Day 7 4/3/15 Florida Gulf Coast University and 'slogging'

Day 7 was another very early start, we had to be awake for 5.30 but it was boiling so I woke and got up at 4.30 and sat on the veranda. 

Forest in FGCU car park 

We arrived at FGCU at around 8.00. The reason for the early start was to put up bird nets and try and catch some birds to ring. 





As we were walking round the wooded area of the car park we saw: 



9.00 Blue jays- getting ready for mating 

Ground orchid

9.05 Gulf futility butterfly 
10.30 wax myrtle
10.30 bladder wood 
10.45 Black racer snake eggs 
10.45 Green house frog
10.45 Great egret
10.50 African jeweled cichlid 
10.50 Floridan flag fish 
10.50 Mosquito fish 
10.50 Turkey vulture 
10.50 Sail finned molly 
10.50 Swamp bay leaf 
10.50 Southern toad (dead)
11.05 Exotic apple snail 
11.05 Golden topminnow 
11.10 Ground orchid 
11.15 Cyprus trees
11.30 brown anole 
11.35 apple snail eggs 


Whilst we were waiting for some birds to fly into the nets, Dr Jerry Jackson was giving us on a talk on the different wildlife they have on campus and the background into bird banding/ringing. 

• The willow bark was very important to humans as it contained aspirin, so the native Americans used to chew on the bark, but it is not made this way now. 
• Fisherman's used to put down nets but in the process sometimes caught birds as a by-catch. The nets where called miss nets. 
• As the Italians fled to America and used these nets, the Americans were very angry by this as the nets where killing the native songbirds. The government acted and made the nets illegal. 
• When the World War two broke out the Italian troops brought the nets back into America. The nets were confiscated and given to Colonel Sutton who tested them out on the marshes. Loads of birds where caught and killed for scientific purposes. 
• The nets are made out of mono-filament nylon which come in black, white and tan. The nets are never pulled tight, so the bird hits the net and the net closes around the bird preventing it to escape and without hurting itself. The net presses on the bird back. 

Banding/Ringing:

• To be able to ring a bird, you have to hold a license and have a project
• Different nets are made for different birds 
• The bands are made out of aluminium and has the address and number
• The America fish and wildlife survey and Canada have the information of the banded birds
• There is a treaty to protect the migratory birds. Each country named all their native birds, this happened in 1916. 
• The hunting of game birds was restricted, a license had to be issues and there was a limit on how much was allowed to be shot
• The bands come in different sizes, depending on the size of the bird. The bird is at its biggest as a baby due to the baby fat 
• There are 500 different species on birds in Florida but times that 3 to take into consideration the appearances. (male/female/plumage's)
• There is a separate permit for America and Canada. American bands are not allowed in the Amazon but they are accepted in Cuba.
• What goes on the band is the identity, age, hatching year, where it was found (longitude and latitude), the date. 
• If you find a banded bird, write to the Bird Band Washington DC. 1 in 100 banded songbirds will be found and recorded but the odds are higher for game birds 1 in 10. 

Eastern phoebe

History of Banding/Ringing 

• John James Otterman, son of french sea captain. John was sent to America to look after the families property
• John found some eastern phoebes in a cave and he wondered if they would return to the same spot every year. So he tied some wire round the birds legs. They did return to the same area but not to the exact spot. 

Modern day banding:

• 1890, Viborg (Denmark)
• The material that was used was zinc and it was engraved 



European starlings

• It was put on European starlings, but the metal was too heavy, so the birds couldn't leave the nest. 
• So it was back to the drawing board.... aluminium was too brittle to use on its own... so it was mixed with other metals to make it more flexible
• 1893, Denmark, tried again.. IT WORKED. 
• In the early 1900s, this technique started in America by tagging carp. The congressmen gave people the carp to put in the river and ponds as a food source
• The ring was put on the tail
• Leon Cole in 1906 started to band birds

Bird Nets: 

Caught 2 yellow rubbed warblers 

• These birds are low zoonotic risk 
• They consume their body weight in food every day 
• Have a high metabolism 

          yellow rubbed warblers caught in the net




• There are different types of tracking devices: radio transmitters, send the data from the tracker to base, so not need to recapture, geo-tags for small birds, they measure the time of sunrise and sunset on a microchip but this method the bird needs to be recaptured to retrieve the data. 

Myself holding the warbler

After both birds where banded we got a chance to hold the birds. I held the second bird and it was very wriggly, so we had to let it go. 

A surprise was given by Dr Jerry.... 

Albino turtle and 2 headed turtle

Out slogging 

After a little break from the sun..... it was time for 'slogging'!! 

We had a guided tour from another member of the FCGU teaching staff. 

Cyprus forest

Eco tone 

After we finished slogging, we went to nearby mall. All the shops where designer for example Abercrombie and Fitch, Calvin Klein and Michael Kors to name just a few. 

We had the afternoon off.... so it was an afternoon in the pool at Vester and sunbathing. A nice relax after the busy few days! 

http://www.audublog.org/?p=9460 (picture)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id (picture)