Wildlife Species of HMCC Everglades Expedition

Birds:

Red-throated Loon

White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Magnificent Frigatebird

Double-crested Cormorant

Anhinga

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Reddish Egret

Great Blue Heron

“white” form of Great Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Little Blue Heron

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron  

White Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Red-breasted Merganser

American Coot

Common Moorhen

Pied-billed Grebe

Green-winged Teal

Osprey

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Red-shouldered Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk

Bald Eagle

Short-tailed Hawk

Northern Harrier

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Barred Owl

Barn Owl

Semipalmated Plover

Western Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Wood Stork

Belted Kingfisher

American Crow

Pileated Woodpecker

Tree Swallow

Black Skimmer

Forester’s Tern

Royal Tern

Great Crested Flycatcher

Yellow-throated warbler

Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow?

Mammals:

West Indian Manatee

Atlantic Bottlenosed Dolphin

Raccoon

Whale species? (heard groan, blowhole and large silhouette within 40 yards of shore on New Year’s Eve along Gulf of Mexico @ approximately 2100 hours)(possibly more than one passing)

Herptiles:

American Crocodile

American Alligator

Green Treefrog

Southern Leopard Frog

Brown Anole

Brown Water Snake

Eastern Garter Snake

Eastern Indigo Snake

Corn Snake

Florida Cottonmouth

Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake

Hawk Mountain Conservation Corps Everglades Expedition of 2011-2012

Continuing the Journey by Liam Baldrige

After two days of work in the swamp, 54.5 miles of paddling, swarms of bugs, and a few other unexpected surprises our expedition was completed. This was the first big trip our corps group has gone on. I think we were all a little unsure of what was to come but it ended up a big success. Our trip taught us all a lot. Not only of new species and plants but it gave us experiences that we will never forget. The 10 day trip, including inside jokes, rough times, and team work, brought us all closer. Also, after seeing all of this protected land, I acquired a better sense of what conservation entails. It is much different from the wildlife we see around our houses. Instead of seeing the usual turkey vulture or a grackle we would see a variety of wading birds such as egrets and ibis as well as osprey carrying fish they caught from the ocean. This memorable trip was a great learning experience and has sparked our interest in conservation even more.

Share the Journey,
Liam Baldrige

Paddle or Die!

The Wilderness Experience by Andy Crow

What could possibly possess 6 young adults and 3 fairly sane adults to paddle 100's of pounds of water food and gear through a buggy labyrinth of wilderness? Was it just to "get away from it all", or was it just for the adventure? We certainly had solitary times and many adventurous moments on our 54 mile paddle, this is true. But, we also journeyed through the wilderness to experience and be a part of a preserved ecosystem that allows plants and animals to thrive and prosper, which is a unique thing in a land full of strip malls, subdivisions and multi lane highways. 

The authenticity of Everglades wilderness allowed the expedition members a chance to return to a primitive mindset for just a little while. With nothing but the sound of paddles lapping the water, our internal dialogue switched from the fast paced and instantaneous developed world, to the subtle, raw world of the wilderness. Wilderness is more than a remote plot of ground, it exemplifies our roots and core as humans. It teaches and gives, as long as we keep these wilderness areas intact.

Wilderness trips are also incredibly fun with good company! Thanks Todd, Ryan, Liam, Ben, David, Sam, Connor and Lucas for an unforgettable Everglades expedition!

Andy Crow 

Day 8: Society by Sam Summer

          
The phrase, “calm before the storm,” is more than just an expression. The water today was as flat and glassy as we’ve yet seen, and the sky was only streaked with wispy cirrus clouds. The strongest winds we’ve encountered so far on the trek were about 10 knots; according to the portable radio, tonight will bring 30-knot winds. In light of the oncoming gale, we decided to combine the last two days of paddling into one afternoon. After two hours of listening to David repeatedly count down from 100, we left the Gulf of Mexico and entered Florida bay. It was the first time in three days that there’s been land on both sides of our canoes.

