Cuckoo for Webworms

Listening to the delicate shower of detritus as I walked around the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, I felt the crunch of cypress needles underfoot as they fell to the floor boards, along with a substance that looked like brown sugar. As I travelled deeper into the bald cypress forest, the powdery substance became more noticeable and my attention was drawn up to a scattered flock of birds eating something in the canopy. My camera revealed the yellow billed cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, picking off small white furry caterpillars from the limbs. At first I just saw one but then more arrived until I was made aware that a feasting was going on all around me; caterpillars eating cypress and cuckoos eating caterpillars. Every year around this time the trees are fed upon by caterpillars known as webworms that will eventually morph into moths starting the whole process over again. They form webs in the trees around the leaves and eat until they are ready to pupate. This is also the time of year that the migrating warblers start arriving. The warblers must have been in a different part of the sanctuary taking part in a feast of their own because the cuckoos had the caterpillar food market cornered. Normally, the white “hair” on the caterpillar acts as a deterrent to predators but the cuckoo snatched them up. Normally a solitary bird, they were arriving one after another. Not only an interesting sight but the cypress fragrance together with the scent of bayberry from the wax myrtle mixed with our cool dry air was reminiscent of winter holidays. What a contrast to the muggy hot days of summer! This weather and this view is a wonderful gift that I will feast on for the remainder of the season.

It's Complicated

With the waxing of the moon has come some glorious weather here in SW Florida and some spectacular migrating butterflies. This one is called cloudless sulphur, Phoebis sennae, traveling down from the north in search of warmth and food. Senna ligustrina, this butterfly’s host plant has emerged from the seed bank and thrived in the garden. This plant is still blooming and there are plenty of nectar plants around to nourish the adult butterfly. This summer the plant was covered with these caterpillars, eating both the leaves and flowers. As they ate the flowers their color turned from green to yellow and vice versa when they ate the leaves.

But I’ve noticed something else in my quest for connections. I am fascinated by extra floral nectaries, EFN, and this plant has them at the base of each leaf stem. To me it resembles a modified stipule. Nectaries are usually associated with the flower, secreting a sweet liquid to insure pollination. But these appendages also secrete sugars with other nutritional compounds and have nothing to do with pollination but they help to preserve the flowers. The tip of the gland is yellow or orange while the base that attaches to the stem is green. Ants are travelling and congregating around them. I have read that the ants will attack the larvae but I haven’t seen this onslaught yet. Interestingly, when the eggs are laid they look white and pitcher shaped. As they mature they turn yellow like these nectaries. I haven’t seen any eggs since August.

The ants were absent when the caterpillars were eating the flowers this summer but they are abundant now. Do the nectar producing glands respond to stress in the plant producing more nectar, attracting more ants? Now, I am seeing the flowers fertilized and seed pods forming. If ants are preventing the butterflies from flourishing on this bush are they laying them on a cassia instead, an alternative host plant without EFN? Or will they forego breeding here and return north in the spring? Obviously, I need to examine this relationship between host plant and butterfly more closely.

Transition




Typhus augustifolia

  With the growing season transitioning from fall to winter here in the flood plains of northern California, birds of all kinds have begun to stop here on their migratory route. Like the birds, I have landed, seeking nourishment. This refuge is called the Vic Fazio Wildlife Area, a subset of the Sacramento River floodplain. These lands are being restored from their previous use as farmland into a managed wildlife area. This restoration came about in 1997 from the persistence of concerned citizens who formed the Yolo Basin Foundation in 1990, a group with diverse backgrounds that included agriculture and wildlife conservation as well as government and business interests. They formed partnerships with other organizations, creating a public/private enterprise that has set aside 16,000 acres that are continually being restored to a more natural state, providing various ecologies for the wildlife and us to enjoy. From warblers to geese they are beginning to blanket these restored ecosystems that include; permanent wetlands, seasonal wetlands, riparian forests, and grasslands. The California Department of Fish and Game is responsible for managing these acres and work in partnership with the Yolo Basin Foundation. Groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, water quality improvement and flood control are the benefits created by this restoration not to mention the   opportunities for education, research and recreation which continue to draw in supporters.

As I walk through the mudflats and up through the seasonal wetlands with the wind in my face and redwing blackbirds congregating in the cattails I am reminded that this is autumn, a time of transition. Hopefully, we can reflect on our own transition towards this healthier way of life… as Aldo Leopold put it, “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." I am grateful for the abundance of vision and hard work that it took and is taking to nurture this community and I will take my fill from the bounty that surrounds me.

Like a Moth to a Flame

Walking under the moon at night a fragrance pulls at me until I identify its source. As I get closer I realize that it is the flower of the moon vine, Ipomoea alba, opening up and releasing an intoxicating fragrance. This plant is a night blooming morning glory native to the tropics and sub tropics from northern Argentina to Mexico and Florida. It is listed as a perennial in the tropics but in southwest Florida it dies back in the cold and re-emerges in the summer and fall.

