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Rookery Bay Nature Festival

January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Map in hand Renee Wilson shows participants how even slight changes in elevation influence plant life, water levels and other key variables important to all living entities within the ecosystem. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.

Photo by GORDON CAMPBELL

January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Map in hand Renee Wilson shows participants how even slight changes in elevation influence plant life, water levels and other key variables important to all living entities within the ecosystem. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.

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  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Jane Nerney, left listens to Renee Wilson Rookery Bay's Communications Manager, right about native wax myrtle. 5 gallons of the berries could be boiled down for enough wax to fashion a baybery scented votive sized candle. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Participants also learned about trade going on pre 1600s by Calusas here with tribes from the East coast. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Map in hand Renee Wilson shows participants how even slight changes in elevation influence plant life, water levels and other key variables important to all living entities within the ecosystem. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Renee Wilson poses with Friday & Saturday's evening keynote speaker Elam Stoltzfus a documentary film producer. Last year he participated in and filmed a 1000 mile South-North trek in 100 days through an important Florida wildlife corridor being organized and preserved via help from landowners, public agencies and more. To hear his talk and participate in the weekend event contact http://www.rookerybay.org/ for availability, details and options. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Ancient Calusa shell mounds dating back 3000 years are marked by tons of shells some of which show holes and other signs of being turned into tools. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Areas around ancient Calusa shell mounds dating back 3000 years occasionally contain shards of pottery fashioned and adorned prior to the 1600s. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Perched upon a Rookery Bay preserve Calusa shell mound Communications Manager Renee Wilson lectures on the natural and human history of the area. Here Jane Nerney & Jane Krause absorb the details. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: The nicker bean. Encased in the thorny exterior lies inside a bean that when struck against the right rocks creates a spark for fire starting, a key Calusa survival trick. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: An early morning loook at a 1940s settlers' water tower. Traditional agriculture based white settlements showed in the area post civil war and ran for at least 80 years. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Although Florida is the lightning strike capital of the country controlled burns like this one on the Rookery Bay Preserve remain necessary for healthy habitat maintence. Native species like this Sabal Palm suffer only mild exterior signs. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Family cemetaries still mark the preserve. This grave site is marked Jessie James Jones 1900-1908. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: The Kirkland family cemetary shows multi generational plots many of which were located by ground penetrating x rays. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Renee Wilson of Rookery Bay in blue explains the signifigance of and methods of habitation by post civil war settlers in the preserve area. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: Gopher tortoise burrow. The species prefers slightly elevated sandy scrub habitat and during fire season the burrows may host up to 200 other species seeking temporary refuge. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.
  • January 18, 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival: The Calusas adapted well to what most would call a difficult inhospitable land. Here it's demonstrated how they used common sabal palm fibers to fashion fishining nets. Photo by Gordon Campbell/Special to the Daily News.

Friday was the kickoff for the 2013 Rookery Bay Nature Festival. The weekend will be highlighted by about 40 guided field activities including bird watching and kayaking. There's also a guided trek around the Shell Island Preserve area where participants will get an insight into native Calusa and post-Civil War settler lifestyles. Film maker Elam Stoltzfus will discuss his adventures in filming the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition ('1000 miles in 100 days') on Saturday. Go to www.rookerybay.org for more information.

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