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
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
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
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