Life begins for this plant as the testa on the seed softens and the embryo pushes out to set down roots. Then a shoot grows, twining around shrubs and trees, putting out cordate or heart shaped leaves, leading up to adjacent buds. One at a time the buds mature into long tubular flowers, resembling soft ice cream that spirals towards its apex. Each four inch bud can be visible just before dusk when it begins to unfold. The corolla appears to be an elegant origami unfolding and lasts only a few hours until dawn when it resembles crumpled paper. When opened, the shape and color of the fluted corolla reflects that of a full moon, measuring five to six inches across. Even in its unfolded state, the creases remain, serving as a tactile road map that the moth uses to locate the nectar at the bottom of the long tube with its probiscis. After pollination the ovary swells and then dries releasing white seeds the size of large peas. With more rain the process will begin again.

I can just imagine the thread of scent wafting through the air that reaches out to night pollinating insects including moths. My attraction also ignites a curiosity about the chemical properties of the nectar. Like the moth I can’t resist. Mmm…if only I had a probiscis. For now I am content to relish the fragrance and behold the blossom as I walk on the edge of the woods on a tropical moonlit night.

Contrary

There’s one in every group, one that marches to the beat of a different drummer. Plants usually grow up in search of light but this perennial has found its’ light another way. Spanish moss or Tillandsia usneoides grows down…down through the cypress trees, down into the light, down into the breezes that spread their seed. Tiny green flowers growing in the axils of the leaves pollinated by wind or insect, I don’t know which; create a long, dehiscent seed pod. When the pod ripens, it explodes, propelling seeds with hairy sails. From time to time the wind blows the delicate plant toward limbs where they clasp on with their rough scales, creating a decorative swag from limb to limb and continue to grow down like water pouring over the trees. They are usually found on cypress, oak and sometimes pine here in south Florida. It is not a moss at all but an epiphyte and a plant dependant on its host plant for support not food. Unlike other aerial plants this one does not have any roots. The blue gray scales on the leaves called trichomes have the ability to soak up nutrients, including water and to conserve moisture during periods of drought.

 The pendulous clumps of these soft plants become homes for the yellow throated and northern parula warblers. Other birds use the plant for nesting material. Bats roost in them and there is a jumping spider that also calls it home. Sometimes they become so thick on a branch that when wet, can cause it to break. Over time the growth can actually cut off the light needed by the trees that it uses for support, causing them to weaken. Native Americans found many uses for this plant that include using it as a tea for fevers, the fresh fibers for padding and sponges and the stripped fibers for cordage. Currently, it is used in the plant trade and as stuffing for furniture. I enjoy watching it pour over and down through the swamp.
Being contrary definitely has its’ place.

Falling in Love

Today, my seven year old niece asked me to go with her on a walk by the edge of the Pond Cypress swamp and to bring my camera. She often accompanies me on my photographic outings and today she had plenty of direction for me, pointing out only the best shots. One shot was this water lily, Nymphaea odorata Aiton. The first time I spotted them was years ago, shortly after the meteor showers here in August. When I spotted them floating under the cypress my first thought was that they were the remnants of those shooting stars. I guess technically everything is stardust but on that morning they were particularly bright and dazzled me with their freshness against the rust colored water. Since then I have become accustomed to those floating stars marking the coming of fall when they become more plentiful.

But today they became a fresh discovery. I could hear her breath as she gasped when she eyed the singular blossom. What I heard, I realized, was my niece falling in love. Next time she will want to get closer, maybe examine it and ask me questions about how it lives in the water. I will explain the parts of the flower and maybe draw pictures to help her visualize. We’ll take tissue from the leaf and examine the stomata under the microscope. We’ll spend time observing the other life forms that benefit or are harmed from the lily’s presence. As long as she has questions we will keep learning. As long as she continues to fall in love with nature, then she will continue to care for her world.

In the moment that she gasped I was connected to all of those “first times” that impelled my heart to know more. So, take a child out on a walk to a wild place and fall in love all over again with earthly wonders. The planet’s counting on it!

Turtle's Message

Coming across the Florida Box Turtle, Terrapene Carolina bauri, which resides along the edges of the uplands and wet areas, is a magical experience for me. The Native Americans believe that earth was created by a turtle and that the world rests on her back. The Florida Box Turtle carries her “home” with her and with the aid of a hinged plastron can defend herself against predators by closing her shell. The shell can even regenerate if damaged. Unfortunately, they can’t defend themselves against the loss of their habitat or the increasing fragmentation of their remaining home ranges. Each turtle’s range extends out 750 ft in diameter and if that area is in a subdivision then roads and machinery are their obstacles.

I was fortunate enough to spot this omnivore, as it walked across the grass and nabbed a beetle. The recent rains added to the vibrant yellow stripes on the black domed shell, showcasing a vibrant design of lines and dashes with a raised yellow stripe down the length of the carapace. There seemed to be a hidden message there in a language I couldn’t read, a sort of hieroglyphics. This particular one was a female. The plastron was convex in contrast to the male with a concave plastron and the iris was yellow brown while a male’s is red. They are easy to spot now, either feeding or soaking in the water and hopefully, I will get to witness some egg laying.

Sadly, Florida Herp law allows for these turtles to be collected without a permit. The law states that you may have up to two turtles and two eggs in your possession at any one time. However, you do need a permit if you intend to sell them. I recently read that they bond with the place of their birth and when captured, become stressed and succumb to disease. I hope that others will see that this unique creature needs to stay in the wild and that we need to think carefully about our wildlife corridors if we want them to be around. Perhaps that is the message hidden on their backs.