Scott's Nature Observations

Plankton

2011-08-11T17:47:00.006-04:00

? Ciliate

Selenastrum Scenedesmus

? Assorted

Macroinvertebrate Fever

2009-02-21T18:00:00.016-05:00

Today I sampled some aquatic arthropods and here are a few things that I saw:

Many winter stonflies (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae).

They were very small. Interestingly, most of them also contained an aquatic mite (Hydrachnidiae?), predominately infesting the base of the wing pads.

Amphipod (AKA scud, sideswimmer) (Crusatacea: Amphipoda)

Also seen but not photographed:
2 almost microscopic non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae)
1 Ameletid (comb-mouthed) minnow mayfly (Ephemeroptera: Ameletidae)

The mind and the meadows

2008-10-26T22:50:00.008-04:00

When I woke up this morning, I had the words of Prince Hamlet swimming in my head:

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Hamlet is addressing his schoolmate Horatio just after he had seen the ghost of his murdered father. Horatio appears to have a much more literal of the world, which certainly does not include spirits.

I can't say why those words popped into my head just then, but I think it had something to do with the promise of the world when the morning is bright and new. Life is fresh and overflowing with possibilities, if we can only grasp them in our limited point of view. I think of myself as a rational person, but I also cling to ideas that I am comfortable with. I am certainly no adventurer. But right now I am experiencing somewhat of a crisis of personality, trying to find my way in this world which I feel is too complex for me. And I keep wondering if there are more things in heaven and earth waiting for me. Things that I am too blind to see. Things that are beyond my philosophy. I would like to expand, but I am not sure in which direction.

Well, in the spirit of facing up to life's challenges, I decided to pay another visit to Durham Meadows. Last time I was there, I took a wrong step in the swamp and found myself up to my shoulders in mud. It was actually a disturbing experience because it took me some time to free myself from the clutches of the thick black soup. I even had a brief mental flash regarding how pitiful it would be if I never made it out alive. But finally I was able to use my free arm to grab onto a swatch of dry grass and then pulled for dear life, eventually scrambling onto dry ground. My camera died that day...mud in the essential organs. And today I felt it necessary to revisit this place and come to terms with the past.

As I got out of my car, I man approached me while his dog was galloping back and forth through muddy puddles in the flooded parking lot (it rained the night before). It was an older, friendly-looking gentleman who just wanted to have some conversation, and I obliged. He told me that he brought his dog there to get some exercise and to feel the freedom of romping in an open meadow. The dog was apparently extremely afraid of this place initially, although the man seemed puzzled about why. Apparently, after he smacked the animal with a chain leash it began to frolic about (maybe in pain). Anyway, I don't understand the logic there, but I was just glad to talk to somebody.

I walked along the side of the meadow, and headed back to the wetland. As I trounced through the muddy meadow, I saw a bird in the far distance bobbing up and down in the edge of the swamp/forest area and the open field. I looked with my binoculars and saw a reddish face (I know, not a proper bird term), a brownish body, and a white band around the neck. I was not even within 100 yards of the animal before it took off for the woods. I later found out that it was definitely a ring-necked pheasant. They are not native to the US and have been heavily hunted in the past, so its not surprising that it is keen on avoiding human presence.

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

Green Frog (Rana clamitans)

Will finish later....or maybe not!

Extended Vacation

2008-06-08T12:51:00.002-04:00

My blog is on sabbatical, pending the successful completion of my dissertation. I should be defending in August, after which I hope my random excursions will be back in full swing.

The rolling hills and more

2008-03-09T17:50:00.005-04:00

After leaving New Haven in my car today I became a little bit confused. I wasn't sure where I was going or what I was looking for. We have a nice array of protected areas in Connecticut, but after looking at a map you will see that they are few in number. The vast amount of land is private, off limits, and largely unmarked. Ten minutes outside of New Haven I thought I would try to find some vernal pools so that I can track the life cycle of amphibians, from breeding in the early spring to metamorphosis in the middle and late summer. Most of these sites are probably hidden and on private land, not in a state park. So I figured I would just drive around some back roads, but aimless driving never solved anything. I know that too well, but I ignored it. Sometimes I feel that this rash compulsion to move in a direction, even when I am strikingly unprepared, is part of my cursed psychological makeup. And when I start moving there is no turning back, no retreat or recalculation. This actually happens when I am cooking as well; I start mixing things without design and end up with a horrible medley of absolutely nothing. But we should all love ourselves the way we are right? So I kept driving.

I drove through the towns of Durham and Wallingford, the latter of which has a quaint little downtown area surrounded by farmland and other rural landscapes. Much of the land was cleared in the past for agriculture. For a while I found myself coasting through a great expanse of brown fields hovering on a sea of gently rolling hills. I don't know what came over me, but I entered into a state of total euphoria. The sun reflected so brightly off of the treeless earth that it made me smile. There is something so alluring about the countryside, but I am not sure I am of keen enough mind to explain it. I just felt a flash of freedom, as if I were a wanderer on this great earth, and the waves of hills were the infinite expanse that made the world, and all that is to be discovered, endless. I don't know what it is so cozy about the idea of infinite space, but somehow it makes me feel alive. Of course I have seen a map. I do know that our planet is sphere-like, about 25,000 miles wide, and approximately two-thirds water; indeed I know this is the truth, but I don't want to think about it. In my mind, there will always be the crest of another hill crawling out from under the horizon.

So out from the clouds I fell as I parked my car on the edge of the Mackenzie reservoir. As I stepped out I felt a brief chill, but the rays of sun landing directly on my skin were neutralizing almost to the point that it felt like a full-on spring day. I could see many birds gliding on the water, and there were some ducks that dipped under the surface, popping up a few seconds later. But before getting a closer look at them I watched some people fishing a few hundred yards away on the other side of the reservoir. It was clearly a family, as I heard a child complaining to their parent that a sibling was messing with their tackle box. I watched a few minutes with admiration, thinking how nice it was to see a family spending time like this together, outside in the fresh air and in the middle of nature.

Mackenzie Reservoir Entrance

More later...Plus last week's entry

Wadsworth Falls State Park, CT

2008-03-02T11:18:00.023-05:00

By late morning, impatient from going unnoticed, the rays of the sun stubbornly forced their way through the pair of drawn shades in my bedroom window. They called to me with the promise of a thousand brands of life, all teeming in the warmth and glow of the daylight hours, a precious commodity in the dark New England winter. Of course I heeded the call. I quickly laced up my old shoes, tossed my binoculars and assorted guides in my bag, swung my camera over my shoulder, and headed north to...well, I wasn't exactly sure.

I picked out Wadsworth Falls State Park because it was reasonably close to New Haven. I am always alone during my winter treks (its hard to get people motivated for our resident overwintering wildlife), so I tend to save my longer trips for the spring and summer. All I knew about my destination was that it was centered around a waterfall.

