Nesting box results

Although this picture isn't from our course, it shows what we can expect.  This nesting box was installed yesterday afternoon and on today's morning ride around the Superintendent took this picture. 

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.

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.

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

Golfers want smooth, not fast greens | Golf Course Architecture

Check out this article I found about smooth vrs fast. Leave a message on what your looking for.

Golfers want smooth, not fast greens | Golf Course Architecture

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.

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