Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)

A striking black-and-white bird with very long, thin red legs, the Black-necked Stilt is found along the edges of shallow water in open country.(read more)






Eco Pond, Flamingo, Everglades National Park
Apr28,2009

Monday, April 27, 2009

Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca )

A common, tall, long-legged shorebird of freshwater ponds and tidal marshes, the Greater Yellowlegs frequently announces its presence by its piercing alarm calls.(read more)








Eco Pond, Flamingo, Everglades National Park
Feb,2009

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Florida Softshelled Turtle (Apalone ferox)

Description
The Florida softshell is the largest of the New World softshell turtles (which are all believed to have originated in the Old World) and has the most Old World characteristics such as: relatively large size, tolerance for brackish water, and longitudinally wrinkled carapace. The young Florida softshell is olive-yellowish in color with large gray spots, yellow and orange markings on the head, and a yellowish border around the carapace. These juvenile markings are mostly lost with age. Adults are brown-gray sometimes showing traces of the juvenile markings. The plastron of the juveniles is a slate-gray.(read more)




Shark Valley, Everglades National Park

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Liguus fasciatus

Two different places in Everglades National Park, the spring began and the mosquitoes.
More information about the Liguus fasciatus

------------Recommended readings-------------------

Tree Snails, Gems of the Everglades by Treat Davidson
National Geographic,March,1965
Liguus Discussion Board
Liguus Fasciatus in Florida
Florida Liguus (Tree Snail) 2008






Thursday, April 16, 2009

Shorebirds

Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone


Ruddy Turnstone

Photos by Juan C Aguero (juanKa)
Flamingo, Everglades National Park

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Female panther killed on U.S. 41

— The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received calls this morning about a panther that was struck and killed at 10:20 a.m. on U.S. 41 near Turner River in Collier County. The panther, UCFP119, was a 2-3 year-old female that had a cowlick but did not have a kinked tail. No subcutaneous transponder chip was detected. The carcass is being transported to Gainesville today and a necropsy has been scheduled for Friday. The remains will be deposited with the Florida Museum of Natural History. This is the sixth known panther mortality for 2009, five of which have been caused by collisions with vehicles.

The following is a statement from Laurie Macdonald, Florida program director for Defenders of Wildlife:

“Today’s tragic incident is deeply upsetting because it could have been avoided if there had been wildlife crossings and fencing in the area. The panther killed today was a breeding age female panther - a critically important individual in the very small wild panther population – and she was killed along a road segment where a wildlife crossing has been proposed.

“We hope that today’s event once again underscored the pressing need to move quickly ahead with reducing the threats caused to panthers crossing the road in Big Cypress. We are urging Florida Department of Transportation and Collier County to slow traffic down on US-41 with speed-calming structures, such as speed bumps and rumble strips, warning lights, a lower legal speed limit and increased enforcement.

“Defenders of Wildlife has been working with agency partners for over a year on a conceptual design for two wildlife underpasses and fencing that would reconnect panther habitat and allow for safe passage of panthers and other wildlife. A public meeting to review the speed-calming and crossing designs will be held in late spring or early summer.

“Once improved measures are in place, we hope that incidents such as these will become less frequent, and panther population will have a real shot at reproducing to sustainable population levels.”

Panther advocates call for solution to dangerous stretch of U.S. 41



Nature




Photos by Juan C Aguero (juanKa)
Everglades National Park

Just My Opinion

Since this is my first blog post, I’ll try to make it count.

For years I’ve been trying to save things, from endangered species to treasures placed along the curb on trash night. The January issue of National Geographic illustrates the former, the CBS Sunday Morning Show the latter.

To me it’s a real shame when we don’t think before we act. What we do has real consequences, sometimes forever. It’s my job to point that out.

All of us can play a role in the future of our planet. Start at home. Turn down the lights and the heat just a bit. Drive a smaller car. Reduce what you buy. Reuse what you buy. Certainly recycle, but think of that as a last resort. Know that every time you pay for something, you’re telling the world that you approve of how the product was made, what it’s made from and the fuel that was used to bring it to you.

Please, spend your money well.

Joel Sartore

Lincoln, Nebraska

January 28, 2009

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Flamingo (safari today)

Tricolored Heron

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Shorebirds family

Osprey

Osprey

Waterfowl

Wood Storks

Photos by Juan C Aguero (juanKa)
Eco Pond, Paurotis Pond and Flamingo area ( Everglades National Park)