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Posts tagged ‘nature’

Sep 26

38 Comments

Snow in the Wetlands

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

A sweet, lone Snowy egret (Egretta thula) stands vigil in our wetlands as dusk approaches.

Snowy egrets are the American counterparts to the very similar Old World Little egrets, which are now beginning to appear in parts of the Caribbean. Along will curved plumes down their backs, their yellow lore (the area between the bill and the eyes) turns red during the breeding season. I spied this guy in the Spring — and his lore and plumage attest to the breeding time. Snowy egrets were once hunted mercilessly for these beautiful plumes, which were in high demand as decorations for women’s hats (as were the plumage of Great egrets and other birds). Their populations were drastically reduced to dangerously low levels, but they’re now protected by law in the US under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

They stalk their prey — including fish, crustaceans, insects and small reptiles — in shallow water, often shuffling their feet to flush it out into view. Snowy egrets will also stand stock still and wait, just like this guy, to ambush their next meal.

A Snowy egret in breeding plumage patiently waits for a meal in the wetlands

Sep 24

44 Comments

A Return to Cypress Creek

The last time we visited Cypress Creek Natural Area, we were thrilled to explore part of its 2000 acres of newly restored sensitive pine forest and wetland habitats. We were even more ecstatic to learn of the county’s continued aggressive preservation and restoration efforts of the area.

Restored Everglades Vista of Cypress Creek Natural Area in Jupiter, Florida

Part of the Northeast Everglades Natural Area (or NENA, which holds approximately 165,000 acres of conservation land in northern Palm Beach Country and southern Martin County), and serving as a buffer for the Loxahatchee Wild and Scenic River, Cypress Creek is a valuable part of the Everglades ecosystem. Managed by Palm Beach County, current restoration activities in Cypress Creek include the removal of invasive non-native vegetation, filling miles of ditches (we continue to witness these efforts), changing the elevations of shell mining pits to encourage re-vegetation of native plants, and improving the Old Indiantown Road grade — now known as the Historic Jupiter-Indiantown Trail — for use as a multi-use trail.

Cypress Creek’s restored Everglades habitat

A Great egret in the restored Everglades habitat of Cypress Creek: I see your brightness, fella

Cypress Creek’s restored Everglades habitat

We recently hiked a different section of Cypress Creek, and saw loads of animal tracks due to the fact that not many humans probably make it out to where we ventured — deer, coyote, bobcat, wild boar. It was a wonderful sight to see, and I hope that the county continues it preservation efforts to protect this critical and threatened habitat, returning it to its full splendor…and providing a home for the wildlife once again. It’s wonderful to witness!

The remnants (slash pines) of a controlled (?) burn

Wading friends: A cattle egret and tricolored heron were inseparable

Overlooking the restored Everglades habitat: We need to get over THERE. Trail was flooded, however… We made it, but it was dicey and involved lots of high-steppin’ through the swamp

Gator check… Good to go. OK for foto session.

Wonderful old live oak canopies of Cypress Creek Natural Area

Sep 21

46 Comments

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence,
pocket full of rye,
four and twenty blackbirds
baked in a pie.
 When the pie was opened,
the birds began to sing:
isn’t that a dainty dish
to set before the King?

The King is in his counting-house
counting out his money;
the Queen is in the parlor
eating bread and honey;
the Maid is in the garden
hanging up the clothes,
 when down swoops a Blackbird
and snaps off her nose!

Cover illustration for Randolph Caldecott’s Sing a Song for Sixpence (1880)

There are many interpretations to this curious nursery rhyme, dating to the 18th century. It’s been traced to the 16th-century practice of placing live songbirds in a pie (who wouldn’t want live animals flying out of their prepared food?), to various historical events and folklorish symbols, and even to a coded message used to recruit crew members for pirate ships. Lord Byron, James Joyce, Virgina Woolf, Agatha Christie, George Orwell, and Roald Dahl all referenced the ditty, and it’s appeared in songs by The Beatles, The Monkees, Radiohead, Tom Waits, and others. Obviously this mysterious little rhyme continues to captivate our popular consciousness.

As we approach the equinox, I’m anxious to spy our returning colonies of Red-winged blackbirds — the males, glossy black with their brilliant scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches, puffing up or hiding (depending on their level of confidence), and belting out their conk-la-ree songs. And the more subdued females, with their brown colorations and clever camouflaging — so much shyer than their male counterparts.

Ever regal: Male Red-winged blackbird in the Florida wetlands

Watching over his brood… But I see YOU!

Puffin’ and hollerin’ away

And the GIRLS…

Always the shy ones: Female Red-winged blackbird in the Florida wetlands

Flittering among the reeds

Lovely girl against the shallow waters

Sep 19

29 Comments

Peek-a-Boo

During a recent dusk trip to the wetlands, a Great egret preened…extensively…in a rookery, in preparation of the night. And human males complain of women’s bedtime preparations.

Preening Great egret in the Florida wetlands: Where are you…

Peek-a-boo!

 

 

Sep 17

50 Comments

Hello, You Gorgeous Gator

Lots of people talk to animals…. Not very many listen, though…. That’s the problem. —Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything about alligators,  and I feel withdrawal coming on. So for my sake, here’s a gorgeous gator we encountered on a recent hike in the northern section of the Everglades.

{As always, please click on the image for expansion!}

Florida Everglades Alligator: Helllllo, gorgeous!

Here’s how one of these lovelies appears in the wild — in this case, full and slow after a meal, catching some sun. Which is why we ALWAYS have an eye on the water’s edge throughout our hikes — especially when water and bits of swamp suddenly pop up out of nowhere, *wink*!

While they are certainly admirable and fierce predators, there is absolutely no need to assume that they will eat your face if you encounter one in the wild. We’ve never been bothered by gators — even during mating and nesting seasons. If we see an active alligator mound (nest), we steer clear, knowing a momma gator is diligently protecting her eggs or young. The most disconcerting experiences I’ve ever had with these amazing creatures have occurred when I wasn’t watching the water’s edge as closely as I should have been, to put it mildly — or when we’ve startled or frightened them, causing uproarious splashes into the water amid the silence of the ‘glades.

Leave wildlife alone, because they want nothing more than to leave we humans alone….

Resting at the water’s edge — or, in my words during our hike: “Oops! Lookie there!”

Another view of the big lizard

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