Tag Archives: Florida nature

First Day Walk, with catbirds

Catbirds are abundant in Savannas Preserve right now.

I could hear them more than see them, but sometimes one or two would pop up out of the shrubs and palmettos and perch in plain sight.

Catbirds are gray with black caps and a telltale rusty red patch under their tails.

This is gallberry, in the holly family of plants.

A catbird’s diet is about 50% fruit and berries. They also eat a variety of insects, spiders, worms and ants.

Catbirds nest in much of North America and are winter visitors to Florida and Central America. It is likely that the Florida birds nest in the mid-Atlantic and New England and Midwestern birds head south to Mexico and beyond.

A lot of human snowbirds are flocking here this winter from other states. But there were no other cars in the small gravel parking lot of the southern entrance to Savannas Preserve State Park, off Jensen Beach Boulevard in Jensen Beach just after 8 a.m. this morning.

I had been up since 5 a.m. since I love mornings, new days, fresh starts, new years.

The Gray Catbird belongs to the genus Dumetella, which means “small thicket.” And that’s exactly where you should go look for this little skulker.

(Have I mentioned how much I love Cornell Lab of Ornithology? They are my main source of bird knowledge and quotes via All About Birds. I support them with my annual membership . Or donate HERE to make a difference for the future of birds.)

The preserve was intensely peaceful this morning – just the sound of distant traffic and the close-by gentle mewing of these birds. (Sometimes the sound they make is more like the waah of a quiet-ish baby.)

It’s a mewing time of year for catbirds, not a singing time. In nesting season the males are as creative in their songs as other members of the mimid family.

Holly berries (food for catbirds) are Christmas-seasonal here in Florida too. I think this is Dahoon holly.

Here is where I took a detour off the main trail in search of the edge of a wetland and maybe a Wilson’s snipe, a bird that has been eluding my efforts to photograph it for a few years now.

New year, new bird was my plan. Alas! I did not find a snipe. So much for my Snipe hunt.

Low sun and a misty morning made spider webs visible. It’s been warm and humid for early winter.

Some webs were more geometric than others.

The edge of the first wetland was too muddy and so I tried a second trail that branched off the main trail.

The combination of crispy dry plant life and mud underfoot is characteristic of the lower-elevation seasonal wetlands in the Savannas.

I saw signs of wild pigs on my walk, and I found a couple of what looked like pig traps. There was a bit of grain left in this one, but the “gate” was held open with a strap and a couple of S hooks, so I’m not sure how the trap works.

Feral pigs are a problem in the Savannas and pretty much all of Florida.

…the problem can be traced to 1539 when Hernando DeSoto brought hogs into southwest Florida, and some of them found freedom in the New World. Nearly 500 years later, there are some 3 million descendants of these “pioneer pigs” across the nation.

Something made a slippery splash near here, like a small gator, big snake, maybe an otter. Or a small pig? I did not see it but I remained quite vigilant, stepping carefully, scanning near and far.

I believe this type of attention to our surroundings is something we are losing to screens and the Great Indoors, so I like to refresh my skills now and then.

When the trail degraded into a network of pig paths, all dug up and snout-rooted, I decided to backtrack to more comfortable walking.

One of the many problems caused by the pigs…

Rooting — digging for foods below the surface of the ground — destabilizes the soil surface, uprooting or weakening native vegetation, damaging lawns and causing erosion. Their wallowing behavior destroys small ponds and stream banks, which may affect water quality.

This is a yellow milkwort.

It was growing in the middle of one of the lesser-used trails I walked this morning. It’s a Florida native annual herbaceous wildflower, and so named because it was thought that milkwort growing in cow fields would cause cows to give more milk.

I think it looks like a little yellow fireworks explosion. Happy New Year!

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. – John Muir

An abundance of alligators

Fire and water in the Savannas

Leave a reply

I brake for gopher tortoises.

This one was crossing a sandy road in the section of the Savannas Preserve State Park off Walton Road, in St. Lucie County.

I parked at the Canoe Launch area. The launch ramp itself, pictured above, is closed (for repairs?) right now, but there is a small beach where it looks possible to launch a canoe or kayak.

The visitor center near the entrance is also not open right now.

Common Gallinule among the lilies.

This spot provides access to one of the park’s basin marshes. The 7,000 acres of Savannas Preserve State Park protects southeast Florida’s largest freshwater marsh system.

You can see the Canoe Launch on both these maps, posted to a bulletin board there. A few days ago I took a slow walk on the Yellow Trail, over two bridges, and looped back on the White Trail, around two miles of travel.

It looks like there was a prescribed burn maybe a few weeks ago. In Florida, we burn it before the lightning fires do.

My first “captured” bird was this Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis.

The name Dumetella is based upon the Latin term dūmus (“thorny thicket”; it thus means approximately “small thornbush-dweller” or “small bird of the thornbushes”.

I got a good look at a brown anole, near the trail. Males have dewlaps.

Brown anoles are native to Cuba and the Bahamas and an invasive species in Florida, taking over habitat especially from the native green anoles.

The weather was beautiful, warm with a light southeast breeze.

The lingering scent of the burn smelled like someone had a big campfire the night before.

Regular fires keep the understory open, preventing shrubs from becoming dominant in the pine flatwoods and scrub.

