Close Call

I almost stepped on this canebrake rattlesnake today.

Closer up:

I haven't been able to use my SLR much since it's too heavy to carry in the field. Here are some SLR pics of a mud snake we brought home from the bay. They're pretty rare for the bay we work at, so we were very excited to find one in our aquatic traps!

Leviathan

Vulture Eggs:

Dillo

We got pig problems

        

Feral pigs are all over our site. They are a huge problem because they dig up the dirt and basically destroy anything in their path. In an attempt to keep their numbers down, traps have been set up to capture and then kill them. It's pretty sad, but definitely needs to be done.

                       

Pig damage like this is everywhere.

I was tracking one of our snakes today and flushed up a black vulture from this area. Since there was no dead animal, I thought there might be a nest in the area. I searched all around and didn't find anything until I was about to leave and looked into the hollow base of this tree and found two huge eggs deep inside.

Ant architecture

Rainy Week

There are a couple of these abandoned cooling tanks throughout our site. Now, the only thing they are used for is trying to find the signals of missing snakes.

Our first Northern Parula nest!

This is where I found our most recent rat snake, Cersei.

I woke up early yesterday and joined the other crew for some mist netting in this clear cut. The birds love this habitat, but the success rate is extremely low in these areas.

This female indigo bunting was our only catch while I was there.

Something's different about that one...

Albino turkey! I see it just about every day on site, but this is the first half-decent photo I have been able to get of it.

Scooter

I have been seeing a lot of babies lately. Mostly baby snakes and birds, but this is the most recent: a coyote!