Monday, January 30, 2012

Wildlife Habitat Management

The job of today's golf course superintendent has many functions.  Obviously it is my primary responsibility to manage the daily functions of the golf course to meet the requirements of the game of golf, but a secondary responsibility is to manage the course so we are maximizing the environmental benefit of the property.  In today's world of shrinking natural areas within the urbanized lands of society, golf courses have become a welcoming refuge for animals like birds.  The golf course's diverse landscapes provide excellent habitat for numerous species of permanent and annual inhabitants. 

Many of you probably are aware that at one point CCN had a nesting box program.  However, the program was abandoned years ago for whatever reason.  I am very proud to say this past weekend the nesting box program has been resurrected.  Throughout the golf course a dozen new cedar nesting boxes and two Purple Martin condos have been installed in an effort to stimulate even more wildlife activity on the property.  I felt it was time to reconstitute the nest box program because one morning I was sitting at ten tee having one of those moments when you just really look at the golf course and see the real beauty of it all.  I was looking at the amber colors of the morning sunrise, the long shadows cast by the old cypress heads and then I noticed an Eastern Bluebird.  Then I saw a Purple Martin, a Loggerhead Shrike, an American Kestrel and a Bald Eagle.  It was a great morning ride and once I really started looking, I saw the golf course teaming with activity that I hadn't noticed before.

After making some calls to see what other golf courses were doing with their nesting box programs, I settled on using a small company here in town called Lane Edward Designs that makes great wooden next boxes.  All of the boxes are made of cedar and have an access panel on the side so the box can be easily checked for activity and maintained.  I concentrated the program on four primary species of birds: Bluebirds, Screech Owls, Woodpeckers and Wood Ducks.  Although we have so many more species, these five particular species should give us a good starting point to expand upon.

Here's our boxes all ready to be installed.

Getting the boxes ready to install.  Pictured is Brian Beckner, owner of Lane Edward Designs.  He manufactures all of the boxes himself.  Prior to installing the bird houses, Brian did a one hour bird count a few weeks ago and found 20 different species already on the property.  It is our goal to double that!  Brian will also be doing a maintenance program on the boxes that will include an activity report of any eggs or hatchlings so we can monitor our success with the nesting boxes.


Here is a picture of the different boxes for the Bluebirds, Woodpeckers and Owls (in the same order).  The Wood Duck box looks like the Owl box, its just positioned by water instead of in the woods.  As you can see, the type of bird dictates the type of box.  Each hole and box dimension is specifically tailored to what type of bird we are trying to attract.  Its not as simple as just putting up a bird box.



Here is a picture of what the inside of the box looks like and how the maintenance hatch opens up.  The black net like material is for the birds to be able to climb out of the box since they can't fly out.

Here's the first box to go up.  Its right behind #4 white tee. 



Each box gets a label for monitoring identification.  Also, the location of each box is GPS'd for our records.  We need to make sure that we do not over populate areas with the same type of boxes.  We can put multiple different species boxes in close proximity, but not multiple of the same species.  The GPS will help us make sure we do not lose any boxes.

Here is a picture of a Wood Duck box behind hole #4.  The lake should be perfect for Wood Ducks.
These are wood ducks. They are absolutely beautiful.



We also have 2 Purple Martin condo houses on the course.  There is one behind 8 green and one between 16 & 17.  Did you know it is estimated that Purple Martins can eat up to 2000 mosquitoes a day. 
This is a purple martin.  They are amazing to watch fly around and catch mosquitoes and other insects.  It's like watching an air show!  Besides their color, they can be identified by the very angular wing tip and very, very fast aerial maneuvers.



Here is a Wood Pecker box, notice the extra hole guard.  Wood Peckers like to drill out their own style hole so the nesting boxes are fitted with a little extra wood to accommodate the desire to "drill" without damaging the nest box.

Here are some of the common wood peckers found out on our course....

This is the Pileated Wood Pecker.  It is one of the largest wood peckers.


This is the Downy Wood Pecker.  This guy is one of the smaller ones


This is the Red-Bellied Wood Pecker.  It's one of the most common ones on the course.


Pictured here is one of our new Bluebird boxes.  This one is between 7 & 8 by 8 green.

This Bluebird box is in the cypress head between 10 and 13


Here's a picture of a Bluebird.  We have them on the course, we just need a few to call us home.




Here's what a Screech Owl looks like, there are two color variations

As you are playing golf, keep your eye out for our new habitat improvements.  Hopefully we will see some activity in the next few weeks.  My guess is the Purple Martin houses will be the first ones used.





Saturday, January 28, 2012

Flower tags

A about a month ago the Green Committee asked me to put in some name tags on the flowers so everyone will know what the different flowers are. The name tags finally came in. See below for all the proper names.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Blog Update Email Subscribers Nearly Doubles

In just 24 hrs the number of people that subscribe to the automatic update email notification system has nearly doubled.  This awesome!  I am trying hard to communicate to the membership about the course and the maintenance blog is the best way to do it on a Club wide basis.  I am in the process of sending everyone that is in the directory an email invitation to the blog so tell your fellow members to be on the look out for theirs.  Your acceptance to the blog updater is very much appreciated.

Billy

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Sandman Returns

It's that time of year again where the grass slows down and divots recover even slower. The slow recovery coupled with an exponential increase in the amount of divots creates a lot of little pot holes in the fairways needing to be fixed.

Now I know we all fill our divots plus an extra couple, but just to make sure as many as possible get filled I have the staff walk the fairways once a month and fill any that may have been missed. The staff is currently in this process.

If you happen to be playing and my guys have their head down looking at the grass and don't see you waiting to hit, just give them a friendly "Hello, there!" and they'll get out of your way.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Water Worries

I was sent a notification on the current water situation from the water management district regarding Lake Okeechobee.  I cut out the table below to show everyone what historical averages are as compared to current levels.  I also highlighted the forecasted weather pattern.  Looks like we are in for another dry Spring.


