Blueberry Bushes and Fig Tree

I can’t believe how early the blueberry bushes bloomed. I guess it is because it has been so warm here. Now we have blueberries on them, which we don’t usually have until June. We also found some figs on the fig tree. Usually, we have to fight the birds and squirrels for this fruit, but since I started hanging CDs from the branches, it has helped keep them away. 

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

This morning we went to Flakowitz for breakfast and then headed to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. We got there around 9:30 and stayed for 2 hours. We walked along the boardwalk and saw 4 alligators, lots of iguanas, lots of birds, a raccoon, and a brown basilisk. By the time we left, it was getting hot and the there was a huge line coming in with cars waiting for a parking space to open. 

Iguanas

Wood Stork

Alligator

Brown Basilisk

Great Blue Heron

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Continuing with my crafts

Being stuck inside because it is cold has helped unleash some more creativity. I finished 2 projects yesterday.

I also continue to work on my crocheted mosaic blanket. I found out that if I only move the progress keeper every Monday, I see that I’m making progress. When I move it every day, it doesn’t seem like I’m doing much and I get discouraged. I think since I’ve been working on it these past 2 weeks, it has doubled in size.

I finished my watercolor painting of the American Goldfinch. It wasn’t as good as the Vermillion Flycatcher but I noticed I had trouble with the feathers on both of them. That is something I will need to practice.

I also finished my embroidery project. It is amazing how things get finished if I stick with them. I don’t know if I will do another one when I get back to SC (that’s where the material is). I may look at some of the free DMC patterns I downloaded to see if any of them inspire me.

Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge

Last week we visited the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge which is the northern section of the Everglades. The visitor center has reopened Thursday - Sunday 9-4 so we went in to see what was new. We found out that there was a ranger-led walk that started in 10 minutes at the Marsh Trail so we hurried to the meeting spot. This is offered every Friday at 10am and it was the first day of the tour. There are several other events that take place each week.

We met Lowell Markey at the meeting place and ended up being the only participants. Lowell went on to explain the history of the Everglades and how the Water Conservation Areas came in existence. While we were sitting there, we could hear the Sandhill Cranes calling each other. He mentioned a book, The Everglades: River of Grassby Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Then we started our walk around one of the drainage areas. Here are the many things we observed:

• Sandhill crane
• Everglades
• Cabbage palm - state tree
• Strangler Fig
• West Indies Mahogany tree
• Wax Myrtle - edge tree; the leaves were very fragrant
• Catbird
• String/swamp lily
• Giant Leather fern
• Pickerel weed
• Arrowhead plant
• Duck potato - white flower with yellow button
• White water Lily - not invasive
• Cocoa plum - plum is almost black when ripe
• Sea grape
• Sawgrass - marsh plant; blade is v shaped with sharp edges
• Red tassel flower
• Turkey vulture
• Spanish needle
• Wild poinsettia
  

Lowell showed us the four different habitats of the Everglades. We saw the fruit/seed pods of the Mahogany tree and the Cocoa Plum. As we were leaving the parking lot, a family of raccoons came running down the grassy path. They looked so cute!

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Bird Walk

Last week we went on a bird walk at the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge. We met at 7:30am and our leader was Rick. There were about 30 people who showed up for this. I found the group extremely welcoming and willing to share their knowledge with a newbie. I learned that when a bird is spotted in a tree, it is better to point to that tree and use clock dial references to help others locate the bird. I also found it extremely helpful when people told me what bird I was seeing and then explaining the characteristics of the bird that makes it easier to identify. Our leader told me that planes were called “Silver bellied gas hawk” which made me laugh! The book that was recommended was The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America by David Allen Sibley. We also saw String Lilies blooming and Beauty Berry bushes with purple berries on them.

