FOS Yellow-rumped Warblers Arrive at Crosby

Numerous "first of season" Yellow-rumped Warblers were observed by Pete Johnson at Crosby on October 26, 2011! We were out there for our monthly work session from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. It had been raining early in the morning, so nobody else showed up except for Ed Rutherford and myself.

As usually happens, when the weather is bad the birding is good. I observed about 30 different species of birds in a couple hours, then entered species/numbers count data in eBird.org when I got home!

Bird Species List -- 101 Species total

A list of the species of birds observed at Crosby is available from the Links section at right of this blog page, or from DAS website. There are now 101 resident and migratory bird species known to occur at Crosby. The real number of bird species is probably considerably higher than this.

Bird records from Crosby are recorded on www.eBird.org, where Crosby Sanctuary listed as a hotspot.

Bird surveys are conducted on a regular basis on the first Saturday of each month starting at 8 a.m.

Volunteers are welcome! Contact petejohnson71@comcast.net for more info.

5th Annual Air Potato Roundup report

The air potato roundup this year was a success. We only found 16 pound of potatoes, but that's a good thing. It means we are getting ahead of them, finally after 4 years!

I want to thank the North Florida Audubon Chapter Regional Conservation Committee members for coming out to help. Thank you Ed Rutherford. I also want to thank Jacob and the Ely brothers from the neighborhood. Thank you all!

Help educate a child to become a good steward of the earth

A good cause/fundraising drive for our chapter's Audubon Adventures program in the elementary schools.

Help educate a child to become a good steward of the earth

Pete

Activity Schedule for 2011

Crosby Sanctuary Activity

Schedule for 2011:

Open House -- First Saturday of the Month from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Crosby Sanctuary will be open for birding, photography, hiking, nature study and enjoyment.

Workdays -- Last Saturday of the Month from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Please come help maintain entrance landscaping and improve wildlife habitat by controlling invasive exotic plants.

2011 First Coast Air Potato Roundup at Crosby -- March 5 from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Florida Youth Challenge Academy Rocks!

The FLYCA conducted four work days in the Month of November. They were able to spread mulch, pick up old trash and tires, and tons of trash that constantly washes into the sanctuary down the neighborhood drainage ditch. The cadets were learning the value of hard work and enjoyed being outdoors at the same time. Scott Davis and I led them on a nature walk into the swamp where we dip-netted macro-invertebrates to see what lives under the water.

Thanks for all your help FLYCA! Duval Audubon appreciates it!

Malacofauna of Crosby Sanctuary

Harry G. Lee of (http://www.jaxshells.org/florida.htm) has greatly improved our knowledge of the malacofauna (gastropods-snails) living at Crosby. Thank you Mr. Lee!

See jaxshells for pictures of these amazing organisms.

Freshwater snails
Campeloma floridense (Call, 1886) Purple-throat Campeloma
Viviparus georgianus (I. Lea, 1834) Banded Mysterysnail
Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829) Florida Applesnail
Amnicola rhombostoma F. Thompson, 1968 Squaremouth Amnicola
Floridobia fraterna (F. Thompson, 1968) Creek Siltsnail
Pseudosuccinea columella (Say, 1817) Mimic Lymnaea
Physella heterostropha (Say, 1817) Pewter Physa
Planorbella duryi (Wetherby, 1879) Seminole Rams-horn
Laevapex fuscus (C.B. Adams, 1841) Dusky Ancylid

Freshwater bivalves
Elliptio ahenea (I. Lea, 1847) Southern Lance
Elliptio buckleyi (I. Lea, 1843) Florida Shiny Spike
Elliptio icterina (Conrad, 1834) Variable Spike
Toxolasma paulum (I. Lea, 1840) Iridescent Lilliput
Uniomerus carolinianus (Bosc, 1801) Florida Pondhorn
Eupera cubensis (Prime, 1865) Mottled Fingernailclam
Sphaerium occidentale (J. Lewis, 1856) Herrington Peaclam

Land snails
Punctum minutissimum (Lea, 1841) Small Spot
Euconulus trochulus (Reinhart, 1885) Silk Hive
Euglandina rosea (Férussac, 1821) Rosy Wolfsnail

