Part Two of our adventure -
The Board walk is a level platform over Pine Flatwoods wet prairies, pond cypress, bald cypress and marsh ecosystems that is a little over 1.9m long if you don't double back, get lost or just wander loosing track of time. The sanctuary is a 'gateway site for the Great Florida Birding Trail, a breeding area for the endangered Wood Stork and a wintering ground for Painted Buntings as well as numerous other birds.
I mentioned in Part one that this area is suffering sever drought conditions. If a fire starts due to a lightening strike it is the policy to let it burn as part of the natural process. If fire is started due to human causes every effort is made to put it out.
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When the male Egret extends its feathers as this one is doing
it is a mating signal to females |
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Juvenile Ibis and baby Alligators
In summer, the female builds a nest of vegetation where the decomposition of the vegetation provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest and is fixed within 7 to 21 days of the start of incubation. Incubation temperatures of 86 °F (30 °C) or lower produce a clutch of females; those of 93 °F (34 °C) or higher produce entirely males. Nests constructed on leaves are hotter than those constructed on wet marsh and, thus, the former tend to produce males and the latter, females. The natural sex ratio at hatching is five females to one male. Females hatched from eggs incubated at 86 °F (30 °C) weigh significantly more than males hatched from eggs incubated at 93 °F (34 °C).[21] The mother will defend the nest from predators and will assist the hatchlings to water. She will provide protection to the young for about a year if they remain in the area. The largest threat to the young are adult alligators. Baby alligators have an egg tooth that helps them get out of their egg during hatching time. Predation by adults on young can account for a mortality rate of up to fifty percent in the first year. In the past, immediately following the outlawing of alligator hunting, populations rebounded quickly due to the suppressed number of adults preying upon juveniles, increasing survival among the young alligators. |
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| tracks where a large alligator left a drying watering hole |
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| tracks of birds and animals that visited the small pond |
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| Ghost Orchid |
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| Red Maple |
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