District-Wide Conditions for January 17, 2012

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is issuing the following briefing:

Rainfall levels have been below average during the first few months of the dry season across the District’s 16-county region. Most areas of the District have yet to see a drop of rainfall in 2012. However, cooler temperatures and low evapotranspiration rates have allowed water supplies to remain stable.

A drier-than-normal dry season is expected to continue with the effects of the La Niña weather pattern, indicating a potential return to water shortage conditions in the spring. As a result, the region remains under a water shortage warning.

Lake Okeechobee Levels Today 13.43 feet
Historical Average for Today 14.71 feet
This Date One Year Ago 12.38 feet
One Month Ago 13.78 feet
One Week Ago 13.52 feet

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Just some neat pics I've taken recently

Squirrel!
A mouthful!

How low can you go?

The recent cold snaps have everyone staying inside to stay warm and cozy, but unfortunately we had to leave the golf course outside. Those couple of cold days really drove the soil temperature down to the point where almost all metabolic processes in the plant stop and the grass goes dormant.

Once the soil temperature drops to 55 degrees the plant starts becoming sleepy and wants to go dormant. As you can see in the picture below, for a short while, for couple of days the soil temps were in the 40's. The picture is of the information I get from a buried wireless soil monitoring device in the 15th green. The low temperatures are why the course looks a little off from the normal green we are used to seeing. The good news that as you can also see, the soil temps popped right back up after a few warm days. We just need it to stay warm for longer than a week between cold snaps so the place can green up again.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cold weather recovery

Anyone that has played the course in the last couple of days has probably noticed how the course looks a little faded.  The dullness is from the frost last week.  The affects of the cold weather usually peaks about 4-7 days after the weather passes through.  This temporary dulling of our normal luster will disappear quickly as we enjoy the beautiful weather we have now.  To aide in a quicker recovery I am having the playing surfaces sprayed with a fertilizer to "jump start" the plant back into active growth. 

One of the best benefits of the cold weather is that the putting surfaces are absolutely spectacular right now.  The cold makes the plant harden off and completely stops leaf elongation which normally creates ball roll resistance.  Cold means green's speed, but it also means a lack of surface recoverability from ball marks and cleat marks.  So to help the plant, and the playability, when the greens were sanded yesterday I had the staff apply a liberal amount of sand.  The intent was to make sure any surface blemish caused indirectly from the cold weather were filled in and smoothed.  The sand will dissipate quickly as the plant resumes normal growth and the sand shouldn't create any playability issues.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Frost Delay

Patchy frost this morning here, see the first picture of one of our tee slopes. The second picture is another course here in town from this morning as well. As you see, we fared pretty well.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Protecting your plants during a frost

As I'm sure you all know, we are going to experience some cold weather in the next few days. This is just a friendly reminder to cover your cold sensitive plants (Impatiens, New Guinea Impatiens, Begonia's, Salvia, etc). This also goes for any tomatoes plants, strawberry plants, herbs or any other plant outside that you might think is susceptible to cold damage.  Also, make sure to tent the frost cloth above the plants, if the cover rests on the plants it will stick to them and do damage to the foliage.  Plants like geraniums and petunias can take a bit of cold weather.

The type of frost cover is also very important.  Avoid plastic covers if you can!  The reason is the material transmits the cold to the plants better than the fibrous materials when in direct contact.  If you can't move the plants inside and do not have the right frost clothes you can use bed sheets, old blankets, pine straw mulch or anything that will give the plant a little protect from the freeze.  Be creative if needed.  When I was a kid and it was going to freeze I remember my Dad emptying out the linen closet to cover all of his prized plants and bushes.  Mom wasn't too happy about it!

Lastly, don't forget to secure the covers.  The cold will be preceded by lots of wind.  You do not want all of the work you put in to protect your plants to be literally blown away and the plants still get damaged.

P.S.  There is a very strong chance that we will have a frost delay on Wednesday morning.  Maybe Tuesday, but with all the wind that is supposed to proceed the real cold I'm doubtful.  If you have an early morning tee time, please call the golf shop to check for any delays on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Happy New Year!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Better get out your heavy coats

Local Severe Weather Alert for location

Special Weather Statement in effect

... TURNING MUCH COLDER LATE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH SOUTH FLORIDA MONDAY AFTERNOON. BEHIND IT, AIR TEMPERATURES BY DAYBREAK TUESDAY WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 30S WEST OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE TO THE MID AND UPPER 40S ALONG THE SOUTHEAST COAST. EVEN COLDER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED WEDNESDAY MORNING, WITH TEMPERATURES POTENTIALLY FALLING BELOW FREEZING OVER GLADES, HENDRY, INTERIOR COLLIER, AND INTERIOR PALM BEACH COUNTIES. LOW TEMPERATURES ELSEWHERE WILL LIKELY RANGE FROM THE MID 30S TO THE LOWER 40S. IN ADDITION TO THE COLD TEMPERATURES, BRISK NORTHERLY WINDS ARE EXPECTED MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING. WIND CHILL ADVISORIES WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY. WIND CHILL VALUES DURING THIS PERIOD MAY RANGE FROM THE MID 20S WEST OF THE LAKE TO THE UPPER 30S AND LOWER 40S ALONG THE SOUTHEAST COAST. CLOSELY MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS.


Feds propose delaying controversial water quality rules while Florida works on its own | The Florida Current

Feds propose delaying controversial water quality rules while Florida works on its own | The Florida Current

Please take a minute to read the article about the latest news on an issue that potentially would have massive reprocussions across the entire United States regarding water.