Pupisoma dioscoricola (C.B. Adams, 1845) Yam Babybody

Glyphyalinia umbilicata (Singley in Cockerell, 1893) Texas Glyph

Hawaiia minuscula (A. Binney, 1840) Minute Gem

Ventridens demissus (A. Binney, 1843) Perforate Dome

Mesodon thyroidus (Say, 1817) White-lip Globe

Polygyra cereolus (Mühlfeld, 1816) Southern Flatcoil

Fall 2010 -- The Detritus Cycle Begins

Fall is happening out at the Sanctuary. Many hardwoods and the bald cypress are starting to loose their leaves for the winter. The amount of leaf-fall from the bottomland forest canopy is truly amazing. This "leaf litter" then sits on the forest floor overwinter where the leaves' waxy coating breaks down. Once the waxy coating is broken down and temperatures warm (the following spring/summer), decomposition increases until the leaves are converted into detritus.

Detritus is finely broken down leaf (organic) particles that other organisms use as nutrients. Thus detritus forms the base of the aquatic food chain. A bottomland swamp like Crosby retains some detritus in low flow areas, as well as exports detritus downstream, which fuels the food chain within the Ortega River and St Johns River estuary. Shrimp are the most commonly known and commercially valuable organism that feed on detritus. However, there hundreds of thousands of other aquatic invertebrates that feed on detritus. A detailed explanation of detritus and it's role in ecosystems can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detritus.

Summer at Crosby

Summer is a great time at Crosby. Maybe not for people, due to heat and bugs, but the flora and fauna are very active and thriving! Our work out there is mainly restricted to early morning invasive exotic plant control sessions. Please call 536-4806 if you are interested in participating.

We had several Florida Youth Challenge Academy workdays in May before the summer heat really kicked up. Thank you Scott Davis and all the young men and women cadets who participated. They did quite a bit of work spreading mulch, weeding, and picking up trash that continually washes onto the sanctuary from neighborhood drainage ditch.

Thank you Ed Rutherford for meeting them out there and hauling excess trash and debris to the Clay Co dump. Thanks also for your early attack on the air potato vines this year!

Spring at Crosby Sanctuary

Prothonotary Warbler

Beaver gnaw on sweetgum tree!

Spring is finally upon us and the leaves and buds are popping at Crosby. Ed and I will continue to work on picking up trash, controlling invasive plants, and general improvements to the sanctuary during unscheduled work days during the week and on weekends. Please call Pete Johnson at (904) 536-4806 if you are interested in participating in work days, or just visit the sanctuary for a nature walk. The Prothonotary Warblers should be returning in April!

An interesting thing we learned this winter is that there are North American Beaver living in the Swamp at Crosby.

4th Annual First Coast Air Potato Roundup

The 4th annual Air potato roundup will be held at Crosby Sanctuary from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on January 16, 2010. Please go to www.duvalaudubon.org for more details.

May through August (Summer 09)

The summer is generally a slow season for birding and activities at Crosby. This is mainly due to the summer heat, mosquitoes, and less birds to see. Our next official fieldtrip/workday will be around November 15, 2009. Please check the Duval Audubon website for exact date/details.

Thanks go out to Scott Davis and the FL Youth Challenge Academy boys for spreading many yards worth of mulch in the native landscaping demo area!! FYCA rocks! Cheers

Air Potato Roundup a Success!!

The 3rd Annual First Coast Air Potato Roundup was a big success!  Twelve volunteers collected 500 pound of air potatoes over approximately 8 acres.  A media story ran in the Clay Today.

For pictures of the event see my web album on Picasa.

3rd Annual First Coast Great Air Potato Roundup

February 28th, 2009

9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

427 Aquarius Concourse

Orange Park, FL

Air potato is an exotic plant that is invasive to native plant communities in Florida.  Their reproductive structures are potato-like bulbils that can easily be collected and disposed of in the winter time. 

Bring heavy duty garbage bags, sturdy shoes, gloves and water.

Prize for the largest potato collected (all NE FL sites) is a free Kayak trip for 2 by Kayak Amelia.

See the Nature Conservancy website for more info about the roundup.