            The return to society was abrupt and overwhelming. Flamingo Island feels more like New York City than a national park campsite. Hot showers and running water feel like luxuries, almost like we’re cheating at camping. Right now I’m looking at black storm clouds drifting near the horizon, and it seems like we’ll be spending most of tomorrow in tents.

-Sam

Expedition Food and Water by David Welsh

Day 8 “Back to Civilization” by David Welsh

We awoke this morning, and the bugs had still not ceased to attack us. As soon as we stepped into the wet, dew-covered sand, we were swarmed. We packed our things as quickly as possible, and had breakfast. We were all amazed by a small scorpion that was meandering along the beach, which kept us entertained for a couple minutes before we left. We were all happy to be away from the bugs, and into the water again. Through Ryan’s radio, and talking to people on our trip, we heard that the water would be rough and that there is a storm coming tonight and tomorrow. Todd and Ryan had made sure that if something happened, we would have enough time to make it back. They planned two 5 mile days at the end of the trip, and so today, instead of breaking that up into two days, we did it all to get back in time for the storm. We paddled into the marina and put our canoes onto racks that awaited us on the shore. To finish off our trip, we all finally saw a crocodile sitting in the marina. We all felt as if the trip was now completed.

We set up our tents back in the flamingo camp sight from the first night, and taking hot showers, finally, was extremely relieving. Now, we all await a windy night, away from the bugs for a good nights sleep.

-David

Day 7 Part Two “Paddling, Bugs, and Raccoons” by Liam Baldrige

After lunch we had 6 more miles of coastal water to paddle. We got there and rinsed off in the Florida Bay. At this point the bugs were bearable. Those who hadn’t, finished their video blogs and we had dinner. Shortly after the wind died down and the no-see-ums and mosquitoes started coming out. They came in a swarm and were so bad that we were forced into our tents.
This was around six. It is now 8:40 and we are still trapped in our tents. Well, everyone besides Ben Gangaware. He claims that they weren't biting anymore. To make things worse, a raccoon came to our campsite a few minutes ago and forced us out of the tents to scare it off. Fighting off bugs we put all the food away and repacked everything tightly so that it would not be able to get anything. Now after 15 minutes of bug killing in the tent, we are ready to go to bed.

- Liam Baldrige

Navigation of Trek by Connor Mertz

Day 7 Part One: “Hard Day’s Paddle and A New Year” by Connor Mertz

We woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to paddle to East Cape (our campsite for the next night). We had not seen “The Ball” drop, there was no partying or confetti, and we did not count down 10…9….8…etc. Actually no one even stayed up until 12, and we were all in bed by 10. We had spent the last night of 2011 sitting around a beach fire, only several feet away from the Gulf of Mexico. It was pretty awesome.




None of us were aware of the feat that laid ahead of us; a 4 mile paddle to the next cape where we would be eating lunch. We pushed of the beach and things seem normal. As soon as we had paddled half way to our destination and were 100 yards of shore the wind picked. Now we were battling wind and waves. Ryan’s pep talk sounded something like this: “The first paddle keeps you from moving backwards, and the next is actually what moves you forward.” Eventually when you are paddling that long and hard you find yourself in a “rhythm” in which you paddle the most efficiently. I know my canoe (the “Bithlo”) had found this rhythm because we were all silent, focused on reaching the point that lay ahead. After what seemed like forever we finally had reached it. Triumphantly, we enjoyed an extra long break of tortillas, cheese, and summer sausage.

