May 23-29.
Tuesday, May 26: CREW Marsh Trails
Swallow-tailed
Kite nesting season is rapidly drawing to a close. Two of the three nests
checked today had fledged their respective chicks and were empty. Lots
of kites were in the air, especially around nest CM14.
The kite at the near right is the one that fledged from that nest. It wasn't far away from the nest tree, just three trees to the north, but it was out and ready to begin its new life.
It's calling for food from one of the adults circling overhead in the photo. When no food arrived, it took off and joined the dozen adults in the air to learn how to forage for itself.
The
third kite nest still had both chicks in it, but they should be out by
the weekend. The older of the two was standing on the edge of the nest
exercising its wings. The second chick was at the back of the nest and
wasn't as visible, but it looked as though it would be gone soon as well.
Twice parents landed and delivered food. Each chick got one delivery.
Sometime between last Monday's visit and today, a wide path had been mowed from the pines and trail through the Cattails and into the central marsh. That temptation was too great to walk past.
In between the Cattails and a clump of Coastal Plain Willows, an open area was wet enough to have lots of Buttonbush in bloom. Some small Pickerelweed plants were starting to emerge from the mud and water but were not ready to bloom. That restored wetland area should be very nice once the rainy season has brought lots of water although the willows and Cattails will try to reclaim the area.
Birds calling in that area were mostly Common Yellowthroats, White-eyed Vireos, Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Cardinals, and Carolina Wrens. The Swallow-tailed Kites stayed over the pines where prey was more available.
Only 14 species of birds were identified, but the hike only lasted a little over two hours and other than the walk into the marsh, was just to the three kite nests. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen or heard. It was also very humid and warm, so hiking a longer distance wasn't an appealing idea.
Just four species of butterflies and three of dragonflies
were identified, and none were abundant. Treefrogs were another story.
Green Treefrogs and Squirrel Treefrogs were very vocal and almost everywhere
along the edges of the marsh.
Wednesday,
May 27: Flint Pen Strand
Water levels continue to rise and much of the marsh had
standing water, although not very deep. With the rainy season now underway,
it's time to switch to 
the muck boots for any future trips into the marsh.
Even with the higher water, wading birds and water foragers won't seriously return until the food base is reestablished. Today, only the two Great Blue Herons who nested here earlier, one Great Egret, one Snowy Egret, one Tricolored Heron, three Limpkins, and three White Ibis were present, and the ibis were just fly-overs. A half dozen Black-bellied Whistling Ducks also flew over but didn't land.
The Osprey at the left was one of two seen. This one caught what looks like a nice bass and flew to its eating perch along the orange trail to work on the meal.
While wading birds were a little scarce, it was a nice morning for woodpeckers. In addition to the Red-headed Woodpecker in the photo which was along the orange trail next to the marsh, a Northern Flicker showed up as did two Pileated Woodpeckers and 14 Red-bellied Woodpeckers.
An unexpected sighting was also a fly-over. The pair of Black-necked Stilts passed over the east lake early in the morning and continued heading east.
The most often observed birds after Boat-tailed Grackles were 17 Northern Mockingbirds, 15 Purple Martins around the nest gourds, the 14 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 13 Red-winged Blackbirds, 12 Northern Cardinals, and 11 Common Ground Doves.
The mockingbirds seemed to be in family groups with just fledged juveniles pestering their parents for food. There was lots of calling and chasing going on.
The regular
Wild Turkey hen showed up too. She is usually in the north central part
of the marsh, but this morning she was walking along the bank of the east
lake before crossing Poorman's Pass and heading into the pines.
A nice surprise was a much greater number of butterflies. In the past several weeks, only two or three species were seen. Today the number was up to nine. Other than three dozen Gulf Fritillaries, none were numerous, but the variety was nice. That included a Palamedes Swallowtail, Cloudless Sulphur, Barred Yellow, Viceroy, Zebra Longwing, a pair of Common Buckeyes, two Phaon Crescents, and several White Peacocks. Several very tiny little moths/butterflies were in the taller grasses, but none landed in the open where a positive identification was possible.