Wadsworth Falls State Park: Entrance

Map of Wadsworth Falls State Park
(I followed the orange trail)

The trail I took was a march through a scene of brilliant white desolation, with a bed of icy snow covering the ground, and the bare trees climbing their way to the heavens. To me, trees are always beautiful, but if you stare up at them at this time of year they really appear supreme and god-like in their dominance of the quiet wintry landscape. They stand there, solemn and imposing, and I, of little stature, feel so insignificant in their presence. From time to time, a pack of chickadees or titmice will dance past and change the mood of the forest with their squeaks and funny clamoring; but when they've passed through, the seriousness sets in again. It's as if the trees are the parents and the birds the meddlesome children, and I, well I am some strange guest from another time and place. It's as if I don't belong, or am not enough in touch with the pulse of life to be a part of the club. Nor do I intend to be, for nature is timeless and above me.

Today was very much a hemlock sort of day. Some aspect of this tree kept popping up wherever I'd go. Nathan, your friendly neighborhood hemlock expert, suggested that this is because many of the trees are either dead or dying from insect infestation (see previous entry), and all sorts of life comes to feed on their dying bodies. But, shifting our attention to the living hemlock for a moment, I wanted to note that their cones are quite small, not like those of any pine species around here.

Eastern Hemlock Cones (Tsuga canadensis)

Cone in hand
Kind of like the song "hand in glove" by The Smiths: "Cone in hand, the sun shines out of our behinds...No it's not like any other cone, this one is different because it's small"

Hemlocks are frequently found near streams and they tend to occupy moist cool valleys. I recall hearing that they are an important source of shade for animals living in or near streams (including fish), and that their decline will certainly impact the ecology of riparian forests.

Little hemlock in its element

On the dead and dying hemlocks I kept seeing this pretty orange fungus. I mean I wouldn't date it, but maybe I would buy it a martini (not funny ah-tall). But I did not see it on any other species of tree. After perusing my two new companion 'shroom books I discovered that this species is likely Dacrymyces palmatus (palmatus ~ like a palm [of the hand]). Supposedly this species looks similar to Tremella mesenterica (aka Witch's Butter), but palmatus favors dead conifers - Bingo!

Yellow fungus on hemlock

A collapsed medium-sized hemlock blocked the trail path. I stopped to take a look at the critters that were inhabiting it. Nathan told me that the black growth on the underside of the needles was probably a sooty mold which may be feeding on dead scale insects. You can also see a ton of the insects as well. These are usually the elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa) which was introduced from...uh...the Virginia Tech website says Japan? These buggers damage the plant by using their piercing-sucking (I love this term) mouthparts to extract important nutrients from the needles. This produces a yellow banding of infected needles, and eventually causes them to fall off. Many hemlocks look bare and well, dead, because of the scale and the hemlock woolly adelgid.

Fallen hemlock

Underside of a branch from a dead hemlock

I still haven't made it to the waterfall yet...the best part! More later.

Silver Sands State Park, CT

2008-02-24T18:58:00.011-05:00

I woke up this morning and crawled languidly out of bed. I flipped up the shade of my window to let some light in for my beloved little plant. I noticed the bright sun outside and thought "ah, what a perfect day for the beach," except it was 30 degrees outside and the ground was covered with snow. But off I went anyway.

I decided to visit Silver Sands State Park which is in Milford, CT. It is not the greatest beach in the summer months. A bit dirty. But today, with a blanket of snow, it was absolutely beautiful.

Rules of the beach

From the beach you can see Charles Island which is connected to the mainland by a sand bar that is submerged at high tide. Apparently someone named Captain Kidd buried a treasure there in 1699. He was a sailor of Scottish origin who turned pirate and was subsequently executed in 1701.

Snow-covered Beach and Charles Island

A man who passed by told me that loons nest in this area in the summer, so I will have to come back later in the year.

Today I was in a little bit of a seaweed mood. So here are a few pictures. The first is a green sponge-like species that I have seen before. It seems to prefer to cling to slipper shells. It looks like it belongs to the genus Codium but it doesn't quite fit the sketch in my seaweed guide or shore guide. The problem is that both guides show a bifurcating branching pattern, but the bulk of bifurcations seem to occur near the tips in the book but closer to the base in my picture. Another problem is that it seems to look most like Codium isthmocladum, but this species is only found in warmer waters in the southern US. Codium fragile is the only coldwater species of this genus, so I guess this is what I found. Apparently this species recently came to the North Atlantic coast and was first spotted in 1957 on Long Island. Since then it has spread widely in the Northeast. Apparently they are a big threat to the shellfish to which they attach. The algae accumulate oxygen interstitially and then become buoyant, pulling the shellfish out of the beds and causing them to be taken away by the current. This has landed them the appellation "oyster thief." Supposedly this species comes from the coasts of Japan (which makes sense since they eat this and probably transport it for food). I read that this plant is coenocytic, which means that nuclei can divide many times without cell divisions. I must remember to take a specimen next time and check it out under the microscope.

Codium fragile
Family: Codacea
Order: Bryopsidales
Division: Chlorophyta (one of the two divisions of green algae)

The next species is clearly a member of the genus Fucus. This is part of the family Fucacea, in which some of the species are commonly called "Wracks." They are brown algae which are scientifically known as the class Phaeophyceae. Sargassum is also part of this grouping. Species of Fucus, along with the genus Ascophyllum, are also known as rockweeds because they are often found in intertidal areas. Fucus are easily recognizable because their holdfast is disc-shaped, like a suction cup, and very small. They have bifurcating branches with a distinct midrib, although sometimes not visible closer to the base. They have knobby receptacles (fruiting structures) on the ends of the main branches which are sometimes swollen or sometimes flattened. Color can be light brown to dark green.

The problem with Fucus is that it is sometimes difficult to tell species apart, particularly F. spiralis and F. vesiculosis because they have similar ranges. F. vesiculosis also has air bladders, but they can be absent sometimes. In this case, the two species are almost indistinguishable. According to photos this looks like F. vesiculosis, but I am not sure. The only way to tell is to open the receptacles. In. F. vesiculosis, individuals produce only male or female sex cells but in F. spiralis they produce both.

Fucus (Rockweed)
Family: Fucaceae

The final algae of the day was this pretty red specimen that looks somewhat bleached from light exposure. It looks clearly like black moss (aka irish moss) which is often harvested to extract the substance carrageenin which is heavily used as a commercial emulsifier and thickening agent. The color can range greatly from deep purple or almost black in deep water to yellow or pinkish-green in shallow water exposed to the sun. They branch in bifurcations, have a disc-shaped holdfast, and are often "crisped" at the tips.

Chondrus crispus
Phylum: Rhodophyta (Red Algae)

I just found out that the picture below is actually an egg-case from a Whelk or similar species of Mollusk. Apparently, each pouch of this chain houses smaller, offspring whelk which look somewhat similar to adults. Amazing!

Whelk Egg-Case

There is a long boardwalk which joins the beach to the road. From this view you can see the wetland habitat surrounding the beach. I saw my first and only bobolink here last summer. Even more important is that in these wetlands I saw my first red-winged black-bird. This was several years ago, and it was the first moment that I really became interested in nature. So I guess this beach holds a special place in my life.