-Connor Mertz

Our Southern Friends in Conservation By Todd Bauman

There are many conservation heroes in history, Rachel Carson, Teddy Roosevelt, Rosalie Edge, and Maurice and Irma Broun.  But we still have many conservation heroes today.  And they are all the folks across this great planet of ours that dedicate themselves to spreading the good word about our wildland treasures.  Yes, many for some meager financial asset, and the chance to feel alive in fantastic natural settings.  Most of the meager financial reward is then just for “the season”. Which means, no established roots or home base.  A nomadic lifestyle where home is one’s truck, camper, a “beat up” apartment or cabin on the park grounds, or one’s tent.  Sounds romantic?  It is to a point, but please keep in mind it comes with great sacrifice.  So, hats off to all of these conservation heroes and let me introduce a few that we met on our journey.

Kevin Bowles, Linda, and Tom

Kevin Bowles is the Volunteer Coordinator for Everglades National Park and has been in this position since 2010.  As one can fathom from our SPOT locations it is a large park consisting of 1.5 million acres. It is only Kevin and his seasonal assistant Linda that organizes and manages the 1500 volunteers that pass through the park in a year.  It was Kevin who was my first contact and opened the door for this transcending experience for the HMCC. 



 The next park hero was permanent ranger Kristy Carmichael.  She discussed our proposed backcountry excursion with me in detail sharing her six intense years of paddling experience within the wilderness waterway.    

Shauna Cotrell & DW Crouch

A big shout out of thanks to fourth season Ranger Daniel Blankenship for being the first contact HMCC had on the opening day bird walk.  He then gave the group a private program on the history and other wildlife of the park.  Third season Ranger Shauna Cotrell and first season Ranger Kristy Johnson provided fantastic information and services to us at the Flamingo office.  D.W. Crouch is a several season volunteer for the park. 

HMCC with Tom Rahill ( upper left in photo)

Now the biggest hero for this particular expedition team was “Swamp Ape” founder Tom Rahill.  We spent the opening two and half days with Tom.  His knowledge of this region was extraordinary and his mannerism made him one of the best “field” teachers I have ever met.  He began the Swamp Apes in 2009 as an organized volunteer resource to get large projects done in the park.  There is a focus on recruiting returning veterans from active duty to participate in benefitting this unique wilderness but also to benefit the many individuals giving back to this national treasure.


My hat is off to Tom for his teachings and assistance and as we say in the wild, “Tom, you are welcome at my fire anytime.”          

Your friend in Conservation,

Todd Bauman

Wildlife of the Expedition by Lucas Wessner

Brown Pelican


Great Blue Heron
(White Morph)

Osprey

Day 6: Part Two “New Years on Northwest Cape” by Lucas Wessner

After lunch we still had about 4 ½ miles. As we cruised along the coast, the shore slowly transformed from muddy mangrove forest to sandy beaches. There was also a difference in wildlife. We saw things such as starfish, pelicans, sandpipers, plovers, and Liam and I are convinced to have seen a shark. Connor would disagree. Whatever it was, it swam right underneath our canoe and had a dorsal fin darker than that of a bottle-nosed dolphin. We arrived at our campsite a little after 2. The rest of the afternoon was spent rinsing off in the gulf and tossing frisbee. We had no real opportunity to do any washing the first two days of the trek in the stagnant brackish water, but the salt water is much cleaner.

After dinner, two rangers came cruising in with their motorboat to check for if we had a permit to camp. Ryan got our permit out, and the rangers were on their way. The sun went down and as we were sitting by the fire, a few of us heard noise and breathing like that of dolphin or whale. We walked down the beach and caught a glimpse of what looked like a whale. When we get back to Flamingo we will have to ask around and find out what we might have seen. New Years Eve here is much different than any other year, but I can’t say I have ever spent New Years on the beaches of Everglades National Park.

Expedition Gear by Ben Gangaware

Day 6: Part One by Ben Gangaware

This morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise.
Our breakfast consisted of PB and J on a whole-wheat bagel (same as every morning, but is always delicious). After breakfast we packed up and headed out. We were leaving the Oyster Bay chickee and heading to a beachfront campsite that hugs the Gulf of Mexico. As we made way to the Gulf of Mexico the muddy mangrove forests became sandy beaches.

