Harold Albers Teacher Ecology Camp

This summer Mama went to camp! I was invited to attend the Harold Albers Teacher Ecology camp hosted by Sensing Nature and St Petersburg Audubon. The purpose of this week-long science camp is to educate teachers thru experiences so they can pass along an understanding of wildlife and the need for habitat conservation to their students. It was divided into two sessions. The first two days were focused on aquatic wildlife, the next three on paleontology. I attended the first session which started off with a boat ride in the Tampa Bay Estuary conducting a net two to collect data about the aquatic wildlife that lives in the sargassum (the floating vegetation). (I should mention this is part of a daily survey completed under a permit and the data is sent to Florida Fish and Wildlife.) They dropped the net and dragged it for a specific number of minutes, then moved everything from the net into the large blue tub. Next they carefully sorted thru the sargassum with small nets, removing and counting each species of fish, seahorse, etc. They kept some in a tank on the boat so we could see them up close. 

We circled a protected island where tons of birds are nesting, including pelicans, herons and egrets.

Our classes were held at the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center so we were able to see their exhibits and wildlife. Back in the classroom, they helped us examine shark specimens and record data on them. 

The Lionfish. It's such a striking fish, right? Well, unfortunately, it was never meant to live in our waters. It's native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, and was introduced to the Atlantic Ocean 30 years ago. Today they can be found all along the coast from Brazil, along Mexico and up to Maine.

They will eat anything that will fit in their mouth, and they have no predators, so they've really wreaked havoc on our ecosystem. They can reproduce at an incredible rate of 30,000 eggs every 4 days (that's more than 2 million eggs per year) and can live up to 15 years! Our next project was to dissect a lionfish to learn more about their anatomy. 

Its 18 spines are used in defense to deliver venom that is extremely painful to humans and can cause difficulty breathing and on rare occasion, death. Thankfully, they've already been removed for our safety. He looks a bit grumpy, eh?

Pictured here is an ovary with eggs exposed and floating (bottom left), a gill (bottom right) and the stomach contents, which we believe to be a parrotfish (top). There was also a tiny shrimp, not pictured.

The next day we went out on the boat again in search of bottlenose dolphins. They stay in a general area, and can be identified by the markings on their fins. 

It was a challenge, but I was able to snap a few photos and when we compared them to the chart, we were able to identify this dolphin as Malone.

I was surprised to learn that the Tampa Bay is only about 6ft deep, except for the shipping lanes that were dredged thru it. Because this group has been collecting data on the aquatic life in found in the sargassum, they were able to chart the effect of the red tide in 2021. The pigfish and pinfish populations took a big hit that winter, while the mud crab population exploded. They eat dead fish and had fewer predators. A year after the red tide event, they were all approaching pre-red tide numbers.

We learned how installing a Living Shoreline can protect homes along the coast during storms. The Tampa Bay Discovery Center has a great display to show this in action. The vegetation reduces the reach of the waves. It also provides habitat for birds, oysters and other wildlife.

Next we learned about water quality by taking samples of the Bay and testing it. This is an activity I plan to do with my own kids and the students in our local nature club. 

Now this last part was not something I was initially interested in, but it ended up being one of my favorite parts. Plankton! We used special nets to collect plankton from just below the Bay pier. After a few minutes the little bottle was packed full of tiny phytoplankton (plant) and zooplankton (aquatic microorganisms). 

They just looked like little dots in the dish, but when I looked thru the microscope...

WOW! I saw details of so many different creatures. Things you can't even imagine. They moved so quickly it was hard to get great photos, but this gives you an idea. There were baby jellyfish, a horseshoe crab, and lots of other things. I wish everyone could experience seeing the tiniest of creatures like this. I found this the most exciting and shocking part of the camp. I am so thankful for being able to attend this special camp. It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned with others.

I'm thankful for my friend, Lisa, telling me about the camp and for hosting me at her lovely condo on the beach. She even took me to Fort Desoto to see the latest celebrities, three baby American Oystercatchers. This is the first time this species has successfully fledged young at the park in more than 20 years! Big thanks and congratulations to the volunteers who kept them safe. 

These are distant cell phone shots thru my scope. I didn't want to risk disturbing them.

If you are a teacher in the St Pete area, I strongly suggest applying for this camp. It's extremely educational and fun and will inspire you to share what you've learned with your students. I wish more organizations offered ecology camp experiences for adults. You can also work directly with Jeanne and Brian of Sensing Nature to book a family or group field trip, ecotour, custom program or attend one of their camps. They make learning a really fun experience! The Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center has a mobile educational program where they will bring experiential learning to your school. Contact them for more info.

Our Second Exchange Student {China}

Just two weeks after our Spanish student left, a group of young Chinese students were coming to the area. Education First (EF) contacted us after a few of the families backed out at the last minute. We agreed to host one 9 year old girl for ten days. Can you imagine sending your 9 year old to another country where they don't speak the language?! Not me! This is one of the many cultural differences we'd come across with Rachel. And that's another. Apparently Chinese students pick an English name the first time they come to the US. Is that because they want to have an "American" name, or because Americans don't generally take the time to learn their Chinese name? I hope it's the first. I preferred to call her by her actual name, but my kids found it easier to call her Rachel.

