Wildlife

The Black Skimmer is a very unusual shorebird – in part because of its exceptionally long, knife-like lower bill and much shorter, slightly-curved upper bill. The knife-like lower bill isn’t for cutting, but for slicing through calm surface waters near shore and in shallow ponds and lakes. When the lower bill strikes a small fish, the fish slides up the bill and the upper bill clamps down on it.

Two groups will occupy the sandy real estate in Southwest Florida this Memorial Day weekend: people and shorebirds. Beneath many of the people will be towels or blankets; underneath many shorebirds will be their next generation. That’s why holiday beachgoers will have a good chance of seeing an Audubon Florida volunteer shooing people away from nesting areas

As court battles continue, supporters of Florida keeping permitting authority for projects that affect wetlands are trying a different tack: Put it in federal law.U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., this week added an amendment to a bill to try to codify a 2020 decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that shifted permitting authority from the federal government to Florida.

No matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an “unavoidable” melt, a new study found.

What a different year 2022-2023 has been for SWFL Eagle Cam eagles Harriet and M15 and eaglets E21 and E22. A special Gulf Coast Life on Monday will take a look back at the season.

The proposed new conservation area, if approved, would be woven together in the same public and private fashion that created the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area established a decade ago.

Southwest Florida Eagle Cam has been livestreaming an intimate view of a North Fort Myers eagle’s nest since 2012. But with female eagle Harriet missing since February 2 after her two chicks hatched, the future of the eagle family is uncertain. Southwest Florida Eagle Cam co-founder Ginny Pritchett McSpadden joins us with an update on the the nest.

The drama involving Harriet the eagle at the Bayshore Road nest in North Fort Myers has caused some to become upset and make suggestions about placing food at the nesting tree and other recommendations, some of which go against federal laws governing protected species and can result in a fine of $100,000 ($200,000 for organizations), imprisonment for one year, or both,.

Ozzie and Harriet were the North Fort Myers site's original bald eagle pair, making the nest their home every year from fall to spring since 2006. Ozzie was injured and died in fall 2015. Harriet & M15 bonded later in the fall of 2015. Cameras have watched the North Fort Myers eagle nest for 12 years.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act was signed into law just over a year ago. Learn more about this ongoing effort to protect Florida’s lands and wildlife.