Volunteering is a valuable way to experience, learn about, and ensure the spectacular wildlife in Florida is around for generations to come. In this quarterly edition, we share how some of our amazing volunteers spent their summer. And, yes, it’s all about partnerships, community and the jays! We also share ways for you to get involved and support the FWC's volunteer programs. Enjoy!
— Sharon Tatem, Volunteer Program Manager
Summer in the Scrub
By Logan McDonald
Photo by Jacqui Sulek, Chapter Conservation Manager, Audubon Florida.
Each June and July, volunteers brave the heat and humidity of our Florida summers. These dedicated volunteers are often on the road and driving to field sites before most of us have even managed to make it out of bed and start sipping our morning cup of coffee.
The sun rises over the Florida scrub as volunteers begin to gather. The Florida scrub is an extreme habitat and the life found there seems to persist against unlikely odds. The white sandy soil that volunteers track home with them may even trick their friends and family into thinking that they spent a leisurely day at the beach. Yet, the day ahead is anything but leisurely; the harsh sun begins to beat down and is reflected off the white sand. There is no shade offered by the low scrub, and shirts begin to stick to skin, thanks to our humid summer days.
So, what is driving these volunteers out of bed and why are they so eager to face the Florida elements?
“Weep! Weep! Weep!”
A harsh cry is heard nearby. Armed with binoculars and data sheets, volunteers quickly turn to tracking down the caller. A flash of blue feathers darts among the thick scrub. Then finally, perched high atop the scrub, the Florida Scrub-Jay appears.
This curious bird is what drives these volunteers out of bed and into the scrub. The Florida Scrub-Jay is Florida’s only endemic bird species, found nowhere else in the world. Their unique cooperative family units and social behavior fascinate biologists and birdwatchers alike. Unfortunately, the jays are also federally threatened. Florida Scrub-Jays are restricted to Florida scrub habitat, which is declining due to fire suppression and loss of habitat.
Audubon Florida coordinates the Jay Watch Citizen Science Program statewide. The FWC partners with Audubon to recruit citizen scientists to conduct Jay Watch surveys across the state to evaluate Florida’s Scrub-Jay populations. This data is critical to informing management efforts, allowing public and private partners to more effectively manage for the Florida Scrub-Jay. Surveys begin in the early morning when the jays are most active and are repeated three days in a row at each property. Volunteers play a Florida Scrub-Jay call at each survey location for one minute, followed by a three-minute observation period. The process is repeated two additional times if no jays are observed. If jays respond to the calls, volunteers observe the number of birds, whether they are adults or juveniles, whether they are banded and what band color combinations they have, what area they are using, and behavior such as chasing or hiccing (a vocalization only made by females). As volunteers observe the birds, it is difficult to determine who is truly studying whom. The intelligent jays often approach volunteers for a closer look, sizing them up. Once you experience a Florida Scrub-Jay staring down at you, it is not difficult to understand why volunteers eagerly return each summer to study these birds. Brinda Curran and Virginia Hall have done just that. They began participating in Jay Watch surveys in 2013, and have become an integral part of the Jay Watch program. As experienced Jay Watch citizen scientists, they serve as team leaders, sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with others. As a newcomer to Jay Watch myself, I can attest to the role they have played in creating a tight-knit Jay Watch community that was brought together over a shared love of the jays.
It is their love for the jays that drives Brinda and Virginia to do everything they can to ensure their continued protection. If that means camping out at Ross Prairie State Forest to be able to start surveys early, or tromping through overgrown scrub to reach survey points, that’s what these incredible volunteers do.
Both Virginia and Brinda have completed over 600 hours as volunteers with the FWC. From trap conditioning and banding jays to monitoring and building kestrel nest boxes, they truly do it all. Their husbands, Dale Curran and Doug Hall, are also long-term volunteers with the FWC’s Jay Watch and kestrel programs. When a member of the team had a shoulder injury, Dale troubleshot the problem by inventing a homemade extension pole to hold the speaker. This innovative design has been a hit; anyone who has held up a speaker for scrub-jay surveys all day knows the toll it can take. The design has also proved handy in ensuring the calls can be projected in unusually high scrub.
The Currans and Halls are not alone in their dedication to the jays. This year, 26 FWC volunteers completed over 500 hours of Jay Watch surveys at sites including Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve, Cross Florida Greenway’s “triangle” property, Ross Prairie State Forest, Ocala National Forest, Half Moon Wildlife Management Area, and Moody Branch Mitigation Park Wildlife and Environmental Area.
The Jay Watch program is a true testament to the power of citizen science. It is thanks to the commitment of volunteers that we can provide quality data, which is used to guide management decisions for one of Florida’s natural treasures, the Florida Scrub-Jay.
Audubon will recognize partners and volunteers that participate in the Jay Watch Citizen Science Program on Saturday, November 4th at the Archbold Biological Station in Highlands County.
Photo by Jacqui Sulek, Chapter Conservation Manager, Audubon Florida.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment