Corkscrew
Swamp Sanctuary
Along the
Boardwalk
May, 2010 www.corkscrew.audubon.org
Butterfly garden officially dedicated Raise a glass…
Wine corks needed for
The butterfly
garden beside the
Living Machine was
formally dedicated
on Saturday, April
17, as the Bob &
Mary Rosekrans But-
terfly and Wild-
flower Garden.
Mary Rosekrans,
a 20-year volunteer
who now lives near
Coral Springs, was
present with her son
John, granddaughter
Jill, and grandson-in-
law Curtis for the in-
formal ceremony.
Mary and her
late husband Bob began their volunteer-
ing on Fridays in the late 1980’s, retir-
ing just two years ago.
The Rosekrans family was joined
at the ceremony by a number of the cur-
rent Friday boardwalk volunteers who
had volunteered with them and who had
contributed to the permanent plaque.
Eagle update: CBOP rehabs Southwest Florida eagle, bird released in Picayune
A Bald Eagle on the verge of death
in February is back in the skies above
Picayune Strand State Park to the south
of Corkscrew.
Officials from the Audubon
Center for Birds of Prey and the
Florida Division of Forestry re-
leased the adult male eagle Tues-
day, April 13, to end the bird’s
two-month rehabilitation from
flight feather damage.
On February 10, Picayune
park rangers discovered the
eagle while taking inventory of
the state park’s tree growth. The
Mark the date…
The annual Corkscrew butterfly
count, part of the North American
count, is Tuesday, July 20. Look for
details in the June newsletter, or con-
tact Sally for more information.
Ed welcomed
Mary with a big hug, program in New York
prompting her to Audubon of Florida will be fea-
say, “You owe me!” tured in a one-day, family-oriented
Ed stepped back and watershed program in June at the
looked at her, and American Museum of Natural History
she added, “You in New York City.
owe me two years of Shawn Liston, Audubon of Florida
hugs.” Research Manager for Southwest
After the unveil- Florida and based at Corkscrew, and
ing of the plaque, Megan Tinsley, Everglades Ecosystem
Mary and her family Science Coordinator, will present the
did a long loop tour program about the Everglades.
of the boardwalk. One of the interactive aspects they
The Rosekrans would like to offer is to let younger kids
couple mentored create frogs out of wine corks and pipe
many volunteers, cleaners, giving them a special, educa-
especially about na- tional souvenir to take home to remind
tive orchids, and them of the special Everglades and Big
they have donated slides, books, and Cypress ecosystems.
photographs to the library. Liston and Tinsley are collecting
The Rosekrans were instrumental natural and synthetic corks until June
in identifying and cataloging flowering 1. There is a box in the Bunting House
plants along the boardwalk and publish- and another in the library for donations.
ing a photographic guide to those Over 3,000 people are expected at
plants. Copies of the guide are in the the event, and a collection of at least
library and in the Bunting House. 2,000 corks could satisfy demand.
pair chased down and captured the At the Audubon Center for Birds
eagle after observing that it was unable of Prey in Maitland, the eagle received
to fly and needed veterinary attention. a procedure called imping to repair its
flight features as well as receiv-
ing flight re-conditioning.
Naples resident and Cork-
screw friend Geraldine Martin
had the honor of physically re-
leasing the raptor into a clear-
ing near Everglades Boulevard
and the Interstate 75 overpass.
Left: Geraldine Martin, Ed Carlson,
and park ranger Anthony Curella set
the eagle free. Photo Rod Wiley.

A female Eastern Pondhawk lands after deposit-
ing eggs in the north lake (April 13).
In Case a Visitor Asks
Where do Wood Storks go and what do they do when they don’t nest here?
Storks that don’t nest at
Corkscrew have a few op-
tions.
Some might elect to stay
down here through the dry-
season and a tiny minority
might even hang on in South
Florida through the summer.
Those birds most likely rely
a lot on tidal wetlands for for-
aging, but they will certainly
exploit any freshwater wet-
lands that dry down and con-
centrate fish.
Fishing a deep lake, pond, or canal
is akin to playing the slot machine to
make a living. The fish aren’t concen-
trated, so it’s really hit or miss and the
odds are against the storks.
However, most storks will move
north looking for good nesting condi-
tions in North Florida, coastal Georgia,
April Sightings
A fawn nurses in the wet prairie. New grasses
after a controlled burn attracted deer (April 16).
and coastal South Carolina.
Those coastal regions historically
have been the storks’ summering
grounds, but loss of habitat in South
Florida has resulted in storks nesting
further north, and a few pairs have even
nested in southern North Carolina as
well during the past few years. Storks
Panther Update
The relationship between
male FP-159, right, and an
uncollared female, left, contin-
ues around the fish farm.
Ralph Arwood’s remote
trail camera captured the male
at 7:42 PM on April 13 and the
female a little before midnight
on the following night. The
two have been photographed
there before and continue to
share the territory.
