Two Leps (Almost) Forgotten

Today was one of those days were I purged the files from my computer.  Going through hundreds of photos and weeding out the unneccessary.  There's no need to keep a 100 photos of Great Blue Herons or even a 100 sunsets shots.  Of course while cleaning there are always little surprises.  These few butterfly captures I took back on the Miami CBC in 2010.  There's nothing fancy about the photography.  I don't own one of those kind of cameras and frankly, I was birding so the photos were more as a record keeping of what was happening on that day.  So on the Viriginia Key segment of the 2010 CBC I have at least two butterfly records.  The first one here is the Tropical Checkered-Skipper, Pyrgus albescens.  This species is seen throughout Florida and across the coastal plain of the Gulf States.  I've seen these skippers at all times of the year and this one was found by the roadside.

The other lep that I found on the 2010 CBC was a Mangrove Buckeye, Junonia genoveva.  This butterfly lives in Southern Florida across the shoreline areas.  I've seen it before in Broward County at Anne Kolb Park.  It's a distinct little fellow and similiar to the others in the buckeye family.

 

Many thanks to the Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America.  I enjoy checking out my local leps and this guide allows me easy identification.  I highly recommend it if you're in the market for an ID book.

Phone photo: Atalas

Most of the Atala butterfly larvae are in chrysalis now. This photo was taken in the parking lot at Green Cay.

South Florida Sightings

The water levels at Green Cay are on the rise with more reclaimed water pumped in this week.  I must admit I was a bit disappointed about how quickly they released the water in but it was a nice change for part of the wetland cell to be deeper.  The lower levels have created some interesting feeding opportunities including a flock of 20 Roseate Spoonbills over the weekend.  This week just a few were seen each day but sometimes they were quite close to the boardwalk.

On Tuesday I did a bird count with Andy and we had 39 species within one mile.  The highlights were a juvenile Snail Kite, 2 newly fledged Brown Thrashers, 2 spoonbills, and 3 American Coot that must be over-summering with us.  We had all the waders but dipped on Least Bittern (though it was seen later in the day).  So far, Green Cay has proved to be pretty productive this summer.

Tuesday afternoon also proved to be giving.  I went swimming with Emily at Delray Beach and we were luckily provided with my FOS Gull-billed Tern.  The beach also had a nice pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons playing in the runnel. 

Purple Gallinules and Green Cay updates

We have Purple Gallinule babies at Green Cay!  I saw two chicks yesterday being fed by the parents and they are at least a week or two old.  As I was watching one of the adults babysitting the other adult started building a new nest.  I guess they waste no time on the second clutch!

The water levels are very low at the wetlands these days but as you know Florida is in a drought.  We have treated wastewater being pumped in each day or we would be bone dry.  Of course now that Palm Beach County is on water restrictions more golf courses and housing developments are buying the treated wastewater for irrigation which leaves us with dry shores.  But you won't find me complaining, the birds are having a grand time feeding in the shallow areas and nesting on the dry shore.  We even had our first White-rumped Sandpipers show up last week! 

For those following the news you probably understand that we may face harsh budget cuts this year.  It shouldn't come to any surprise that I am applying for a new job.  If you have any leads, throw them my way!  I have 8 years experience with environmental education, 4 years experience as a volunteer coordinator, and management experience as well working as a nature center manager and education coordinator.  Also, I'm willing to move almost anywhere!  You can reach me via the comments if you know any likely income sources. 

Red-winged Blackbird Nest

In honor of the new book Avian Architecture I bring you some nest shots of our local Red-winged Blackbirds.  As you can see they keep a rather deep cup formation and it does provide plenty of shade on a hot South Florida day.  This little family is growing right along and the parents are very diligent in providing plenty of food. 

Atala Butterflies Emerge

Before our inside Atalas starting hatching the larvae outside started all emerging a week earlier. It was a heyday in the parking lot coonties for Atalas. I loved watching this once rare species thrive at Green Cay.