Long boardwalk leading to the beach
\

As I was walking back to my car I came across this paper birch. Less peeled paper birches are usually white with thin horizontal lines. But with considerable peeling, the red underside of the outer bark becomes exposed along with the yellowy inner bark.

Very Peeled Paper Birch

-SG

Qunnipiac Meadows, CT

2008-02-23T17:50:00.006-05:00

Next stop on my illustrious tour of Connecticut was Quinnipiac Meadows. It is only a few minutes drive from downtown New Haven. The meadows overlooks the Qunnipiac river which drains part of central Connecticut. The Quinnipiac has a length of 38 miles and ends up in New Haven harbor. This area was once all wetland but was filled in for construction purposes, although clearly some wetland is still visible. The sign says that, since then, many plant species have entered the area. The land is part of a preserve. This is not the most picturesque place because the surrounding area is very industrial and economically depressed. The Quinnipiac was once very polluted in this area due to sewage and factory waste, but the sign says that it is slowly improving.

It is a short walk from the road to the real park entrance. The park abuts the main railroad track as I saw an Amtrak train passing by. It was a cloudy but crisp winter day with a blanket of crunchy snow covering the ground.

Park entrance and description

The first part of the trail takes you through new forest. I saw lots of vines with red berries strangling the trees. Did not really get a good picture though.

Vines with red berries

The trail takes you past marsh habitat for several minutes before ending up on the Quinnipiac River.

View of the Quinnipiac River
(East Rock Park is in the distant background on the right)

Description of the Quinnipiac River

I am not a very experienced bird-watcher, so I could not really anticipate what I would find at this time of year and in this type of habitat. But I was greatly surprised to find some species of ducks that I have never seen before and consequently had trouble identifying. They were also quite far away which made it even more difficult. But here is a description of what I saw:

The first birds seem to have been a group of Bufflehead. Some birds (the males) had white bodies with black backs. The neck and head were also black except for a big white triangle running from the top of the head (the guide says a bonnet-like patch). The head was very puffy. Supposedly when males fly, they have a distinctive white wing patch. Up close (a view I unfortunately did not get), the front of the male's head should be an iridescent green above the eye. The other birds in the group (the females) were more drab. They were generally gray on the sides and the top of the back appeared black. The front of the breast was white and the head was black with a white cheek spot. I also saw a little white spot on the sides of the back near the tail. These birds are noticeably small. The males are quite beautiful because of the contrast between the black and white colors of their feathers. And when they fly they look like a circus of colors. Bufflehead are diving ducks in the sufamily Merginae. This is part of the family Anatidae which includes all ducks and duck-like waterfowl. The Anatidae, in turn, are part of the order Anseriformes, which are comprised mostly of Anatid birds. The closest related birds to Buffleheads seem to be Goldeneyes (also Bucephala)

The other birds I saw were much farther away. Some had clearly cresting heads like common or red-breasted mergansers. But others had white bodies with a distinctive black stripe running vertically down the body just before the neck. This seems more indicative of the hooded merganser. I will have to come back here with someone who can ID these birds from far away.

There were also a lot of sparrows hanging around. The ones I saw had alternate chestnut and gray stripes running front-to-back on the crown, but I can't ID them.

On my way back I hear the shrieking of a large group of red-winged blackbirds. Although I guess at this time of year they don't look like much at all.

Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Random Nest

-SG

West Rock Park, CT

2008-02-17T17:20:00.002-05:00

For the second weekend in a row I went to West Rock Park, but this time I brought along Anne, my housemate. I didn't do much nature observing, but we just took a nice leisurely hike instead.

Anne at the Lake Wintergreen entrance to the park

Near the park entrance I saw that damn spruce that's haunting me. I think it's a Norway spruce because of the reddish branches, but I am not sure.

Branch

Old Cone (right?)

Bark

Random Polypore

I took some pictures of an eastern hemlock branch and trunk just to remind myself what the bark looks like.

Eastern Hemlock Branch (Tsuga canadensis)

Eastern Hemlock Bark

To continue my observation of different birch species...I noticed this silvery, peeling birch tree shining in the sun. I had a lot of trouble identifying this species at first. Part of the reason is because the Audubon guide has a single picture of the yellow birch (Betula allagheniensis) where the bark is clearly yellowish, not silvery as in my photo. The solution came from a fun little book called "Discover Nature in Winter." This book says that yellow birch peels in small horizontal scrolls which makes trees look "messy." As the tree ages, the bark turns from bright silvery gray (as seen here) to a reddish or yellowish brown.

Yellow Birch (Betula allagheniensis)
Family: Betulaceae (Birches)

Have no idea what this is. Anyone?

It was definitely an interesting walk. A few days ago we had some of the most intense rains I have seen in a long time, and this was evident in the temporary streams that had formed throughout the woods.

-SG

West Rock Park, CT

2008-02-10T20:08:00.005-05:00

Today I spent a few hours looking at winter trees in nearby West Rock Park. The weather was quite strange today, quickly turning from sun to rain to snow and then back again.

My original reason for going out was to take a look at the local birch species. Immediately after entering the park I spotted a gray birch. The species has whitish bark like the paper birch but it does not peel as readily. This species is able to grow quickly in poor soils, including abandoned farmland. Apparently, from the picture, the inner bark is brown.

Gray Birch (Betula populifolia)
Family: Betulaceae (Birches)

Gray birches often have multiple, relatively thin stems.

One of the mainstays of the northeast forest is the white pine. This evergreen species can be easily identified by its long, thin needles which are in bundles of five.

Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Family: Pinaceae (Pines)

If you look in any field guide you will see that the bark of the white pine is rough and furrowed. But on my trek I looked over many young trees, and noticed that most have predominately smooth bark at this stage.

Young White Pine Bark

A little older - starting to get rough patches

A Majestic Stand Of Eastern White Pines

My best guess is that the next tree is the Norway Spruce (Picea abies) but I am not sure. The remnants of the cones look too small to be this species.

Bark of young tree

Branch

Cones ?

Another winter tree that I couldn't identify. I think it is a larch because it has no needles, but there were tons of short needles lying below the tree. This would make sense since larches are deciduous. Also there are lots of bumps (spurs) running along the branches which may give rise to the needles. I feel like this might be the introduced European larch (Larix decidua) because the cone is facing upright and is too big to be a tamarack (Larix laricina)

Fallen European Larch ?

Larch Cone ?

I just bought a mushroom book the other day so I don't know too much. But this is evidently a Polypore (I don't think this is a legitimate taxonomic grouping), which grow bracket-like on trees. Apparently, when a tree falls, these guys always reorient themselves so that they are on a plane parallel to the ground. this is because the spores are usually on the underside and therefore they can easily drop to the ground. This looks like turkey tail fungus (Trametes versicolor), but I am not really sure.

Turkey Tail?

Osbornedale State Park, CT

2008-01-30T23:21:00.002-05:00

I have been busy submitting a manuscript this week so I am only getting a chance to begin this entry today.

