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Posts tagged ‘environment’

Feb 4

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Wetland Smarties

Usually our Green herons are very shy and difficult to spot, patient and motionless as they are in our wetlands — their  signature kuk or kyow calls are heard more often. [Click here to listen to their calls!] But when I do hear them, I search in the pond apple trees and cypress for their moppy crowns, in the hopes of catching their fascinating hunting process.

Green Heron, Florida Wetlands

Green heron close-up, pre-hunt

These guys have always been one of my favorites in our wetlands — perched high in the beautiful cypress trees during the approaching dusk. And the smarts on these little herons! Green herons will often drop bait onto the water’s surface — including live insects, berries, twigs, or feathers — to attract fish. The more curious the fish…the more likely they’ll end up as dinner at the quick thrust of the heron’s sharp bill. I’ve often seen them snap off twigs and leaves for bait, carrying it to secretive hunting areas.

Green Heron, Florida Wetlands

Focus! Focus!

Green Heron, Florida Wetlands

I will find you….

This hunting technique, and their use of tools, has earned the Green heron the well-deserved distinction as one of the world’s smartest birds.

Green Heron, Florida Wetlands

A moment of rest

Green Heron, Florida Wetlands

I am so lovely, yes?

Green Heron, Florida Wetlands

Preparing for the hunt

Part of:

Jan 30

27 Comments

It’s World Wetlands Day!

Hikers Across the World Celebrate World Wetlands Day

Hikers honor World Wetlands Day in Israel in 2012; their poster announces “Ramsar day — Israel 2012,” and features a recently-discovered endemic species, the Hula Painted Frog. Courtesy Wikipedia.

It’s hard not to be passionate about the celebration of  World Wetlands Day, since all of what you see on this blog, the unique landscapes and its wonderful critters — are dependent on wetland ecosystems! Officially February 2, World Wetlands Day is an international celebration of the planet’s marshes, swamps, and bogs. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997, and since then government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and citizens all over the world have aimed to raise public awareness of the critical value and intrinsic benefits of wetland ecosystems.

World Wetlands Day Poster, 2013

World Wetlands Day Poster, 2013

World Wetlands Day 2013, from the Ramsar / World Wetlands Day Website (Click to download poster)

Despite the growing awareness of this unique ecosystem, there are sobering threats facing the survival of our wetlands:

    • A 2011 federal study estimated the U.S. lost 62,300 acres of wetlands between 2004-2009 — a loss rate 140% higher than from 1998-2004
    • Wetland habitat has now been cut within the contiguous U.S. to 110 million acres…. And those surviving wetlands face dangers like hypoxia due to water pollution and invasive species. Pythons and melaleuca in the Everglades (among a host of other destructive non-native species), and nutria in New Orleans continue to ravage the structure of this ecosystem
    • Wetlands are extremely sensitive, and are counted as one of the most vulnerable ecosystems subject to climate change
    • Wetlands residents have suffered terribly due to increased habitat loss. Throughout Florida for example — just to pick one critter — we witnessed a dramatic decrease in the populations of the already-endangered Wood storks, due to the decline and destruction of their homes, as well as what many believe to be extreme weather patterns (dry winter / wet winter) in the last few years. Like so many other wetlands-dependent species, the disappearance of the Wood stork would signal the loss of a crucial component of our wetlands. But it’s not all doom-and-gloom for this gentleman stork, as he appears to have returned this year — hoorah! Fingers crossed that our healthy wetlands will maintain their nests — and that awareness and education will help other species (though perhaps not quite as handsome as my gentleman, below).
Wood Stork in the Florida Wetlands

Wood stork at home in the wetlands

Wood Stork in Flight, Rookery Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida

Wood stork returning to its nest

There’s much that can be done to restore and protect this vital habitat — check out your local resources, visit your neighboring natural areas, and above else, LOVE YOUR WETLANDS and their amazing inhabitants!

The theme for the 2013 World Wetlands Day is Wetlands Take Care of Water. Wetlands provide critical functions, including groundwater replenishment, water purification, flood control, and nutrient storage. They also offer biodiversity, if allowed to flourish. But their health depends on the quality and quantity of the water that reaches them.

For more information, visit World Wetlands Day 2013

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RamsarConventionOnWetlands

Visit Mother Nature Network’s article Happy World Wetlands Day, in which our very own Green Cay Wetlands is highlighted!

Wading Friends at the Cypress Creek Natural Area, Jupiter, Florida

Friends of flight at the Cypress Creek Natural Area in Jupiter

Jan 29

32 Comments

Tree Tuesday: Slash Pines of the Pine Flatwoods

Many of my hikes and images are shot in this ecosystem, and I adore these trees — but in all honesty, show me a tree I don’t love!

Pine flatwoods represent the most extensive ecosystem in Florida, and are distributed over 50% of the state’s land area. As their name implies, flatwoods have a low and flat topography, punctuated by differing kinds of pine, depending where  you are in the state. I’m in the south, so it’s the slash pine that dominates this habitat!