Below are the birds that I saw on our walk:

1.     Prairie Warbler

2.     Snail kite

3.     red-bellied woodpecker

4.     Wood stork

5.     Great egret - one bird yellow bill, black leg

6.     Snowy egret - small group, dark bill, yellow feet

7.     Eastern phoebe

8.     Glossy ibis

9.     Tricolored heron - diaper bird

10.  Monk parakeet

11.  Nanday parakeet

12.  Cardinal

13.  Blue jay

14.  Mockingbird

15.  Purple gallinule

16.  Palm warbler - pumps tail

17.  Indigo bunting

18.  Great horned owl

19.  Green heron

20.  Turkey vulture

21.  Northern harrier

22.  Anhinga - flap flap glide

23.  Common gallinule - clown laugh

24.  Black vulture – white on the ends of the wings

25.  Loggerhead shrike  - mask

26.  Pied-billed grebe

27.  Swallow - pointy wings

28.  American kestrel - sparrow hawk

29.  Cattle egret

30.  White ibis

31.  Osprey

32.  Yellow sapsucker woodpecker

Additional birds that others saw:

1.     Northern ruff wing swallows

2.     House wren

3.     Carolina wrens

4.     Blue-gray gnatcatchers

5.     Catbird

6.     Starlings

7.     Red-winged blackbirds

8.     Common grackle

9.     Boat-tail grackle

10.  Black and white warbler

11.  Common yellowthroat warbler

12.  Parula

13.  Yellow-rumped warbler

14.  Indigo bunting

15.  Painted bunting

16.  Limpkins

17.  Cormorant

I’m looking forward to going to other places to see if I can identify the birds using the knowledge that I’ve gotten from this walk. It feels like I’m learning a new language and the way to keep learning is by using what I’ve learned in other situations and practicing often.

This would be fun to do with students but first I need to get better at identifying the birds.

Are you a birder? What advice do you have for a beginning birder? Please share.

The Common Loon

Last week we had an Upstate Master Naturalist Meeting at Devil’s Fork State Park. Brooks and Kay Wade talked about the Common Loon. I love the topic because my maiden name is Loon! Here are the notes that I took.

1.     Scientific name: (Gavia immer)

2.     Most studied bird in North America

3.     Breed commonly in the north

4.     Sentinel species/bio-indicator

5.     Magic of their presence

6.     Most primitive birds on earth

7.     Long lived species up to at least 35 years

8.     3 years to reach breeding maturity

9.     1to 2 chicks

10.  Dive at least 200 ft. Deep

11.  Stay down 5+ minutes

12.  Least wing surface in proportion to their body weight of any flying Water bird

13.  Research project on Lake Jocassee -First ever study of loons in winter in a freshwater environment

14.  A paucity of information about their life history in winter

15.  5 months in breeding ground

16.  4 months in winter

17.  3 months migration

18.  Why here at Lake Jocassee

a.     Clean clear water

b.    Good food supply

c.     Remote- few humans

d.    Looks like home

e.     For study - a relatively small reservoir

19.  Arrive late November

20.  Molt twice a year

21.  Prenuptial molt in January at Jocassee

22.  Grow new flight feathers once a year to prepare to return to their breeding ground

23.  Departure begins early March   Most left by mid-April

24.  Lake Jocassee is a resting point for migrating loons in April and May.

25.  Baseline data collection

a.     When do they arrive?

b.    When does spring molt beg?when does departure begin and end?

c.     When do migrating loons from the south arrive

d.    Are loons currently molting?

e.     Are there indications of flight feathers molting?

f.      How many on the lake?

g.     Where are they?

h.     Do the loons remain site loyal, or move around the lake?

i.      Percentage of juveniles vs. percentage of matures?

j.      How much time do loons spend feeding? Preening? Resting? Locomoting?

k.     How many feeding as a group?

26.  Conclusions thus far:

a.     Lake life is easy

b.    Low winter mortality

c.     Good weight/ no emaciation

d.    Reduced time foraging

e.     Increased time socializing

f.      Increased time flock foraging

g.     Winter site fidelity, confirmed

27.  Unknown

a.     Do some loons display pairing before departure?

b.    Do first year birds have a sense of where they are going?

c.     Do loons from the same brood migrate together?

28.  Misconceptions:

a.     mate for life

b.    Only winter on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts

c.     Eyes turn brown

d.    Use their wings while swimming underwater

e.     Eat their weight in fish every day

29.  Other birds on Jocassee:

a.     Ring billed gulls

b.    Horned grebes

c.     Bald eagle

It was a great meeting and I learned a lot about The Common Loon that I didn’t know about!