I visited Osbornedale State Park in Connecticut last weekend with my lab mate Jon. It is a nice little space somewhere near the Housatonic River. There is a little pond there but was frozen. We took a leisurely stroll through the forest.

Titmice and black-capped chickadees were in abundance, but Jon said he saw a golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus satrapa). We both caught a glimpse of what we thought was a yellow-bellied sapsucker, but is was from very far away. All I could really see was a very marbled feather pattern and some trace of a red cap. In general adult sapsuckers have a red cap and throat, and black and white strips running through the face. The breast is yellowish-white and the back is marbled black and white. They also have a conspicuous white wing stripe.

Oh, I got my camera back. I really must remember that Canon has great repair service. They reported that my camera problem was probably due to a fall or shock (which it was), but they fixed it anyway under the warranty.

I also saw a bracket fungus. Hopefully soon I will be able to identify it. It is certainly a Polypore, but I am not sure which type. It was very hard, almost wood-like. and about the size of a tennis ball.

Fungus from above

Fungus (and me) from below

Am I alive or just breathing?

2008-01-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

I took a short run this evening, and after I was finished I stared up at the stars. I folded the brim of my wool cap to let my eyes roam free, and I immediately received one of those sharp injections of reality that sometimes comes after months of unconsciously spinning life away with work and other earthly endeavors. "I really exist," I thought to myself. I am of this universe, of a world which is much more complex and undefined than my simple life would have me remember. A world with rules that transcend society and human convention. I realize that my senses have become so dull, so utterly narrow. Life comes in all colors, yet I feel I am color blind. Its as if my eyes are focused only on a small path, and all of the other dimensions of life are lost on me. I cannot observe the world in its completeness because I cannot seem to escape my own reality. I live life in a dream made up of invented goals and guidelines, and of things that I am supposed to want because they have been showered on my brain since my consciousness began. We are born into a dream, and so it shall remain. For how can you ever wake yourself from your own dream?

-Scott

Kettletown State Park, CT

2008-01-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

I have decided to make a little tour of the Connecticut parks over the next few months. It would be a shame to be in this state so long and see so little of what it has to offer.

I chose Kettletown because it looked substantial in size and was not too far away. It is only 22 miles from New Haven, but actually there are no major roads in between so it was almost a 40 minute trip by car.

Kettletown State Park Entrance

There was no shortage of eastern hemlocks. Some looked rather infested with hemlock woolly adelgids (Adelges tsugae). These are insects in the family Adelgidae, a group of Hemipterans (True Bugs) that are closely related to aphids. The adelgids feed at the base of hemlock needles causing heavy dessication of the tree. Most hemlocks that you see these days are infected with these critters and it is really a sad site. The white stuff in the picture is the woolly wax that the adults use to protect themselves and their eggs. I read that the invasion of the hemlock woolly adelgid occurred back in the 1920s.

Eastern Hemlock: underside w/ adelgids

One of my favorite things to see in the forest during the winter months are beech trees, who hold on to their leaves through most of the cold season. American beeches are the trees with the nice smooth gray bark that people like to carve their names into. I suppose I like them because they really grab your attention in the winter. A sign of life in an otherwise sea of emptiness.

I did not know that oak trees are in the same family as beeches (Fagaceae). That is probably why oaks tend to hold on to their leaves in winter as well. Some members of the beech family are evergreens. I read that much of the diversity of this group is in Southeast Asia, and dispersed here via land bridges that formed in the Pleistocene.

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Family: Fagaceae (Beeches)

Random Bracket Fungus

Backyard, New Haven, CT

2008-01-11T14:47:00.000-05:00

Still no camera. It is a dreary day. Raining on and off, which is fine because I have a manuscript draft in front of my face that needs some life breathed into it. It seems that standard run-of-the-mill science writing can turn any eager investigator into the most boring of storytellers - if you let it. It's always good to get continuous perspective from the outside world.

My contact with nature today was embarrassingly short. Paul, my housemate's cat, was whining so I let him out the back door. As I peered my head outside I quickly noticed that a circus had come to my otherwise gray and wintry back yard. Noisy house sparrows, "sweet canada"-singing white-throated sparrows, chipping cardinals, dangling black-capped chickadees, and of course those beloved little fellows with a voice too big for their size, the titmice. Some people might see this party everyday at their feeders, but unfortunately I cannot purchase one since Paul would crash the gathering within minutes and then cough up a few feathers in predatory satisfaction.

Honestly I have never paid much attention to house sparrows, but after hearing that wonderfully strange song of the white-throated sparrow, I carefully scanned the perimeter of the yard checking out each bird with my binoculars. I did see the white-throated sparrow (we'll get to him/her later) among a collection of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). To be honest, I never even noticed that some house sparrows have a black patch on their throat. This, it turns out, is characteristic only of males, who also don a white collar, a gray crown, and a yellowish bill. The black of the throat extends to the lores (the area in front of the eyes). There is also a chestnut strip with runs back from the eyes to the nape. The breast is white, although on a urban-dwelling bird, thats doubtful. The females and juveniles lack the black throat, have a light tan breast, and a dull tan stripe running back from the eye. House sparrows are the little brown birds that you see in large numbers hanging about in and around man-made structures. They can usually be distinguished from other drab looking birds by their song which contains simple, short, repetitive elements. House sparrows are not related to the new world sparrows (Family: Emberizidae) but rather belong to the old world sparrows (Family: Passeridae). They were introduced from Britain into North America in the mid-1800s to control pests, and quickly got out of hand. Interestingly, they are declining in their native range. The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is also an old world sparrow which looks very similar and was introduced into St. Louis by German immigrants in the 1870s.

So, back to the native species. I easily identified the white-throated sparrow in my yard by the white stripe running over the eye and the yellow dab of color in the lores at the very proximal end of the white stripe. There is also a white strip at the top of the head surround by two black stripes running front to back. Of course, these birds have a nice white throat and their belly can be gray or white or both. They also seem to have two white wing bars that are very thin and unclear. They are often seen in hedgerows and thick vegetation looking for food. They were hanging out in the plants growing along the fence in my yard.

As for the cardinals, titmice, and chickadees, they are all worthy of photos and lengthy behavioral descriptions, and so they will have to wait for another day.

Goodnight.

Scott

Last Day In Miami

2008-01-06T17:49:00.000-05:00

Today was my last full day in Miami, which meant my last chance to relax before its back to the scientific grind (i.e. finishing my thesis). I spent the day reading Bill Bryson's "A short history of nearly everything," and listening to a few episodes of "Dimension X," which was a science fiction radio show in the early 1950s. I highly recommend it. It contains pieces written by Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and other famous writers of the genre. One interesting note: when I was listening to the episode from 24 June 1950 entitled "Destination Moon," they (NBC Radio) interrupted the program to announce that North Korea had just invaded South Korea to achieve unification.

Anyway, I wandered around the "boardwalk" which surrounds my aunt's condo complex and did not see much in the way of animal life. But as I was about to go back inside and plop myself on the couch I heard a chipping sound coming from the mangrove near my aunt's porch. I looked around and then caught view of a beautiful little bird which appears to have been a yellow-throated warbler (Dendroica dominica). This bird had vibrant colors, with a bright yellow patch on the throat, a white underside, and sharp black striping running down the flanks (on a background of white). The face also had black striping that seemed to run through the eye and the cap was a solid dark color. A man popped out from the condo unit next door and remarked how pretty the bird was.