Today as we were leaving the little shark river we saw manatees and bottle nosed- dolphins. One thing that is driving me crazy is the bugs especially the no-see-ums. They are the worst. The bugs completely feasted on everyone last night. Setting the all the bug torture as side tonight is going to be a great happy New Year can't wait.













HAPPY NEW YEAR!! to who ever reads this.

Ben Gangaware

Almost To the Coast Day 5 12.30.11 by David Welsh

Waking up this morning, looking out the screen of my tent and seeing the

rippling water, I was immediately excited for todays trip. I stumbled out of the tent with the breeze on my face, and went over to the breakfast that was laid out, and filled my stomach with an apple, and a bagel covered in peanut butter and honey. Then, after packing our bags and loading them into the canoes, we were off on out trip.

Last night Ryan showed us the map and explained to us where we were going and how he was going to navigate through the islands. There are areas on the map that are harder to navigate through than others. The scale of how hard it is to navigate through an area is based from one to five. The section that we navigated today, and will navigate tomorrow, is rated the hardest, being a five out of five. Through the mangrove covered islands we went. Sun shining down on us, we made it to a chickee for lunch, and rationed out the thick slices of summer sausage, cheese, and tortillas.

Again, we were off on the final 4 miles of our day. We paddled to where we are now, the Oyster Bay chickee. When we saw the chickee, there was a tent set up where we had a permit to stay. After about an hour, a friendly man on a power boat pulled up, and kindly gave us the chickee for ourselves. He was even friendly enough to offer us ice and water. Mountain House meals were divvied out and we sat on the edge of the dock. We stared into the bay, and behind us, the mangroves. Their roots weaved together protruding from the trunk at about a foot above the ground. Small crabs scattered in their leaves, and before we knew it, we were all tired, sitting in our tents, waiting for tomorrow, when we’d be laying our eyes on the gulf of Mexico.

-David Welsh

Everglades Expedition Logistics by Ryan Beltz

Expeditions most often take on a life of their own, much like water. We can channel water and try to direct it, but in the end, it always finds its own way to the sea. In this way, the nine members of the Hawk Mountain Conservation Corps made their way to Florida, through the River of Grass and to the Gulf of Mexico. The actual trip may have only lasted 10 days, yet the “channeling” of the expedition began much before that. Over 9 months ago, we sat in the office and began to devise a plan that would move 6 corps members, 3 leaders, and a mountain of food and equipment through the Everglades. But what does it actually take to accomplish such an expedition.

The first step is transportation. This was the purchasing of plane tickets, transport to and from the airport, the rental of vehicles in Florida and the marathon road trip of Todd and Andy with a car loaded from top to bottom and front to back.

The second step is securing food, not only the sustenance itself but ways to transport it, keep it fresh, prepare it, cook it, serve it and clean up after it. This was 10 days of food for 9 people multiplied by an average of 12 pounds per person (including food, food totes, and cooking equipment) per day for a total of over 1000 pounds of food and cooking equipment.

The third step is securing water. Since the southern terminus of the Everglades contains mostly brackish water, the group was required to carry enough water to support itself for 6 days at a time. The math on this statistic figures out to nearly 500 pounds of water that the group had to carry with them (in addition to the 1000 pounds of food and cooking equipment).

The fourth step is procuring and packing the right combination of gear and equipment to keep the expedition members safe and happy, warm and comfortable. This means backpacks and dry bags, sleeping bags and sleeping mats, tents and tarps, books and clothing, binoculars and cameras, first aid kits, paddles, life jackets, sunscreen, bug spray, raccoon deterrent, toilet paper, toothbrushes… the list could go on and on. In the end though, this “right combination of gear and equipment” added up to 55 pounds per person for a total of 500 pounds of gear.

