Tuesday, July 20
The annual butterfly census took place in the morning. Our territory was the Insect Adventure trail, the boardwalk, and the Blair Center area. We made it to 16 different species, but the numbers were much lower than previous years. Brazilian Skippers were the most often seen species. Another group of observers did the north end and reported lower numbers of species and individuals as well.
We also stopped to admire wildflowers along the insect trail. Some of the Ladies-tresses orchids were close to blooming with lots of little white buds. Yellow Bachelor's Button, Yellow-eyed Grass, Coreopsis, Bog Buttons, Rhexia, and Wild Camphorweed were bright and common. Other wildflowers were scattered about but were not as frequent.
Appropriately, the Butterfly Pea at the left was in full bloom toward the end of the insect trail.
Butterfly species that we saw were the usual, although there were a few nice ones that haven't been seen much lately. The Pearl Crescent at the right was at the wildlife crossing, and we saw another plus a Phaon Crescent at the start of the insect trail.
We walked the insect trail early in the morning while it was still somewhat "cooler," and then we did the boardwalk later so we would have a little shade as everything heated up. Some spots along the boardwalk were really pretty. The reflections at the top of the page were between Signs 10 and 11.
Debbie and I, veterans of many Insect Adventure field trips, stopped to examine all insects and small things, not just butterflies. The Brazilian Skipper caterpillar at the left was just beginning to close up its pocket in an Alligator Flag leaf. It got most of it done as we watched, depositing a little bit of "silk" and then pulling it taut. It was a fairly quick procedure, and the caterpillar then crawled deeper into the folded pocket and began to close it up at the open end.
And just in time too -- a Paper Wasp was scouting folds on nearby leaves looking for caterpillars to dice up and feed to its larvae. We also saw Cardinals and Tufted Titmice tearing apart folds on other leaves looking for the caterpillar they hoped would be inside.
Lots of fishing spiders were out and active, including some fresh ones that had just shed their exoskeleton. The young Okeefenokee Fishing Spider at the right was just past the stork gate at the north lake, resting on top of Duckweed and a little Salvinia. Nearby were two Six-spotted Fishing Spiders and one White-banded Fishing Spider, all in the same pose. It must have been a good spot for prey, but the smaller spiders gave the larger ones a wide berth, just in case.
Bob Mellor saw one of the bear cubs disappearing into the cypress trees near the "Be Quiet" sign near the Bunting House cutoff.
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at the left was along the boardwalk between the Bunting House and the Gator Hole on Tuesday afternoon. Its feathers make it appear as though it needs a shave. Gnatcatchers have been present all of the days, but they're not very common right now. