Gators galore!

Here are some photos from today's tour to Okefenokee Swamp. I have never seen so many alligators there! Probably a combination of low waters and a nice sunny day.Tickseed near the boat dock.
Walking on peat. "Okefenokee" means "land of trembling earth".
Me posing (at a safe distance) with a huge alligator behind the visitor's center.
A gator hanging out in the prairie near some young cypress trees.
Our boat guide, Joey, putting Jillian (14) in charge of driving the boat. She did a great job!
On the wildlife drive we saw a mother gator with babies. Here is one catching some rays.

Great Day at the Nature Center

Today was a great day for us at the nature center. We went on a kayak with a nice, fun group. The weather was perfect and we all got to see dolphins fishing, Roseate spoonbills and other birds feeding (including a pied-billed grebe, the first one of the season that I've seen) and walked around a sandbar finding hermit crabs and other marine critters. We even rescued a pair of blue crabs that were stuck in an old crab trap. Not too easy with such a "crabby" critter with such large claws!

When we got back Christina was releasing a large female palmetto (two-striped) walkingstick. Amanda and I had never seen this type before. Can you see it's much smaller mate on her back?
And, for a touch of comical relief, Hokey Pokey the armadillo was running around sporting a beard (or would they be sideburns?). It was the result of getting into a yogurt container followed by poking around in the sand, causing it to stick to the fuzz on the side of her face.

Probably the best news of the day was that our rescued cat, Missy (see previous posts for her sad story) found a home! Tara Cochran's mother works at the conference center. As soon as Tara heard that Missy was part siamese, she had to look, so she came by and fell in love with our sweet girl. We will miss her but know that she will quickly become a special part of her new family!

Science Night Family Fun!

Occasionally, we naturalist get the privilege of visiting elementary and middle schools for Science Night around the local area. We bring Trash Turtle, a turtle made of trash to teach about beach cleanup, and mystery boxes which contain secrets from the beach inside that the children have to guess what is inside with the hint on the top. With these two fun and educational displays we teach both the children and their parents about local beach conservation. If you want a science night at your school please contact

Felicia M. Boyd, P.G.

Duval and Nassau County Education Contractor

St. Johns River Water Management District

(904) 730-6261

The Amandas' Adventures Continues

Saturday October 2nd, the Amanda's are called for a turtle hatchling found in front of Sandcastles Villa. Clark picks up the baby from the caring guests and he collapses in her hand. The little guy is exhausted! We take him back to the Nature Center, named him little squirt, and give him a quiet little cage so he can take him a much needed nap. A few hours later, we get a second call about another little one lost. We pick up this little hatchling and bring squirt back to hangout with little squirt, his brother. Later on in the day, squirt and little squirt got to meet some really cool kids at the Sea Turtle Discovery who were learning about the sea turtles and what they can do to help them out. The Amandas finished their day of kayaking and other adventures and the only task left was getting squirt and little squirt back into the ocean so they could find their way to the Sargastic sea! (Hatchlings live on only the yolk from their eggs for days until they finally reach the Sargassum sea weed where they spend up to a year of their lives hanging out - if they run out of yolk energy before they reach the Sargastic sea, their hope of survival is practically none) SO the Amandas must get the babies out into ocean asap. They take the babies out in front of the Beach Club only to find out this is a day where no one was allowed in the ocean because the riptides were horrible and the surf was 4 ft tall! Hardy and Chris(recreation guy) try to get past the breaking waves to release them. Disappointed because there was just no way, the Amandas brought them back to the nature center to try again early Sunday when the waves would be better. As Clark was driving home, she crossed the south bridge off the island and looked out over the ocean... there was NO surf! She called Hardy who picked the hatchlings back up and met her in the Amelia Island State Park. They walked all the way out the intracoastal to where it met the ocean. There the Amandas walked out a few feet (hatchlings swimming wildly in their hands, they could feel the ocean calling) and released the hatchlings into the water. The tide was going out as well, with them swimming and tide pulling the little ones were swept out into the ocean in no time! The Amandas walked back to their car... looking at their watches - 8pm... what a nice long and fulfilling day!

Summer Camps: Rewind

Our campers had a fantastic summer once again. Now that it is getting into Fall, here are some of the memories of the past few months! Eco Explorers at the Jacksonville Zoo!

Animals have officially taken over the nature center

We've had feline "office managers" before (see previous posts) but now it's official. Animals have taken control of the nature center. First it started with Hokey Pokey the armadillo getting out of her cage with three big boards on top and then getting out of a baby gate to run all around the nature center. In Christina's office I walked in to find Buddy the Macaw on her desk! Making sure all the numbers are right.

I thought I'd spend some time with Buddy and Morgan, a cat we have up for adoption. So I decided to eat lunch in Christina's office. Buddy kept begging for tostitos. After I gave him a few, I clipped them up only to have Morgan try to get into them. He also started licking my sandwich!

A few minutes later I was on the phone only to see Buddy walking on the ground and licking the bowl of cheese dip! An odd sight to see a bird just walking over.

Apparently the way to a macaw's heart is through food. Every morning I share my banana or yogurt, and of course the tostitos. I'm on the phone when all of the sudden Buddy came over, climbed up a bag, onto my lap! He decided the armrest of the chair made a nice perch. Where he can pester me as I'm trying to work on the computer. As long as he gets attention every couple of minutes he's fine. And, to top it off, Morgan is jealous and wants to play, too! The great news is Buddy has been scared of me (and vice versa) up until now. I guess he (or she) just wanted to make the first move!

OK....we can't even eat lunch in peace anymore!

Nature Center Staff update

I (Jessica) am back at the nature center after my maternity leave. It's hard being away from my son, Evan, but also great to be back. I missed the staff and animals while I was out. I was happy to hear that Christina and Amandas had some excellent help this summer. Matt Smith is from Ohio and Kristin Messinger is from Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Kristin recently left to go back home and Matt leaves us at the end of this month. We will miss them both!

Kristin and Amanda Hardy enjoying Kristin's "thank you" party. (We really want her to come back so we refuse to say goodbye!).

Matt the chef made us all super-yummy meatball subs!

Staff with animals: Kristin with Hokey Pokey the armadillo, Amanda Hardy with Buddy the Macaw(recent rescue), Christina with Baby T the diamondback terrapin, Amanda Clark with horses (in the photograph and in spirit), Jessica with Muffin the gopher tortoise (another recent rescue) and Matt with Gator the red rat snake.

Who volunteered to clean up after our party? Hokey Pokey! She is very "helpful"...always into everything!!