onella's Journal

On Wednesday, June 8, 2022. I revisited the tarpon mangroves to assess the effects of salinity on the mangrove as this particular area has a mangrove directly connected to the inlet and one that is not.
I observed many tree crabs, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), whelks, nerites, and peculiarly two iguanas.
Although it is not strange to see Iguanas in Florida, I had never seen any in the area unlike with at Red Reef where they are rampant. Those were the only two observed during the entirety of my study.

While my field study focused on birds, I could not help but be amazed at all the wildlife around me. The mangrove is an ecosystem just teeming with life and I wanted to be able to share it with my classmates.
I began my study at 5:40 in the morning to observe birds leaving their nests and feeding at first light. I however only observed 7 species and a total of 16 birds over a period of 1 hour and 12 mins.

This component of the Intertidal course has pushed me to be more observant of my surroundings. On a trip to the mall with my family, I observed these three animals.

Based on my observation, the area in question had a high richness of Northern Curly-tailed Lizard as I had observed over 20 different lizards in a span of 2 minutes while standing in one location.

While continuing my search for a research area, I visited the tarpon tidal pool on the intercoastal of Florida near Florida International University. The environment was a mix of mangroves with man-made boulders placed along the coast. All these organisms were observed in said area.

While searching for possible spots around Florida to conduct my research for my Intertidal Ecology class I stumbled upon this bird who was not quite shy and allowed me to get quite a few close-up pictures. It was observed at Red Reef Park (1400 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton, FL 33432).