I have to admit, the first couple days with her were rough. When we met her at Thursday night's welcome party, she seemed to not want to communicate and it was clear she understood VERY little English. As I looked around, I saw a room full of terrified young children. One little girl was crying and being rocked like a baby by the only adult in the room who spoke Mandarin. What have we gotten ourselves into? How would we ever communicate with our student and help her feel comfortable with us? Yan Xue Fei fell asleep five minutes into our hour long drive home. I had to wake her at 5:30 the next morning to make it to her first class. Monday thru Friday, the students met together for English class in the morning and activities after lunch. They wouldn't arrive to the bus stop til around 6pm each night. Her first night she again fell asleep on our way home and slept until the next morning. Poor thing was really struggling with the schedule on top of the 12 hour time difference. We let her sleep as long as she wanted on Saturday morning. She had still barely spoken to us and I was afraid she was uncomfortable in this situation. These next two days were our only real chance to spend time with her as the school schedule was long and left her exhausted. We (mostly) solved our communication problem with the help of Google Translate. It's amazing, and free! It can be used in multiple ways. You can type or speak and the app will translate it into one of a hundred different languages! Conversation mode was super handy and you can even take a photo to translate the text on any sign or page. So cool!

She had told us of her love of cats. She has one at home. We've been volunteering at our local Humane Society, so we took her there to spend time in the kitten room. On her last day, she told me spending time surrounded by kittens was her favorite thing. Afterwards we went to the YMCA and played racquetball. It was great to hear her laughing and see her beautiful smile!

We stopped for Icees on our way to an exotic pet store. This place had all kinds of critters including a snake I'd never heard of, a Kenyan Sand Boa, which the owner took out for us. At first Yan Xue Fei was afraid of it, but while I held it, she had no problem reaching out to pet it. I loved seeing her become more bold with all of the creatures we showed her and let her touch.

The next day we took her to church with us where she got along great with all the kids. They all learned to use Google Translate in no time and the kids all had a blast together at lunch afterwards.

My favorite part was taking her to Silver Springs State Park. During our hike, 

we saw a manatee swimming alongside a kayaker. What a cool sight!

We went to a park and found lots of lizards, cicadas and other critters. 

The kids decided to build a little home for one of the lizards. 

One day we found this Hickory Horned Devil in our yard. I was so happy to see she had become bold enough to hold it.

When the time came for Yan Xue Fei to head home, we were shocked at how attached we'd become to her in just ten days. It's still shocking to see how we'd gone from total strangers who could not mutually understand a word, to a warm exchange student family situation in such a short time. And it wasn't just us. EF does a graduation ceremony and it was so wonderful to see how all of the students had warmed up and come out of their shells. You could see they had bonded well with their host families as well. We still keep in contact with Yan Xue Fei and she hopes to return thru EF again next year.

Wintering in Florida

We spent November thru March in Florida visiting family, close friends and making new ones. We spent time exploring Blue Spring State Park and Silver Springs State Park, though we didn't see the monkeys.

We discovered some interesting critters, like this largest grasshopper I've ever seen!

And these stick bugs. Look close, there are actually two here!

A crazy amount of raccoons live at one park in Sarasota.

While staying at Gina's, we were able to spend a day with C&D whom had rented a place on the beach at Lido Key for the winter.

Check out this "RV"! It's a mobile dog and cat adoption center. Each animal has it's own cage behind glass so that potential new families can see them. I think this is a great repurpose of an old transport bus.

 We began attending weekly classes at the library and the kids learned they could "join up" with other kids playing Minecraft on the library computers. This is when the, "Can we go to the library today?" DAILY request began.

Took the kids to the city dump and were absolutely amazed with the enormous, literal mountain of trash that is collected and brought here to die. We talked about the responsibility of limiting our own waste by reusing and recycling. Watching and identifying the crazy amount of birds, including a dozen bald eagles, kept me busy.

Of course I spent some time birding and was fortunate enough 

to return to Fort Desoto with my Pennsylvania birding friends.

The kids turned SEVEN and made their own cakes this year!

I participated in the Tim Tebow Foundation's A Night To Shine event, a prom celebration for people with special challenges in life. I had the pleasure of accompanying a young woman named, Lisa, to the event where she rode in a convertible corvette, walked the red carpet, and joined me for dinner together before dancing the rest of the night away! It was a wonderful experience and I would definitely encourage everyone to participate next year. This annual event is held in February all over the world!

Daddy published his very first book! Ten years ago, by the grace of God, he lived thru an awful ending to his deployment in Afghanistan, and now he's ready to share his experience with others on a larger scale.

While I was in Colombia, daddy took the kids to LEGOland with our Fulltime Families homeschool group.

The Gebbias came for a visit and so did Grandpa!

Oh and this happened..... 

brand new bird feeder vs. Florida Black Bear