After a few hours of relaxation, giving the pulsing sun ample time to calm itself down, I ventured out to the beach. Apparently there was a storm recently, which might explain why there was so much algae coating the shoreline. And with the seaweed there hitchhiked many other forms of life. Immediately I was frustrated by not having a camera (mine is broken). I collected all the interesting scraps I could fit in my hands and then sat down in the sand with my two shore guides. But sadly most of what I had found was not in the books, or at least did not resemble the descriptions according to my non-discerning eye. I found many different types of sponges including one that was orange and had very fine lobes.

The only thing I could positively identify was a strange looking algae which is seemingly known as cactus algae (Halimeda spp.). The specimen I found was light green and made up of a chain of light green leathery segments (fronds?) attached in a row. The hardness of the algae is due to calcium carbonate deposited by the organism itself, which supposedly makes it inedible to most herbivores. I read a report online that showed that the deep waters behind the great barrier reef are covered with Halimeda mounds. Apparently, when the Halimeda algae die, they collect into large piles over thousands of years and are inhabited by a range of life forms. They tend to form near reefs because there is nutrient upwelling as the deep waters of the ocean meet the shallower reefs. In any case, this group of algae looks quite interesting.

Well, tomorrow, its off to New Haven (home) for a lot of work and a little winter nature watching - time permitting.

-Scott

Aunt's Back Porch, North Miami

2008-01-05T11:55:00.000-05:00

I have not been able to do much nature scouting the last few days. The weather has been bad in general, although its interesting to watch how fast conditions can change. There is often complete blackness as a cloud passes over, and then unrelenting light and heat as the sun becomes exposed. Raining in one spot, and dry just a few feet away. Heavy rain at one point of the day, and completely beautiful just minutes later.

The other major obstacle to my documentation of nature is the demise of my digital camera after less than a year of use. So I have just been relaxing and looking out at the little inlet of water that runs past my aunt's back porch.

Circling turkey vultures and hungry sea gulls are in abundance here, but every once in a while something more interesting flies by or stays a minute to greet us.

Its very funny, while I am writing this a belted kingfisher just perched on a wooden pole that supports my aunt's boat dock. It is a really beautiful individual, with a rich gray-blue head, upper breast and back, and a pale white lower breast. There is also a thin white stripe (collar) which runs across the entire neck. This bird is perched low, so they must have very short legs. There are small white spots in front of the eyes. This individual is clearly a male, since females have an additional maroon band that runs across the belly. Apparently, this is one of the rare cases in North America that a female bird is more decorated than the male. This species is easily identified by the rattling call it gives while flying. They can hover on rapidly beating wings before finally diving head-first into the water to catch prey. These birds nest in a tunnel made in the sand or river bank. I have often seen them conspicuously perched along rivers or dock poles scoping out food sources.

This morning my mother spotted a little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) searching for food under the dock. I am getting to know this bird better, and this one looked like a classical little blue. But I thought I saw pale yellow legs, even though the legs are described as dark in the field guide. The bill was gray at the base but turned black toward the tip. This individual is an adult since the immatures are white.

The last few days it has become clear that there is a green iguana inhabitanting the little patch of mangrove next to the dock. I did snap a not-so-great picture, but I cannot get it off of my crippled camera as of now. This species (Iguana iguana) is rapidly becoming a major pest in south Florida. It eats a lot of vegetation in residential areas as well as some endangered plants in the wild. They've also been seen using the burrows of the Florida Burrowing Owl, which is threatened. There are probably hundreds of thousands individuals (or even more) of this species in south Florida. It likely invaded through several different routes including hurricanes, pet release/escape, and accidental transport on ships.

But, the most interesting thing I have seen while lounging on the back porch is what I am pretty sure was an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) perched on the very top of a sailboat. This bird is difficult to describe because it has a complex color pattern, particularly on the head, and I only had a frontal view. The upper breast is pale brown and the lower breast is white with black spots. The head has a series of stripes or blotches along the horizontal axis that are black, brown, or white. The top of the head appeared to be a dark gray cap. The wings seemed to be dark like the head, which is indicative of the male (the female is completely rufous on back and tail). The bird was very small, indeed the size of a jay as described in the Peterson field guide.
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I just discovered that the residential island that my aunt lives on is crawling with warblers. I was playing basketball and I saw them flitting about atop the fence which surrounds the court. So, what did I see?

Bird #1: Small bird, brilliant yellow color with deeply contrasting black streaks along the head and side of the body. One of these black streaks appeared to run horizontally right through the eye. The back was a drab greenish yellow and it was white underneath the tail feathers. This almost certainly seems to be a prairie warbler (Dendroica discolor). I did not see any chestnut markings on the back, which are usually visible in the male. This bird doesn’t fit the description of the other yellow warbler species with black streaks. Others like the magnolia, canada, yellow-rumped, etc. don’t have the multiple black stripes on the head as does the prairie. I was able to get extraordinarily close to this bird, which is very unusual; maybe she was a basketball fan.

Birds #2: Small bird with rich maroon cap and white breast with big yellow blotch at the throat. The back was dark. The throat/cap combination suggests it is probably a female Palm warbler (Dendroica palmarum) of the “western race.”

Bird #3: Small bird with medium pale gray breast streaked with darker gray/brown. There was also barely visible pale yellow coloration in blotches across the breast. This bird was bobbing its tail like crazy and had yellow undertail coverts. Looking at the “confusing fall warblers” page of the Peterson guide this individual clearly seems to be a winter form of the Palm warbler, and this is confirmed by the flicking of the tail which is prominent in both palm and prairies.

Bird #4: A very small bird that I did not get a good look at. It was basically comprised of two colors, blue-gray on the back and wings, and white underneath. The only thing I can think of is a blue-gray gnatcatcer (Polioptila caerulea).

-Scott

Oleta River State Park, Florida

2007-12-30T17:36:00.000-05:00

I decided to skip the beach today and visit Oleta River State Park, which is just down the street from my aunt's place. Much of Miami Beach is in fact a thin strip of land, and there is a body of water called the intracoastal which separates it from the greater land mass. My aunt lives on the thin strip of land, and Oleta Park is on the other side. You can actually see it across the water from my aunt's place. From there it looks ominous with thick mangroves and turkey vultures circling above.

The Florida State Parks website sells this place as a nature refuge in the middle of urban South Florida. But everywhere I turned there were people BBQ-ing, playing soccer, kayaking, riding bikes, etc. In a way this is nice, but this is more a haven for humans than it is for those uncivilized organisms which don't even have digital cable or cell phones. It was only my first time here, but I did not see much.

This is supposed to be a nature journal, and I really don't want to turn this into a negative social commentary - but I have one more anecdote to record because it reminds me a lot of what life has become in this fast-paced world.