The end result of this calculation is that the nine of us paddled, hauled and humped over 2000 pounds – 1 ton of stuff in four canoes for over 54 miles from our base camp in Flamingo through Coot and Whitewater Bays, around a sea of mangroves, to chickees, up and down beaches, and through the Gulf of Mexico. And we did this to learn about the Everglades Ecosystem, to serve our National Park through our work, and for the fun and adventure of it. And I would venture to say that all of us are the better for it.

Ryan Beltz

How to Load a Canoe by Sam Summer

Oyster Bay: Day 5 – 12/30/11 by Sam Summer

Throughout today’s ten miles we did not encounter a single easily identifiable landmark. Our progress is marked only by a pattern of narrow channels opening into bays that taper back into channels. On all sides, identical islands of mangroves surround our canoes. In spite of the abundance of islands, the chickees are the only possible place to dock and camp, because the islands are overlaid by a dense web of buttress-like prop roots about two feet high. The ground beneath the roots doesn’t become solid until about 100 yards onto the islands. Combined, the difficulty of navigation and the scarcity of campsites have slimmed the number of fishermen and tourists, so we can go for hours without seeing or hearing another boat.

Throughout the entire Mangrove swamp, the water is a dark red brown color. Apparently, tannins in the roots of red mangroves actually dye the water, making it so opaque it’s difficult to see more than about a foot down. From South Joe River Chickee to Oyster Bay Chickee, the water has become gradually more brackish as we approach the Gulf of Mexico. Accordingly, the aquatic wildlife has been changing. During the day we spotted several bottle-nosed dolphins surfacing for air. Our current campsite seems to be home to a collection of small crabs, needle-nose fish, barnacles, oysters, and jellyfish. Also, we’re situated on a tract of water called the Shark River, infamous for its bounty of black-tips. Unfortunately this shot down our hopes of an afternoon swim.

-Sam Summer

Mangroves, Crocs, and Alligators by Liam Baldrige

Crocodile

Alligator

First Night On the Chickees: Day 4(Part 2) 12.29.11 by Liam Baldrige

After lunch, we paddled for roughly three hours to arrive at the South Joe River Chickee. On the way we traveled through the White Water Bay and the Joe River, stopping at a few peninsulas in order for all of us to stick together. As many others, the South Joe River Chickee is a sheltered dock made a few yards from the coast. We set up our tents on the dock and started cooking dinner.

The entire day we were all searching for manatees and other wild life but did not see much besides a few jumping fish. Fortunately, just before dinner, two bottled-nose dolphins swam by and we all hurried to get our cameras. After a chicken, tuna, and mashed potato dinner we gathered in the center of the chickee and learned what our route was for the rest of the trip.

The plan is to stay on another chickee tomorrow and then coastal beaches for the last three nights. While everyone started to settle down Ryan pulled out the chart and taught us how to read nautical charts and the best way to navigate our particular route.   

-Liam Baldrige

It’s Go Time: Day 4 – 12.29.11 by Connor Mertz

Woke up at 6:30 excited to start the 6-day paddle expedition around Cape Sable Island. We packed up our camp, traveled to our launch spot, and equipped the canoes. Since we would not be encountering any fresh water during the 6 days we would be paddling, we started off the trip carrying with a quarter ton (450 pounds) of water. Our canoes were ladened down with bottles of every kind. We loaded the heaviest of our gear towards the mid/back section of our canoe, which proved very helpful when we later were paddling against a strong headwind. After saying our final good-byes to Tom the “Swamp Ape” we pushed off.

We first traveled up the Buttonwood Canal to Coot Bay. From Coot Bay we paddled up the Tarpon Creek to Whitewater, a huge body of brown, brackish water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrxyIyOnsfo&feature=youtu.be

On the banks the mangroves created an impenetrable wall of plant. They grow on no solid ground but were propped on “stilt-like” roots.

Around noontime we pulled our canoes over to the banks to enjoy a fine lunch of summer sausage, cheese, mustard, and tortillas. Our spirits were revived, and we continued on our 10 mile journey.

-Connor Mertz