Site Visits Part I: Florida

Post date: Mar 24, 2013 6:01:13 PM

In honor of Spring Break this week, Yvan and I headed south for an exploratory visit to some of the project research sites. Our first stop: the Florida Panhandle, where we met up with Megan Lamb of Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve for a trip to Bird Island.

Old bushes, new sand

Created from dredge materials in 1995, the island is periodically refreshed with sand removed from the neighboring channel. This winter, a fresh load buried the southern half of the island under two feet of new sand, but Megan made sure the dredgers left some brushy vegetation for the pelicans. The island seems small, but its Brown Pelican colony has been growing by about 100 nests per year and last year hosted over 600 breeding pairs, along with a few pairs of Oystercatchers and Laughing Gulls. Though things were silent during our visit, the island will be busy by the time we return in May.

Megan then showed us to the research dorm, a cozy 6-bedroom trailer in Apalachicola, and we explored the town a bit. It's small but lively, with a strong fishing community.

Field house

They clearly love their pelicans.

Yvan tried an alligator burger for the first time (good, apart from the greenish color) and we explored a boardwalk trail next to the dorm that winds through the woods and ends overlooking a marsh.

Eat it before it eats you...

A barred owl near the boardwalk

The next day, we borrowed a kayak and drove it up to Panama City, about an hour west of Apalachicola and the site of our second Florida colony. In contrast to Apalachicola, Panama City is urban, and Audubon Island sits just alongside a busy shipping lane. The island itself is buttressed by concrete blocks to prevent erosion, creating a little stone fortress covered with birds.

It remains to be seen whether city pelicans are tougher

Observation blind?

There were plenty of pelicans and gulls on the island, but none had laid eggs yet. The setting is nothing like the other seabird colonies I've worked in, which are typically located on offshore islands as far from civilization as possible. Nevertheless, even a colony skirted by massive paving blocks and separated from the city by less than a quarter-mile of water can feel like another world.

Laughing gull country

We rounded off our trip with a visit to the beach, some key lime pie at Up the Creek, and a great view of the PANSTARRS comet from the boardwalk. Although it's too soon to tell, I have a feeling that Apalachicola might win Best Field Site of the Summer. We'll see.