An Unexpected Friendship

A Skybound Secret: The Crested Caracara Nest I Wasn’t Supposed to Find

Part Two in the Everglades Alive Series

After proving the presence of Eastern Indigo snakes on the C44 Reservoir site, you'd think my credibility would have bought me some trust. But nature has a way of testing not just your patience—but your persistence.

It started with a flash of feathers and a hunch. I spotted a pair of Crested Caracaras—striking raptors rarely seen this far east—circling the same stretch of open prairie. I mentioned the sighting, along with a warning: If they’re nesting, we’re going to need a 1,500-foot buffer zone. That could delay construction big time.

Let’s just say… it wasn’t a popular opinion.

Once again, I was told, “No way they’re nesting here.”
Once again, I went to work.

A rare and undeniable moment — a nesting pair of Crested Caracaras caught in action.
Proof that this protected species was actively breeding on-site, just as I suspected. This single image changed everything.

Armed with my camera and time, I tracked their behavior—patterns of movement, vocalizations, return flights. Then one quiet morning, from behind a veil of cabbage palms, I caught them in the act: mating, in the open, at the crown of a dead pine snag.

I not only snapped this rare photo — I captured a video.

It was the confirmation I needed. Not only were Crested Caracaras present, they were establishing a nest.
The kind of discovery that halts bulldozers, reroutes timelines, and triggers critical habitat protections.

These moments — quiet, wild, and full of resistance — are why Field2Fabric exists.
Every coloring page, every illustration I release is tied to a field story like this. Truths you wouldn’t believe unless you saw them.

And lucky for all of us… I did.

Coming Next:
“The Bulldozer and the Bird: How a Nesting Least Tern Made Me Rethink Everything.”