During my foray into the park I was hunting a tricolored heron with my binoculars, sneaking quietly through the insect-ridden mangrove, when I saw a woman near the trail. She looked at me with surprise and asked, "you weren't watching me urinating and taking pictures were you?" At first I was shocked to see her because I thought I was alone, and then much more dumbfounded when I actually understood what she had said. Of course I said "no" immediately, and that she should not worry. But as I walked away I was thinking that for many people life is about money and acquiring both possessions and status for themselves and their family unit; and hand-in-hand with this comes the paranoiac fear that others are out to get them, take away what's theirs, embarrass them, and just generally act like deviants. Well, maybe there is no connection between these things, but i guess I just mean to say that life to many people these days is like war. I don't mean everyone of course - but to the majority. The motto is "plunder what you can, and mistrust any stranger, lest they get in your way or harm you". In my case, the stranger is a pervert who just spends his days sitting in mangrove hoping some attractive woman might urinate. If that were my gig then statisticians might tell me that I am choosing the wrong place to carry out this fine art. In any case, I walked away thinking (1) why would I do such a thing? and (2) why would her first reaction be to think that I would do such a thing? I guess it could be possible, but if this is someone's first assumption about what unfolded then they probably have a overly negative view of the world and of other people.

When I spoke about this with my family on the way to dinner they seemed to think the world is indeed very scary. All those murders - people getting shot in broad daylight, at the mall, in front of a busy restaurant, etc. So perhaps people have good reason to mistrust strangers. Watching the news makes you think these things happen all the time, but what is the probability of them happening to you, especially compared to let's say a car accident? Probably pretty small. So now we have all this paranoia about perverts taking urination photos, getting shot in the strip mall parking lot, etc. and become very cautious about watching what's going on around us. Yet we continue to drive with impatience and at high speeds (what % of the population doesn't speed?). But how many people are driving less, driving very carefully or patiently, or working toward making people obey traffic rules? There is an obsession with deviant behavior and mistrust of strangers. This is the majority of our society today.

Anyway, as I stepped onto a trail I saw a sign about recognizing and preventing the spread of invasive plants but I did not stop to look. But one of the first things I noticed as I paraded down the cement-lined trail was a strange looking pine-like tree with very long segmented needles and fruits resembling pine cones. Only after I came home did I realize that its name is the Australian pine, although it is actually deciduous and not a pine at all.

Australian Pine (Casuarina equisetifolia)
Family: Casuarinaceae (Beefwoods)

This species is invasive, and was introduced to Florida in the late 1800's and was used to stabilize ditches and canals and for shade and lumber. In the contiguous US, it is only found along coast of Florida. Apparently it is a great threat to coastal ecosystems. Here is a blurb from the US National Parks website:

Australian pine is fast-growing (5-10 feet per year), produces dense shade and a thick blanket of leaves and hard, pointed fruits, that completely covers the ground beneath it. Dense thickets of Australian pine displace native dune and beach vegetation, including mangroves and many other resident, beach-adapted species. Because its roots are capable of producing nitrogen through microbial associations, Australian pine can colonize nutrient-poor soils. Once established, it radically alters the light, temperature, and soil chemistry regimes of beach habitats, as it outcompetes and displaces native plant species and destroys habitat for native insects and other wildlife. Chemicals in the leaves of Australian pine may inhibit the growth of other plants underneath it. The ground below Australian pine trees becomes ecologically sterile and lacking in food value for native wildlife. Unlike native shrubbery, the thick, shallow roots of Australian pine make it much more susceptible to blow-over during high wind events, leading to increased beach and dune erosion and interference with the nesting activities of sea turtles.

Australian pine fruits

Apparently, each part of the fruit is actually a separate carpal that contains a winged seed. A closer look at the tree revealed a liquid substance resembling saliva; no idea what it is?

There was a butterfly garden but people were playing soccer around it, so I did not get a chance to check out the different species I could expect to find in this habitat. And since I don't know anything about butterflies I could not identify the two species that I saw in the park. But below are their pictures. Hopefully I will find a butterfly guide and get back to this.

Butterfly #1

Butterfly #2

After my encounter with the urinator, I saw what appears to be algae attached to a rock on the shore. It was fairly firm and had long branches with small bumps or sub-branches. The color appeared green near the base and maroon toward the tips. I didn't see any close matches in the Florida or Atlantic Seashore guidebooks.

Unidentified Algae

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Just an aside: I was listening to some opera tonight with my family and it brought back fond memories of my aunt's dog Consuela (a Toy Fox Terrier), who passed away some years ago. She used to sit in front of the television whenever there was opera on and sing along with a beautiful voice of her own. She was a very special spirit.
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While negotiating my way through the mangrove I noticed plenty of nerites (Family Neritidae) attached to the vegetation. Apparently Lamarck described this group in 1809. This species looks like checkered nerite (Nerita tessellata). The Florida guidebook says that these snails have a thick, calcified operculum that, when kept closed, protects the animal from dessication during exposure at low tide. The operculum is a feature of gastropods (largest class of mollusks; second largest class of animals next to insects) and is attached to the foot of the snail.

Checkered Nerite (Nerita tessellata)
Family: Neritidae (Nerites)

I saw an interesting plant with some dark purple fruits and nice white flowers. But I cannot identify it.

Unidentified Plant (Flowers)

Unidentified Plant (Fruit)

The following plant can be found all over south Florida, but I never really thought much about it. It has wide, stiff leaves, many of which have red colored veins. Apparently it is called a seagrape because it produces purple fruit in clusters (grape-like in appearance) during the late summer. As the leaves age they eventually turn red. It can be found in many places in the new world tropics. It is usually found near the beach, is tolerant to salt, and can be used to stabilize the edges of the beach. The fruit is edible.

Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera)
Family: Polygonaceae (Knotweeds/Smartweeds)

My camera ran out of batteries at this point so I could not take an up close photo of the tree, so here is a picture from Wikipedia.

Seagrape (with Fruits)

-Scott

North Miami Beach, Florida (2)

2007-12-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

Another afternoon walk in North Miami. Across from my aunt's house there are a number of huge buildings being constructed by Donald Trump, or at least he has smacked his name all over them. The billboards on the scaffolding show a picture of Trump and three other men and reads "The Visionaries." These huge buildings are polluting the coastline and are basically giving rich people ownership over the sea view by standing tall and blocking out any sight of the beach. In other words, the public beach, or any clear sight of it, is for the rich and is for sale by private companies. But I ask, what is so visionary about putting up huge buildings anyway? Such buildings have lined Miami Beach for decades. I would agree that the Fontainebleau hotel showed genuine "vision," but this is the 21st century. Well, maybe there will be a zoo inside or something.

In any case, there were hundreds of turkey vultures swarming above the Trump buildings. Maybe they are protesting that they are built too high!

I spoke too soon yesterday, today there were many Portuguese man o' war all over the shore of all sizes. Here is one.