Two roads diverged in a burnt woods and I took the Yellow Trail.

I really appreciate the people who design and build bridges and boardwalks through Florida’s wet spots, so we can get a good look without getting wet.

Small flocks of Palm Warblers crossed my path a few times.

They wag their tails up and down constantly and spend a lot of time hopping around on the ground, which is weird for warblers.

I think this yellow-flowering plant near wetlands is in the tickseed/ coreopsis family.

The view from near the second footbridge.

Serene, right?

Looking down at lily pads. Their colors now, in the dormant season, remind me of autumn leaves.

This trail is still a little wet in the dry season. My daughter and I turned around here a couple of months ago, when the puddles extended too far and deep across this way.

New growth after fire.

This eerie landscape held signs of hope.

A burn actually promotes the flowering of saw palmettos.

Returning on the White Trail, one side had been burned and the other one not.

Antidote.

For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green. – J.R.R. Tolkien

Haney Creek hawk walk

Leave a reply

A Northern Mockingbird draws attention to a sign at Haney Creek Park in Stuart, FL. I took a little walk there yesterday morning.

There is a nice trail that loops through the woods. I thought I saw a strange lizard on this sign.

It’s a toy, ha! But it did draw my attention to the name of the lichen along the trail: Reindeer Moss.

Wikipedia…

Cladonia rangiferina, also known as reindeer lichen (c.p. Sw. renlav), lat., is a light-colored, fruticose lichenbelonging to the family Cladoniaceae. It grows in both hot and cold climates in well-drained, open environments. Found primarily in areas of alpine tundra, it is extremely cold-hardy.

Other common names include reindeer moss, deer moss, and caribou moss, but these names may be misleading since it is not a moss. As the common names suggest, reindeer lichen is an important food for reindeer (caribou), and has economic importance as a result. Synonyms include Cladina rangiferina and Lichen rangiferinus.

Reindeer lichen, like many lichens, is slow growing (3–11 mm per year) and may take decades to return once overgrazed, burned, trampled, or otherwise consumed.

Don’t step on it!

Did you ever look at one particular dead tree and think, that’s a good spot for a bird, and then a bird swoops in and perches there?

American Kestrel!

The American kestrel usually hunts in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air. It sometimes hovers in the air with rapid wing beats while homing in on prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows). This broad diet has contributed to its wide success as a species.

As you can see, my fascination with Dahoon holly continues.

Nice little pop of color in the Florida autumn landscape, here at the edge of a seasonal wetland.

Dahoon holly… Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Deer browse the young growth. Small mammals, turkey, quail, red-eyed vireos and other songbirds eat the fruits.

I’d plant it in my yard but it likes wetter soil.

Coming in for a landing! Another raptor appeared on a nearby snag.

Red-shouldered Hawk!

I spotted this one in three different locations at Haney Creek during my walk.

Nice red shoulder.

I didn’t go this way. It’s just a view of the typical landscape.

I was keeping an eye out for a Scrub Jay, since I saw one at Haney Creek once when I didn’t have my camera. This was just a regular old Blue Jay playing hide and seek with me.

The jay is in a live oak tree. I see a tiny acorn.

The third time I saw the Red-shouldered Hawk it had perched in a great spot for photos – sunlight behind me and on the bird, with dark clouds beyond.

Its legs look so long.

This pose made me think of Horus, the Egyptian falcon god of kings and skies.

What a beauty.

Early November in Savannas Preserve

1 Reply

American Kestrel looks fierce and cute at the same time.

I saw this bird and others on Saturday during a solo 1.1-mile walk in the Martin County section of the wonderfully unique Savannas Preserve, off Jensen Beach Boulevard.

Entrance fee is $3, self service. There is a picnic pavilion and a bathroom building.

Info.

The main trail heads off into the wild.

Holly berries gave a festive, late autumn look to an otherwise not very autumnal landscape – at least for those of us who have lived in north most of our lives. This is Dahoon holly, I think.

Wood Stork.

Great Egret heading in the other direction.

Main trail goes straight. This time I took the side trail to the right, heading east towards a lower, wetter area.

Northern Mockingbird posed on a stump.

Wildflowers in bloom.

A group of Wood Storks was feeding near a Great Egret.

Holly and a nest box, at the edge of the wetlands.

Wood Storks took off and then I counted them (two others went in another direction).

My eBird checklist for the walk is HERE.

Great Blue Heron was standing very still.

A came upon a large trap. I guessed it might be for wild pigs, which can be such a problem in Florida.

A pair of Anhingas.

Raccoon has been here.

This part of the trail was a bit muddy from recent rains.

Mystery track. Sort of cat-like and cat-sized. Domestic cat out for a prowl? Fox?

Sort of boring yet oddly beautiful landscape, to me.

Silvery saw palmettos between the freshwater marsh grass and slash pines.

I heard this kestrel calling before I saw it.

American Kestrels have a fairly limited set of calls, but the most common one is a loud, excited series of 3-6 klee! or killy! notes lasting just over a second. It’s distinctive and an excellent way to find these birds. You may also hear two other common calls: a long whine that can last 1–2 minutes, heard in birds that are courting or feeding fledglings, and a fast chitter, usually used by both sexes in friendly interactions.

A bit windy that day.

IMG_0003-2

North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It’s one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place.