: Sat May 12, 2012 7:00 AM

Protocol: Traveling

Party Size:4
Duration:3 hour(s), 15 minute(s)
Distance:3.0 mile(s)
Observers:Eva Matthews, Emily Chase-Jacobsen, Andy Lantz, Holly Krahe
Comments:NAMC

List generated by eBird.

Young Bobcats

Our young Bobcats are growing up. By mid summer I expect the mom will kick them out her territory and off they will venture to find their own space. It's been fun watching them play in the wetland. Good luck little kitties.

North American Migration Count Coming Up!

Andy and I on last year's count.

If you're free this weekend then you should get outdoors and participate in the North American Migration Count.  The count starts Saturday and people across the continent will be counting birds for citizen science.  I have been doing this count at Green Cay since May 2007.  I'm hoping this year will be a big one and we hit 50 species for the day.  Anything is possible!

If you're at the wetlands on Saturday and see a good bird let us know, we may need it for the count!

Green Cay's Photo Contest Winners

Best of Show by Linda Fell "God's Creation"

This year we had a small turn-out for our photography contest, down by 40% or so.  I'm not sure why that is but I still thought the entries that were submitted captured some great parts of our lovely park.  The photo above by Linda took the Grand Prize.  I really liked that a non-traditional photo won this year, not a bird.  To see all the winners visit our webpage and don't forget to enter next year.

Bobcat Interrupted

My volunteer Paul Cummings sent me this photo recently.  Our Bobcat kittens have been delighting visitors all this year.  I couldn't believe that Paul interrupted this little one to snap a photo during a private moment.  Though I am glad that the visitors are getting some up-close and personal time with the wildlife.  In case you're wondering this was shot from above off of the boardwalk.  The animals at Green Cay are very use to the physical barrier of the boardwalk protecting them from humans.  I am amazed at how acclimated they are to the walkers, children, and photographers that run by everyday.

Bobby Falco Visits the Vet

Bobby Falco, our education American Kestrel, recently suffered an injury that he is still recuperating from. A while back we found him with a swollen foot. I started him on antibiotics but nothing seemed to change. Upon closer inspection we saw a very thin line on his leg. I couldn't imagine what the black line could be, his cage is free of debris and how a piece of string could get in there was hard to fathom. I thought that somehow he must have injured himself on the cage.


Even with the meds he didn't seem to be changing so I booked a vet appointment and boy was I glad that I did, the day of his appointment showed the foot had swollen even more. Now I was really concerned. Luckily, our vet knew immediately what had happened and took him to cut out the object.


A few minutes later the vet was back with Bobby Falco in tow. He gave me a little bag with Bobby's instrument of trauma. Somehow a very small piece of his jess was torn off and had become wrapped around his leg. Since the bird's immune system was trying to remove the foreign object it had become swollen.


Now Bobby Falco is back home and on more medicine. I hope he makes a full recovery. You never know what will happen when you're in charge of taking care of animals. We have everything from a Pine Snake to American Alligators to an Eastern Screech-owl at the nature center. Thank you Shores Animal Clinic for getting our bird back up to speed!

Black-and-white Creeper

I was reading the other day that the Black-and-white Warbler was once called the Black-and-white Creeper by many naturalists, such a perfect name! This is one of my favorite warblers and luckily for me, it overwinters here in South Florida so I see them for a good part of the year. The photo above was taken this past week at Green Cay. This young warbler put on quite the show circling and circling closer and closer until it was only a few feet away from a small crowd of visitors. I must have taken a dozen or more shots but this was my favorite. Oh, little black and white creeper, I'm going to miss you. Summer will be here before we know it, I feel it in the air...or should I say humidity.