Next Fieldtrip/Workday November 8

The next field trip/workday will be on Saturday November 8, 2008, starting at 8:00AM and ending at around 12:00 PM.  Please bring gloves and pitchforks/shovels and wheelbarrows for spreading mulch.  If you don't have these items, then that's OK just bring yourself and we'll put you to work (after the bird walk of course)!  Meet at 427 Aquarius Concourse, Orange Park, FL.

Thanks and hope to see you there.

Pete Johnson

Sanctuary Director

Fieldtrip-Workday Report from Sept 28

The first Crosby Sanctuary field trip/workday this season was a success.  Many thanks to all who participated including Pat Anderson, Ellen Allen, Larry Gilliland, Bill Lapierre, and Inez Everett and Kenneth Upchurch, a student from FCCJ!  They all graciously stayed to help weed and pick up around the native landscaping areas at the entrance to the sanctuary.

We were treated with some really good looks at Tennessee Warbler and House Wren.  Please see the eBird report below.

Location:     Crosby Sanctuary
Observation date:     9/28/08
Number of species:     29

Anhinga - Anhinga anhinga     1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     2
Great Egret - Ardea alba     3
Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea     1
White Ibis - Eudocimus albus     1
Wood Stork - Mycteria americana     1
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus     1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     1
Barred Owl - Strix varia     1
Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica     5
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     10
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     3
Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus     4
White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus     4
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     8
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     4
Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis     5
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     5
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus     7
House Wren - Troglodytes aedon     2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea     6
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     10
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     7
Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum     1
Tennessee Warbler - Vermivora peregrina     5
Northern Parula - Parula americana     1
Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus     1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     15

Duval Audubon Fieldtrip and Workday

Crosby Sanctuary: Fall Migration #1
Sunday, September 28 2008, 8:00am - 12:00pm

Seasonal Progression Series Trip #1

This series of fieldtrips is designed for birders looking to spend a few hours close to home on a citizen science and "low-carbon", local fieldtrip. Each field trip date includes a 2 hour field trip followed by a 2 hour work session to maintain native landscaping and nest boxes. Participation in work sessions is optional, but fun!

The Crosby Sanctuary is a "Hotspot" on eBird.com, with bird observation data going back to 1984. We have recorded over 80 different bird species from Crosby. We could use your help to expand our species list!

Location: Crosby Sanctuary - 427 Aquarius Concourse, Orange Park, FL Contact: Pete Johnson @ 904-536-4806

Crosby Sanctuary eBird Hotspot

Crosby Sanctuary is listed as a hotspot on eBird. There are over eighty species of birds recorded from Crosby. Please go to eBird and look up Crosby Sanctuary as a hotspot by clicking on "eBird " in the Links section of this blog. You will have to register yourself on eBird to gain access, but it's well worth the trouble. The beauty of eBird is that it lets you look at this information (data) in various ways. For instance, you can see when the first time a bird species was observed, the last time observed, and the high count (most of each individual species seen at one time) by location, hotspot, or region. It's a great way to record your bird observations, keep track of your favorite spot, and prepare for a birding trip to any of the listed hotspots. Many famous birding spots are listed hotspots and kept up to date with observations!

Clay County Ditch Work

Clay County Public Works has decided it's time once again to clean out the ditch running along the entrance to the sanctuary. They made a mess of things for a while and are still not done. We had to file a complaint with the county for their sloppy work. Hopefully, all can be resolved in a manner beneficial to both parties. They have agreed to replant the banks and keep the ditch clean of invasive exotic plants, with a little help from Audubon volunteers.

The ditch up the hill from the sanctuary actually contains a seepage spring that constantly flows crystal clear water. This ditch also drains a good sized portion of the neighborhood nearby. As such, it has been lined with concrete in the past and recently re-lined for stabilization. The county really did a sloppy job as evidenced by the pictures.

This entire ditch run would be a great stream restoration project. A functioning stream/natural ditch would slow the water down and help treat it on the way down to the sanctuary swamp. Anyone interested in helping with such a project? It probably wouldn't be that hard to get grant funding. Just need the people to help organize and get it together.

Prothonotary Warblers at Crosby

Prothonotary Warblers are back as of mid May. One has been spotted in the swamp and the nest box appears active as of May 25. These beautiful yellow birds with blue wings are as pleasant to see as their sweet song is to hear! They are unfortunately listed as a declining species throughout their range of SE US and Central/South America. We are lucky to have them at Crosby!