Slash Pines of the Pine Flatwoods, Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park, Florida

Slash Pines and Saw Palmetto of the Pine Flatwoods in Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park

These flatwoods, or pine barrens, were created by changes in the sea level during glacial times — as the sea levels increased, expanses of land flooded, and sand was deposited. As the waters receded, early species such as pine trees were able to establish themselves in the sandy soil.

Pine flatwoods are consistent: Layered, with high canopies of pines, a lower shrubby layer, and an herbaceous layer. They’re dotted with cypress domes (a cypress swamp in the shape of a dome), cabbage palm flatwoods, marshes, and other habitats. This is truly a fascinating ecosystem, and one that weaves so many others together.

And while today’s flatwoods are less extensive, with more shrubby groundcover than in times past, they continue to be a vital ecosystem in Florida, covering vast expanses of land. Beginning in the 1950s, developers here discovered that this land was easy to cut and clear in enormous swaths — sadly, they haven’t forgotten. Doesn’t the world needs another empty strip mall and golf course?

Flatwoods rely on controlled, or prescribed burning to maintain its community of pines, grasses, and herbs — and to prevent the forest from being overgrown. Controlled burns are vital to new growth, as well. Pine flatwoods continue to be fascinating areas to hike, each one being new; you never knows when you’ll encounter a swamp, open flatwood, or more of these beautiful trees — or the wonderful wildlife this ecosystem supports….

Controlled Burned and Thriving Slash Pines at Bluefield Ranch Natural Area

Controlled Burned and Thriving Slash Pines at Bluefield Ranch Natural Area

To learn more about the Pine flatwoods, visit:

Jan 24

69 Comments

Don’t Mess with the GBH

It’s nesting time now in our protected wetlands, and a really fun time — the biggest and smallest waders are settled into their annual nests (some of them, including the Great Blue Herons, return to the same nests each year). I’m running a bit behind on the nest-building activities, always a fascinating process to watch. But in the meantime, I couldn’t resist this episode that caught me unawares the other evening. I heard a GBH’s croaking cacophony (select the last option in this list — croaking calls, wing noise — for the best example) in one of the usually quiet rookeries. He or she was obviously not very happy.

Great Blue Heron, Florida Wetlands

And the tantrum begins… Echoing through the wetlands

At the time, I couldn’t see the source of torment for the heron, who was probably chasing something away from a newly-created nest. The previous night, a group of GBHs was screaming in another rookery, because an alligator swam too close for comfort to their nests. I didn’t see the gator actually nab anything, but the collective croaking, screaming noise could be heard throughout the wetlands.

As it turns out, an anhinga had the gumption to impede on this heron’s space.

Great Blue Heron, Florida Wetlands

Flushing out the enemy anhinga

The look on the poor anhinga’s face as it’s being flushed out of the rookery is priceless…. Of course I was worried for the poor anhinga: Did he have a nest too, or was he just looking for a comfy spot for the night? Either way, I wish I wasn’t walking onto the scene so suddenly, and had some time to properly prepare for the shot, to include his appalled mug.

Great Blue Heron, Florida Wetlands

Respect the wingspan

And for the Great Blue Heron? Unabashed triumph.

Great Blue Heron, Florida Wetlands

I am queen

Jan 22

63 Comments

Tree Tuesday: Oaks of the Hammock

There was some synchronous discussion during a *hammock* ecosystem reference in one of my recent posts … I’m so accustomed to these habitats, that I forget to detail their wonderful qualities!

From the National Park Service’s perfectly phrased definition of a hardwood hammock on their Everglades page:

A hardwood hammock is a dense stand of broad-leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of only a few inches in elevation. Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other Everglades ecosystems. In the deeper sloughs and marshes, the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape.

Many tropical species such as mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) grow alongside the more familiar temperate species of live oak (Quercus virginiana), red maple (Acer rubum), and hackberry (Celtis laevigata). This diverse assemblage of plant life supports an equally diverse array of wildlife.

Because of their slight elevation, hammocks rarely flood. Acids from decaying plants dissolve the limestone around each tree island, creating a natural moat that protects the hammock plants from fire. Shaded from the sun by the tall trees, ferns and airplants thrive in the moisture-laden air of these hammocks.

Here’s one of my favorite hammocks — an oak hammock of the Florida Trail, leading towards Jonathan Dickinson State Park from Indiantown Road in Jupiter. There are several types of hammock ecosystems in Florida — hardwood, palm, tropical hardwood — but this is a live oak (hardwood) hammock, more common inland.

To say it’s incredibly lovely does not do it justice — how can you not feel protected by, and protective towards, these ancient, sheltering giants?

Oak Trees of the Florida Trail, Jonathan Dickinson

Oak Trees / Hammock of the Florida Trail

 

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