Pretty in Pink

The spoonbill saga continues. I just went down to the Keys for a week to train the new head of spoonbill research at the Tavernier Science Center. When I walked in the office, Dr. Jerry Lorenz handed me a book from Bearport Publishing. I completely forgot I submitted images nearly 6 months ago on this project and here it was, printed, bound, and ready for distribution.

The author, Stephen Person, contacted me early this year to help collaborate on a children's book about the roseate spoonbill and the work we did with National Audubon and the Tavernier Science Center. Jerry helped with the text and while it has the illustrative feel and design of a children's book, it's actually incredibly informative about the Everglades ecosystem and the lives of these beautiful birds. If you have a child who needs a good book this Christmas, give this one a shot. You can tell them you know one of the photographers!

You can find it here on Amazon: Roseate Spoonbill, Pretty in Pink

Spoonbill Monitoring: Central Everglades

A storm feeds the River of Grass with freshwater in the vast Water Conservation Area of the Central Everglades

While my work generally has me boating and paddling around Florida Bay and the Southern Everglades, the Tavernier Science Center also works closely with the district throughout South Florida. This relationship ensures that we have a comprehensive data set for roseate spoonbills and other wading birds nesting all along the River of Grass watershed. Since nesting starts later the farther North you go, I was invited with coworker Adam Chasey in early March to accompany Robin Bennet and Mark Cook on an aerial survey of bird colonies in the water conservation areas.

"Waterfront properties" in West Palm.

We left out of West Palm Beach and flew over the sprawling city. It looked so alien on the fringe of such a subtle environment.

Morning showers created a rainbow arching over Alley North colony

You all know by now how I am on small airplanes so I was relieved to learn we'd be flying in style; a 407 helicopter, which is one of the smoothest rides out there. A few weeks prior I tried to access these colonies by airboat with University of Florida biologists, but failed miserably when our vessel got stuck in the dense sawgrass and cattails. That's another story though.

Thousands of white ibis nest on a tree island in Water Conservation Area 3

Our main goal was to get spoonbill counts and see if we could spot bands which would tell us if our birds from the Bay were moving north to find other suitable nesting grounds. This turned out to be a tall order, however, as we learned the hard way. I thought that with a helicopter we'd be able to set down and explore the colonies on foot to find nests and adults within a photographable distance. What we learned after walking 30 feet into the waist-deep mire revealed that these tree islands are far different from the mangrove islands on the Bay. Too easily turned around and unable to see above the sawgrass which lacerated our arms and legs, Adam and I returned to the helicopter and attempted to photograph spoonbills from the air.

A flock of spoonbills takes flight over the Everglades. If you look closely, the second from the left bottom has a band on 

its right leg, hinting that our Florida Bay birds may be more mobile than we originally thought. 

Thanks to our phenomenal pilot, Jake Wells, we were able to fly wing to wing with a small group and in no time, spotted our first band! For someone who spends most of his days looking up at spoonbills soaring across a blue sky, my heart melted as I flew side by side with these pink beauties. What an experience and better yet, what great data!

Roseate Spoonbills

Newborn roseate spoonbill chicks in Florida Bay

Numbers of roseate spoonbill nests in Florida Bay are slowly climbing as we explore new territories. It's encouraging to see them rebound after a slow and steady decline over the last 15 years. Islands that we never considered suitable for the pink birds are surprisingly hosting good-sized colonies and reshaping our ideas of their nesting and foraging habits. 

Chicks around the age of 12 days, known as Stage II, will spend another 20 days on the nest before making their first flights. 

We're finding a healthy variation of chicks at different stages, from hatchlings to fledglings, all across the Bay. This isn't out of the ordinary but it helps us see how these birds' nesting schedules are related to food availability. For example, in the northwestern section of the Bay where tides control water levels, spoonbills nested earlier in the season because they could find sufficient food as tides withdrew. When you boat eastward where wind and rainfall controls water levels, you find that spoonbills choose to nest later, waiting for the dry season to kick in. Once water levels are low enough to amass fish in large concentrations, adults will commit to laying a clutch. With shallow water bringing an abundant food source, adults will be able to sustain their young through the nesting season. That's the plan, at least.

A chick only a few days shy of fledging the nest lays motionless below its nest after a cold front in February. 

