Guests and staff at the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center were in for quite a surprise recently when a Florida black bear was seen (numerous times) wandering through the grounds! One day the bear even stopped to snack from a bird feeder outside the administrative office and literally tore it down before continuing his stroll around the building and back into the woods.

Rookery Bay Research Reserve was honored to take part in a special panel discussion on mangroves at the Naples Baker Museum, alongside representatives from the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and artist Nathalie Alfonso, whose work is currently featured in the Entangled in the Mangroves exhibit.

Rookery Bay staff teamed up with the Von Arx Wildlife Hospital to release a rehabilitated Black tern back into the wild. After receiving care at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s Von Arx Hospital, the bird was transported by boat to the Second Chance Critical Wildlife Area in the southern region of the reserve. Here it soared once again over the Gulf.

On International Coastal Cleanup Day, Rookery Bay staff and volunteers met at Shell Island Road (SIR) within the reserve for a successful cleanup effort. The morning began with just a few participants, but the group quickly grew to include more than a dozen volunteers, staff and students from Florida Gulf Coast University.

The Garden Club of Verona Walk (a very large Naples community) recently visited the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center, where they were welcomed by Verona Walk resident and longtime Rookery Bay volunteer Jeanne. A dedicated member of the Reserve’s volunteer team, Jeanne has contributed more than 2,000 hours of service. She has led countless groups through the center and helped visitors of all ages connect with the coastal environment.

The new “fall” instead of “spring” cleaning trend sweeping the nation has caught on at Rookery Bay this month. The Environmental Learning Center is closed while staff undertake many maintenance and cleaning projects. This includes organizing closets of outreach materials, buffing floors, power washing, weeding, steam cleaning and dusting the 20 ft. tall mangrove.

Rookery Bay Research Reserve recently hosted a Wildlife Interaction Workshop, organized by the Coastal Training and Engagement sector, as part of an ongoing series designed to educate environmental professionals who work outdoors in the field and interested community members about Florida’s native and nonnative wildlife.

Welcome to the Rookery Bay Aquatic Preserve. I am very proud to be able to oversee the intrinsic natural resources that our community gets to enjoy each and every day. We have a vast diversity of plants and animals that call this aquatic preserve their home. While it is important to have recreational opportunities in the estuary, it is also crucial to preserve and educate the public how important and fragile these ecosystems are.