Each new adult emerged and then dried its wings before fluttering about. Atalas stay relatively close to the host plant and were easily seen in the noon day sun. We found scores of butterflies hiding in the shade as well.

If you want to start liking butterflies, this is a good one to fall in love with. The striking orange abdomen is offset with dark wings and blue glittery spots. I promise you, it was hard to walk away from the emergence event and go back to work.

Lucky for me, I knew that since the outside butterflies were emerging that our inside ones should start as well. They were exactly a week behind schedule but I'm sure that's due to the cold AC temperatures we keep.

If you want to see some Atalas then Green Cay may be your best spot. I've heard this year's crop seems to be slim due to our weather patterns over the winter months. Now I need to just go out there and find some Atala eggs and the cycle will be complete!

Atala Butterflies

Sometimes you get a phone call at the nature center that makes your day and thanks to Carrie I was really happy when she called and said she had a whole mess of Atala Butterfly larvae to give the nature center.

Atala Butterflies, Eumaeu atala, are a colorful hairstreak that is limited in the United States to just Southeastern Florida. Once not long ago their population was almost entirely wiped out due to habitat destruction of the host plant, coonties were sweeped clean when developers came in. Now not only are coonties being replanted across the area but so the butterflies continue to thrive.

The larvae are bright orange with yellow spots and for a caterpillar I found them a little on the gooey side. They eat coontie leaves that are young shoots when they first hatch and as they grown they favor more developed leaves.

We decided to release 4 dozen Atala Butterfly larvae on our parking lot coonties and 5 or 6 larvae we brought into the nature center to ranch. They just started hatching this week so you will have to come back to see the results!

Book Review: Avian Architecture

First let me say that this is the perfect time of year for a book to come out on bird nests. Everywhere around me I'm seeing birds build nests and birds hatching. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has wondered how exactly a hummingbird constructs a nest. And let me tell you Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer & Build by Peter Goodfellow is the perfect book to give you a crash course on some basic bird biology/behavior in a fun format.

The photos are amazing but it's those step-by-step nest building sketches that are my favorite. I really love how Goodfellow divides the chapters by nest type and the case studies are really interesting and cover a good selection of birds from all over the world. You better believe I'll be using the "Blueprints" pages in my next Jr. Ornithology class this summer!

But don't let me convince you, take a look at these plates and I am sure you'll be signing up for your own copy soon!

This week at the Princeton University Press blog they have info on how you can win your very own copy of this book.

This review copy was provided by Princeton University Press.

Spoonbills!

The Roseate Spoonbills are back at Green Cay! I had three flyover me in the parking lot the other morning and they have been seen on numerous bird counts the past few weeks. If you haven't seen our resident pink bird then you should head out to the wetlands today. Though the summer heat has also arrived we have had nice bird action lately. The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are here in good number, numerous species are sprouting out hatchlings, and the Black-necked Stilts are putting on their best nesting show.

Summer is such a slow time of year for birding in South Florida but it pays off to slow down and enjoy our year-around residents.

Red-bellied Woodpecker Babe

The Red-bellied Woodpeckers at Green Cay have finally had a successful nesting season. Last year they were plagued by the starlings time and time again. I was really happy to see the first young of the year poking its head out of the cavity this week.

To see our new addition just stop at the bench near the alligator hole and look back towards the building. The woodpeckers nested in the closest snag.

Jekyll Island 2011

Well friends, another great trip to Jekyll Island was taken this past weekend and I must say that place never ceases to amaze me. You would think after living there for 3 years I would have seen it all but it's not possible. We started the first night off by seeing two sets of sea turtle crawl tracks and then we ran up on two guys shark fishing. We watched them catch and release two lemon sharks before we called it a night.

The next day we spent a large portion chilling on the North End, also known as the Boneyard Beach. After bocce and sun we headed to St. Andrews sound for some rope swing fun and a little wading in the intercoastal. It was a nice day and we topped it off with dinner at Bubba Garcia's, the best food on St. Simon's Island. After calamari and shrimp tacos we had some shuffleboard round at Brogen's before calling it a late night.

