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.

The cooler temperatures brought in small herds of manatees to the warm waters of the Silver River. Staff, volunteers and visitors all enjoy seeing these friendly, curious giants! The cooler temperatures also pushed the invasive tilapia to the headsprings. Staff focused on the ones in the emergent vegetation this week and any that were showing early signs of spawning, which include pairing up, turning white, and clearing vegetation for beds.

The Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserves (IRLAP) staff collaborated with FWC, the Brevard Zoo and Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) to investigate open spaces on the 1000 Islands, near Banana River Aquatic Preserve, for potential least tern nesting sites. Florida’s least terns (Sternula antillarum) are listed as threatened, and their nesting habitat is rapidly disappearing.

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.

TBAP staff and interns worked on some preparations of buoy moorings that had been damaged by last year’s hurricanes to be sure that the new rookery island buffer buoys will be securely anchored. This work is ongoing, along with post-rainy season assessments of volunteer work needs on islands near each rookery island.

Lake Jackson AP supports a diversity of wildlife, including extensive bat populations and nesting wood ducks. Prior to three years ago, however, we didn’t know what kinds of bats lived and foraged here and there were a lot fewer resident wood ducks. To continue surveying and managing the diverse wildlife at the AP, staff went out this week to deploy acoustic detectors as part of the NABat program in collaboration with FWC.

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.