Recently a cold front pushed through south Florida and dumped rain for three straight days. What seems like a small event to us, a 4-inch rise in water levels effectively disables the spoonbills from accessing optimal foraging grounds. Immediately after, across the board, we witnessed an abandonment of nests and several chicks not far from fledging, washed up in the mangroves. While it's too early in the data set to directly connect the rain event to nest abandonment, we can't say it was entirely coincidence.

A Stage II chick, about 10 days old is found lifeless in the rain-soaked red mangrove prop roots

I can't tell you how heart-wrenching this is to see, how helpless they look, but it's the reality that these birds live with. Albeit disturbing, this is exactly the point Audubon is trying to drive home. Water levels determine everything in the southern Everglades and Florida Bay. While we can't control the weather, we are controlling the water flowing from the north and we must be extremely careful with how we use it

Roseate Spoonbill Chicks

Two roseate spoonbill chicks with a third one about to break through its shell. Spoonbills, unlike flamingos, are pink at birth. 

The spoonbills are well on their way to creating the new generation of wading birds to call Florida Bay home. I've been scouring almost every single island from the Keys out to Cape Sable in search of colonies. What I'm finding are an array of breeding pairs that are inhabiting keys where we never expected to find them. Last week as I peered into one of the nests I watched a chick peck its way through the egg as its two older siblings clamored about. It was one of those moments where I felt extremely proud to be an Audubon employee. I couldn't help but laugh though, when thinking about the misfortune of being given, of all things, a spoon to break your way out of a windowless cage. The egrets and herons have it far easier.

Murder of Crows

Two crows attack an osprey nest off the coast of Flamingo 

As if the Everglades didn't have it tough enough with restricted water flows and enormous invasive pythons, an additional assailant has found refuge in the park. The American crow, whose call can be heard from Cape Sable to Flamingo arrived with the influx of visitors who leave their food unattended and car doors open. Unsatisfied with the scraps of tourists, they have moved on to finer dining. On the islands close to mainland, spoonbills and reddish egret nests are pillaged by roving gangs of crows leaving only hollowed eggs and bloody carcasses. Suspected to attack only when the parents are off the nest, Audubon has coordinated with Everglades National Park to close several channels that pass through sensitive nesting areas for this very reason. I was surprised then, when I witnessed two crows attacking an osprey nest as the mother stood guard over her clutch. They pecked, squawked, and surrounded her for 20 minutes until giving up, probably to return the following day for another fight. If they are this bold with a sharp-beaked and razor-taloned osprey, how would they fair against an unassuming pink spoonbill?

Two spoonbill eggs eaten by crows. Photo by Adam Chasey

I've already found at least 6 nests ravaged by crows, and if the problem persists, it could just be enough to force a colony to abandon their young. Not too long ago a burmese python was spotted swimming in Florida Bay, probably on its way to one of the mangrove islands. Imagine if a 10-foot python descended on a wading bird rookery. At this rate, maybe it's only a matter of time. Do we really need to love all creatures equally?

Roseate Spoonbills

A mix of adult and juvenile spoonbills in flight at Snake Bight

Starting in November, I accepted a small promotion within Audubon's Tavernier Science Center office as head of spoonbill research. For the last two years I have been working with prey-base fish monitoring, so this will be a much welcomed change. The spoonbill position requires that I go into the field every week to collect data on spoonbill populations and their nesting success for the entire Florida Bay. Doing so means that I must visit nearly every island in search of spoonbills and report back to state director of research, Jerry Lorenz. So far it's been slow as water levels are still fairly high, but we're not quite sure what to expect this year. Already we're seeing some shifts in their range, but only recently did I find my first nest.

The first spoonbill eggs found on an island in the central part of Florida Bay

Trends have shown an overall decline in spoonbill nesting success in Florida Bay. In the northeast Bay, colonies once hosted up to 600 nesting pairs, now we're struggling to find a handful. These declines started right after the construction of the C-111 canal that drained much of the Taylor Slough watershed out to the Atlantic. Our research is helping to provide water management authorities with the empirical data they require to shape policies and change the flow of water. It is our belief that bringing more freshwater back into the system will provide more productive foraging grounds for spoonbills and other wading birds.

Only time will tell us if we're on the right track as Everglades restoration plans are underway. In the mean time, I'll enjoy trudging through mangrove islands and boating across the Bay in search of these pink beauties.