The only really exciting thing I saw today was my first royal tern. I know, this bird is quite common, but I am still inexperienced and therefore was very excited. This bird is quite big. In fact, it was nearly as large as the laughing gulls. Since I rarely notice gulls anymore, I almost missed the tern who seemed to have joined the pack. He was quite nice looking and preening himself constantly. Royal terns have large orange bills and usually have a white forehead as does the individual here. The crown is usually black and forms a crest. The taxonomy of this group seems to be changing, as is seemingly the case with most everything. Damn DNA! It seems that the royal tern used to be Sterna maxima, but now appears to be called Thalasseus maximus. The T. m. maximus subspecies breeds on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico into the Carribean. The slightly smaller T. m. albididorsalis breeds in coastal west Africa.

Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus)
Family: Sternidae

Royal tern next to a juvenile laughing gull

Avian Yoga

So I was passing over what looked like the Sargassum that I have been seeing for the last few days. But when I looked closer there were no leaf-like projections, but rather only small cauliflower-like protrusions. Perhaps this is a young Sargassum or a different species altogether.

[Addition 01 Jan 08: I just read that there are about 27 species of hydroids (order Hydroida; class Hydrozoa) which live on sargassum algae. These bumps may possibly be caused by this.]

Strange Sargassum

Things took a weird tern at the end of my walk (did you catch the pun?). I saw a round black object that looks like it came from a coconut tree. Attached to the object was a small colorful shell that appeared to have a crab inside. Perhaps it attached itself on the shore, or maybe this object actually originates from the ocean. In any case, I really need to get my hands on the field guide to southeastern US shores.

Total Weirdness

Something Emerges

[Addition 01 Jan 08: I came across a solution to this mystery in my Florida Beaches guide. The black thing must be some kind of fruit or seed and the animal attached to it looks like a goose barnacle, particularly Lepas anserifera. The guide even shows what it calls the feathery legs or cirri coming out of the shell. Goose barnacles belong to a group called the Stalked barnacles which is the family Lepadidae. And goose barnacles themselves make up the suborder Lepadomorpha. L. anserifera is a pelagic species that often attaches to floating logs. The guide says that loggerhead turtles eat goose barnacles and also that the barnacles often attach to the carapace. The guide says that barnacles on some loggerheads are heavier than the turtle itself. Goose barnacles feed on plankton and other floating microscopic food. This species is made up of two parts: a capitulum which bears the feeding tentacles and the body of the barnacle, and a peduncle which is a flexible stalk that attaches the barnacle to floating objects. The capitulum is made up of 5 calcareous plates. The genus Lepas and this particular species were name by Linnaeus himself, and seems like there is a funny history behind the name; however, I could only find an excerpt of the tale from Encyclopedia Britannica, and you have to pay for it.]

Goodnight.

-Scott

North Miami Beach, Florida (1)

2007-12-28T21:34:00.001-05:00

Today I walked the beach in North Miami, Florida. I have been coming here for many years. The ocean here is beautiful and the water has a nice blue-green tint. But this area is under heavy development and I was really sad to see that the sun on the beach is almost completely blocked by towering buildings that line the coast. And new buildings are popping up each year that I visit this area.

Life on the beach is not very diverse, at least not at this time of year. Sargassum (also known as Gulf weed) is the dominant algae. It is usually golden, but can also be dark red or brown (perhaps after it dries).

Sargassum #1

Sargassum #2

[Addition 01 Jan 08: I read a little more about sargassum. The species in this picture are clearly pelagic, but there are also attached species with leaves that are broad, smooth, brown, leathery, and have backs spots. Only the longer ones have air bladders. Sargassum can be a raft for many organisms in the ocean and it is found in abundance in the Sargasso sea in the middle of the north Atlantic, hence the name]

The other conspicuous inhabitant of the beach - albeit a dead one - is the moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). It is quite clear in color and has four horseshoe shaped gonads that are clearly visible. They were pink in the individuals that I saw. By the time they wash up on the shore they are usually dead and are missing their tentacles.

Moon Jelly

I saw a few different kinds of sponges that may in fact be the same type. But the one on the right looks like a tube sponge (Callyspongia campana) and the other two look a lot like Haliclona oculata (Dead-man's fingers). Sponges feed by pumping water through their bodies and filtering out food particles. They have no true tissues (muscle, organs, nerves) and so are thought to be very close to single celled organisms and may have diverged at the dawn of multicellularity.

Sponges (Phylum Porifera)

I also saw a branch-like object that is very firm. The only close match in my nature guide was twig weed algae, but this doesn't really fit. I found what looks like a little piece of coral at the end of one of these branches.

Branch-like specimen

Although sea gulls are ubiquitous on the eastern US coastline, I don't remember much about their identification. The adult ring-billed gull is fairly obvious because of the black ring encircling the bill. Although it seems that immature herring gulls also have a similar ring. They can have some spotting on their otherwise white head. Their primaries are predominately black on top (with some white) and the back and secondaries are gray on top. Legs are pale yellow or greenish. Ring-billed gulls are everywhere, even in strip-mall parking lots and they certainly pervade the Miami shoreline.

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Family: Laridae (Gulls)

I feel quite stupid because there is another widespread gull that I am seeing, but I don't know what it is, even after looking at the guide. It must be a common species such as the laughing gull or Bonaparte's gull, but I just can't match it.

I consulted various websites and it seems that these are laughing gulls The first photo seems to be a juvenile laughing gull and the second picture is probably of a group of winter colored adults.

Juvenile Laughing Gull (Larius atricilla)
Family: Laridae

Adult Winter-form Laughing Gulls

I found several cool gull ID and information pages (including this one), but strangely there was no trace of information for laughing gulls. Perhaps it is not exotic enough or has a different name. I also so no information for Bonaparte's gull. I'll have to look more into this.

What kind of coral is this?

I remember from my childhood that man o' war were to be feared like the plague. I know nothing about these things, and today I have seen very few. And the few I have seen are very small. From reading, it seems that man o' war are actually in the order Siphonophora (class Hydrozoa; phylum: Cnidaria). Apparently, this is a colonial species and each man o' war is a colony. It is made up of individual zooids, many of which are specialized and could not survive on their own. These zooids can be medusoid or polypoid. In the class Hydrozoa, medusae are the sexual individuals of many species, alternating in the life cycle with asexual polyps.

I took a picture of a tiny Portugese Man o' War, but I have no idea if this is an entire colony or just a broken off piece. Ah, there is just too much to learn.

Portugese Man o' War (Physalia physalis)
Family: Physaliidae

Well, as I am finishing this, I am already late for my next afternoon walk on the beach. I guess I won't be able to keep this up.

-Scott

Everglades National Park

2007-12-27T01:00:00.000-05:00

This is the first entry of my nature journal. A list of observations and thoughts about the living world. I cannot call myself a bona fide naturalist, but I am learning a little bit each day.

Today I went with my mother and her boyfriend, Steve, to Everglades National Park in Florida. Usually, when I am in nature, I like to get dirty and wander deep into the area I am exploring. So today it was an interesting and unique experience to look at things in a more relaxed and touristic fashion.

Many sites in the everglades are accessible by car. The Royal Palm visitor center was our first stop and has a wide array of animal species which appears to be just sitting and waiting to be photographed.