Dragonflies were the usuals. Needham's Skimmers were the most frequently seen, especially in their regular spot at the southern end of Poorman's Pass.
Although it was cloudy with a nice breeze, there was more water, and rain was on the way, frogs and treefrogs were quiet. Only eight Squirrel Treefrogs and five Pig Frogs were heard plus a Green Treefrog and Florida Cricket Frog.
With more water in the marsh, lots of fresh, green plants
were sprouting. Taking advantage of that were White-tailed Deer. Four does
and three stags were enjoying the tender shoots. Two of the stags had nice
racks while the third just had some little bumps.
Friday,
May 29: Pepper Ranch Preserve
There's something to that saying, "Like water off a duck's back." The Black-bellied Whistling Duck at the left was preening in marsh B and the water droplets did just roll off of its back. It was one of 16 ducks in the marsh. They were joined there by Common Gallinules, a Great Blue Heron, and a Great Egret.
The largest collection of water fowl was in the restored wetland along Sunflower Trace. Fifteen Great Egrets, 11 Snowy Egrets, three White Ibis, three Black-crowned Night Herons, a Limpkin, Common Gallinules, and a couple of Cattle Egrets returned to that area now that water levels are rising. A Barred Owl called from the woods just to the south of the wetland.
The most interesting birds were the Crested Caracaras.
The fledgling at the lower left was in the road with a 12-15 inch dead
alligator trying to figure out what to do with it. Eventually, it walked
into the vegetation beside the road to think it over, but it returned and
got the gator later in the morning. 
I didn't arrive in time to see where the little gator came from,
but the adult female may have brought it for the fledgling.
Although the fledgling is mostly independent now, the adult female was on a fence post watching over it. She is taking off in the photo and flew into a pasture.
Thirty-three species of birds were identified, which is a decent number for the end of May. The most often seen were 18 Great Egrets, 16 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, 12 Northern Cardinals and 11 Snowy Egrets.
The only warbler was a Northern Parula along the grassy path leading to the Lake Trafford observation platform. The lone Purple Gallinule that was spotted was in the inlet from Lake Trafford that runs parallel to the path.
A hike along the southern part of the Sunflower Trace
trail to the Swallow-tailed Kite nest only produced two kites. One was
sitting in the nest and motionless other than a little preening. 
It's really late in the nesting season for a kite to still be
on eggs, and the odds of successful nesting are decreasing rapidly.
The other kite was in the air nearby, eating a treefrog, but it didn't approach the nest. If there had been chicks in the nest, it should have flown there to feed the nesting kite.
There were plenty of treefrogs for the kite to choose from. With recent rains and rising water levels, Green and Squirrel Treefrogs were calling all morning. Around two dozen of each were distinguishable although the calling wasn't continuous enough to be called a chorus.
Mammals were just Gray Squirrels and White-tailed Deer.
My yard
Big Mother Bear was back around 10 o'clock on Monday night and again a little before 5:30 on Tuesday morning when she stopped for a drink of water before continuing on (video). One of her now-adult cubs was here last week. Other wildlife between her two visits were Virginia Opossums, Raccoons, and Southern Flying Squirrels. They wisely stayed hidden in the Saw Palmettos and ferns when she was present.
She came back Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, this time to eat (video). She spent about 45 minutes in the front and side yards before wandering toward the back yard. She looks very healthy although the scat she left suggests that she's been eating small bits of food like peanuts and cat food from a neighbor's house. In my yard, Saw Palmetto berries are just starting to form as are Sea Grapes, so she'll have to make do for a while longer.
The Bobcat passed through the front yard and around the house to the back, but it didn't seem in any hurry to stop and look for potential prey.
The Brown Thrasher family and a pair of Great-crested Flycatchers have been very regular visitors along with the Northern Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.