On Sunday we slept in and then took in the beach at the 4-H Center. It is still my favorite beach on the island. We saw a pod of 20 dolphins swim back and forth as we wiled the day away playing more bocce and just relaxing. It was sad to say goodbye but like an old friend I know I'll see her again. Jekyll, you are so good to me and I miss you more than you know.

NAMC May 2011

This year's North America Migration Count (NAMC) caught me by surprise and my team had to adjust last minute so we could even participate this year. Instead of hitting the trails in the morning hours we didn't start counting until 3PM. Despite the late start we still had a nice count with 43 species and a total of 464 individuals. Within the first half mile we had a very cooperative Least Bittern. The photo aboves shows you our perspective (basically straight down on it). Walking on an elevated boardwalk does have it priveleges.

It was a good day for waders with almost all the usual suspects seen like the Great Blue Heron seen above.

Emily joined the count this year in addition to my two normal partners, Andy and Holly. She was just along for the ride but she has some eagle eyes and not only relocated the Least Bittern but she also spotted the Purple Gallinule below.

I just love those long toes on the gallinules. Striking birds. As we made our count circle we found the breezy conditions to keep the count fairly cool. May has been a hot month and one of the issues of counting in the early afternoon is that birds tend to stay hidden but some overcast weather and a breeze proved to our fortune.

On the long stretch of the mile boardwalk we found a Roseate Spoonbill, Green Cay's FOS Chimney Swifts, and some fledgling Purple Martins that gave us a quite a stir.

We managed to count the parking lot and across the street at the Water Utilities pond but didn't pick up much except for a few yard birds. A heavy rain loomed and we ended the count but happy that we broke 40 considering the weather, the time of day, and the lack of migrants.

Thanks Andy and Holly for making this count so much fun!

Total species list:

Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Limpkin, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Purple Martin, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, and Common Grackle.

Cannibalism Weeds Out Baby Alligators

Baby Alligator at Green Cay.

Cannibalism Weeds Out Baby Alligators
Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer, 5/29/11

A new study finds that between 6 percent and 7 percent of young alligators fall victim to the cruel fate of cannibalism. On the other hand, a little gator-on-gator cannibalism may help keep their populations stable.

"Even the seemingly low rate of juvenile mortality attributed to cannibalism reported here may be an important factor in population regulation," researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wrote in June in the journal Herpatologica.

The researchers analyzed data from years of alligator tagging and tracking programs at Orange Lake, a shallow, marshy body of water near Gainesville, Fla. Between 1981 and 1987, 267 stomachs from adult alligators that had been killed hunters were examined for tags in an effort to find out how many tagged alligators were being cannibalized by other gators.

Thirty-three of the stomachs contained tags, for a total of 56 tags in all. One particularly hungry gator had eaten at least 14 other alligators. The other gators carried a tag or two in their stomachs.The records associated with the tags revealed that 91 percent of the cannibalism victims were under 3 years old, which is juvenile by alligator standards.

The next step was to figure out how this small cannibalism sample would translate to the entire population of Orange Lake gators. To do that, researchers needed to figure out how long tags tend to stick around in a gator's stomach without being excreted. So they fed 10 alligators five tags each (to simulate natural digestion, the tags were attached to alligator feet removed from dead hatchlings).Over the next 588 days, the 10 gators got periodic X-rays to check for tags in their stomachs. As it turned out, the tags stuck around: At the end of the experiment, 76 percent of the tags, or 38 total, were still in the gators' guts.

Taking into account the size of Orange Lake's gator population and the likelihood of finding evidence of cannibalism, in the form of tags, in a guilty gator's stomach, the researchers estimate that about 6 percent to 7 percent of juvenile gators become dinner.

That rate could vary in other lakes and swamps, the researchers wrote, because the prevalence of cannibalism depends on the abundance of other food options. Understanding how often alligators chomp on each other is important, they added, because wildlife officials have to understand population dynamics in order to set goals for both gator protection and gator hunting.