Of course, a turtle had to be my first picture in honor of Ylenia, the crazed turtle lover. Below are just two of the many Florida redbelly turtles that I saw. They seem to be easily identified by the yellow striping on their black neck, yellow plastron with big black spots, and the maroon outlines on their smooth black carapace. I read that they sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of alligator. Supposedly this turtle has two visible tooth-like projections (cusps) on the upper beak.

Florida Redbelly Turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni)
Family: Emydidae

Alligators were abundant. This place might look like a zoo, but I was reminded that it is still the wild as I saw a large alligator swim by with the arm of a softshell turtle hanging from its mouth.

American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

The trail (more like a boardwalk) was aptly named the Anhinga trail because of all these neat looking birds with snake-like necks. Like cormorants, Anhingas often can be seen spreading their wings to help them dry. This one was making a lot of croaking noises. I honestly am not sure if this is a male, female, or immature since the neck is not black like an adult male, but also not bright and buffy like the other females I have seen.

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

There were several Great Blue herons on the trail. I was surprised because in other places they often flee before I can get close; but there was one was standing perfectly still for several minutes while I was just a few feet away. Maybe here was stalking some fish or perhaps looking for his car keys which he dropped in the water. The color patterns of this bird seem quite variable over its range. But, in general, it has a light colored neck with a black cap and plume. The black cap contains a light stripe running through the middle. Also I often see some rust coloration in the front of the body if it is standing upright.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius)
Family: Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, Bitterns)

I have never seen a wood stork before, so when I saw this gigantic bird with a downward curving bill I thought it was some weird mutant Ibis. But actually it is not an Ibis at all. This bird has a naked, rough-skinned head and neck (turkey-like). It feeds with its head down and bill open. It is the only stork in North America.

Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)
Family: Ciconiidae (Storks)

There were plenty of cormorants dancing around. They don't mind if you get really close here. These appear to be double-crested cormorants which is the only widespread cormorant of North America. But I am not sure if this is a juvenile since it is quite pale up top (adults are usually all black). Or perhaps it is a seasonal variant.

Double-Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Family: Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants)

Egrets are, of course, very widespread. They can even be seen in the less natural or intact water bodies in Florida, so you don't need to trek to the everglades to see them. But the great egret below was showing such a nice pose that I had to snap a picture. I always forget how to tell egrets apart. The great egret has fully black legs and a yellow bill. While the snowy egret has black legs and yellow feet, with a black bill and yellow loral area in front of the eyes. Cattle egrets are slightly smaller than the snowy, and have a shorter, slightly broader yellow bill. Also, stockier, with thicker neck than snowy.

Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Family: Ardeidae

I saw two different individuals of what appear to be little blue herons. But only the first one appears to fit the description in the field guide. I need to straighten this out.

Little Blue #1

Little Blue #2

[Addition 01 Jan 08: So, I was flipping through my Peterson's bird guide and I realized that one of the little blue herons I identified in the everglades was actually a tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor). I actually never even heard of this species. But it supposedly has a white crown plume (although I don't notice it in my picture), what seems to be a red eye, yellowish legs, and yellow in between the eye and the bill. It also seems to have a whitish bottom and a white stripe running down the neck and breast. It is about the size of a little blue and ranges from easter US to Brazil. I wonder why I never came across it before.]

This past summer, someone spotted a purple gallinule in Milford, Connecticut in someone's garden fountain. This species is not commonly found in the Northeast US. The bird was there for weeks and was apparently not in good health. I did not want to make the 20 minute drive during work hours to see it, and now I finally see one for the first time. Of course, it is not as special to see in Florida. But then again, I am not really interested in this "rare" bird thing or seeing something in a place where it is not normally seen. Anyway, this bird is quite a spectacular serving of colors. Most noticeable is the yellow bill tip, orange-red bill, blue (but looks grey in my picture) shield on the forehead, yellow legs, blue-purple breast and head, which transfers into a greenish-brown color as you move toward the back of the body.

Purple Gallinule (Porphyrula martinica)
Family: Rallidae (Coots, Gallinules)

There was a softshell turtle swimming around. I could not get a good look at it. The Florida softshell turtle (Apalone ferox) is native to the area, but I am not sure if this is it.

USST (Unidentified Swimming Softshell Turtle)

I saw two birds I could not recognize, but I only got a good shot of one of them. The first picture looks like a red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) but I am really not sure. I only say so because of the yellowish color on the same part of the wing as the red-winged, and a similar body size and beak shape. The second picture was of a much smaller bird which looks like a lot of things so I have no idea and did not get a good picture.

Unknown Bird #1

Unknown Bird #2

Here is a nicely colored anhinga with two redbelly turtles below. You can see the beautiful buffy color of the neck and upper breast, showing that it is a female (males are all black). You can see the long tail hanging down with its very colorful feet gripping the branch. You can also see that anhingas have a thin, pointy bill, whereas the cormorant's is hooked at the tip. Finally, this gal is showing how long and snake-like her neck can appear.

Redbelly turtles and a busy female Anhinga overhead

The second and final stop in our trip was to a place called Mahogany Hammock. Natural "Hammocks" such as this one look like islands of trees surrounded by wetlands. They usually consist of hardwood , broad-leafed trees (e.g. Mahogany) that grow on a natural rise of elevation. Apparently, the hammocks have higher contents of hard rock in their soil which prevents them from becoming swamp-like. When the vegetation in the hammock dies, it releases acids into the surrounding areas which leads to the decomposition of the limestone in the ground of the surrounding areas. This forms a moat-like surrounding around the hammock. The national park website says that these hardwood hammocks often have both tropical and temperate species of hardwood trees (e.g. tropical species: Mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco); temerpate species: live oak (Quercus virginiana), red maple (Acer rubum), and hackberry (Celtis laevigata).

Random shot from inside the hammock

West Indian Mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni)
Family:Meliaceae (Mahogany)
A poor attempt at manual focusing

This is a nice-looking brown anole, a species which has invaded Florida over the last century. Apparently there were separate introductions of subspecies from Bahamas and Cuba. Browsing on the web, it seems that only females have the diamond shaped pattern as seen below. This photo was taken in the Mohagany hammock.

Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei)
Family: Polychrotidae (Anoles)

An interesting note: the everglades is not considered a swamp because it has flowing water. The water flows southward, and a few years ago I read that the everglades is drying up because much of this water is being diverted in order to service the occupants of the monotonous Miami high rises and the westward expansion of suburban developments. Of course, we all have to live somewhere, and perhaps there is no place where humans can go where we won't be destructive. But the everglades is a wonderful place, where you can still be alone with only the sounds of nature.

Engaged in the wildlife, I only got one not-so-great picture of my mom and Steve.

Mom and Steve

This was a short trip, and despite the touristic approach, I left with a sense of amazement. After all, the diversity of life is still such, even if it is neatly packaged for a days viewing. However, I now long for a time when I can get lost in the thick of the everglades and get a chance to know it. Of course, this requires the right sort of companion.

-Scott