A male Hooded Warbler forages near the north
lake during the spring migration (April 2).
can make a pretty good liv-
ing in the expansive coastal
wetlands, and some of the
freshwater riverine wetlands
provide concentrations of
food as well.
Satellite tag and banding
data indicate that there is
fairly low site fidelity. Some
birds may return to the same
colony and even the same
tree year after year, but
many nest in different loca-
tions. So many of the 1100
pairs that nested at Corkscrew in 2009
are probably looking for nesting loca-
tions in Georgia right now.
I’m getting reports that storks are
currently starting to nest in North
Florida and Georgia, including the St.
Augustine Alligator Farm colony.
... Jason Lauritsen

Great-crested Flycatcher
The Great-crested Flycatcher is the
only eastern flycatcher that nests in cavi-
ties and the only year-round flycatcher
at Corkscrew.
It is a bird of the treetops and spends
very little time on the ground. When on
the ground, it will not hop or walk but
will fly, even for very short distances. If
prematurely fledged young happen to be
on the ground, the parent will fly up from
one fledgling and over to another, even
if they’re just inches apart.
Its foraging is equally aerial, and the
Great-crested Flycatcher has three pre-
ferred methods of capturing its insect
food.
One, it will fly out from a perch for
flying insects; if it misses on the first
try, it often follow the prey in the air until
it catches it.
Two, it can nearly hover on rapidly
beating wings to pick insects off of
leaves, branches, or tree trunks.
Three, it drops down from a perch
to catch prey on the ground; if it’s un-
successful, it flies back up into the air
and dives down again to get the prey
rather than hopping or running on the
ground.
The main foods of the Great-crested
Flycatcher are insects and other inver-
tebrates, which account for over 93% of
its diet. Those are sometimes supple-
mented with small berries and other
fruits. Of the insects, moths and butter-
flies are most often taken followed by
dragonflies, beetles, grasshoppers, and
crickets.
Vocalizations of the Great-crested
Flycatcher are either calls or “dawn
song.”
Although it has a large repertoire of
calls, there are four basic ones, all given
during the daytime.
The simplest call is a brief, sharp-
sounding sound written as huit-huit-huit,
wit-whit, or wit-wit-wit. These are sel-
dom given in isolation, and the call de-
notes moments of stress or excitement,
such as in confrontations with neighbors.
Profile
Myiarchus crinitus
The most frequent and identifiable
call is a loud whistled note that rises in
pitch, written whee-eep. It is usually
given in isolation from other calls and
may be a contact call between sexes or
between parents and young. If heard in
rapid succession, it may signify distress
as when one bird has spotted an intruder
or predator near a nest or fledgling.
A third call is a throaty, rolling,
slightly harsh vibrato, written as purr-
it. It is often given by foraging birds
when not excited and may be a location
call between paired birds.
The fourth call is a distinctive, noisy,
grating call, sort of a rurr or rree. It is
higher in pitch than the other three calls
and is typically given in a series of three
or four bursts, generally given by a male
staying near its mate or when separat-
ing from encounters with neighbors.
Dawn song, or twilight song, is
unique to males and is typical of most
of the tyrant flycatchers. The compo-
nents of the Dawn Song are not unique;
they are combinations of calls used by
both sexes during the day. The unique
features are the arrangements of the dif-
ferent calls into predictable patterns that
are repeated throughout the song. Males
are usually stationary on a perch and
repeat the three-note song up to 35 times
a minute.
Males arrive on the breeding
grounds and begin giving frequent whee-
eeps, rasps, and a series of huit-huit-huit
calls to establish territories. Females ar-
rive a week or two later and use the
whee-eep to maintain a pair bond. In
Florida, males begin to settle on their
breeding territories in late March or early
April. Egg laying takes place during
April, May, or June.
Great-crested Flycatchers prefer to
nest in dead trees rather than live ones,
in natural cavities rather than abandoned
woodpecker holes, and in cavities that
can be up to four feet deep. The preferred
location is toward the top of a canopy.
The cavity is filled with leaf litter
or trash to within about 12 inches of the
hole and the nest is built on top of that.
The nests themselves are constructed of
grasses, leaves, pine needles, fur, and
feathers.
Much has been written about the use
of shed snakeskin as nesting material.
Not all Great-crested Flycatchers use it,
and studies suggest that they do not as-
sociate the skins with snakes, which are
their predators. They will use crinkly pa-
per, plastic, cellophane, and other simi-
larly textured substances in the nest lin-
ing just as often.
Incubation takes about two weeks
and most young fledge by mid-July.
Both sexes defend the nest from wood-
peckers, starlings, and squirrels; remove
fecal sacs; and take care of the young.
Only the female incubates, so males for-
age for food, call, and chase intruders
away. After fledging, the young and
adults remain as a family group, stay-
ing in the nesting area for up to three
weeks.
The main predators are snakes and
squirrels which get into the nesting cav-
ity and eat the eggs and nestlings.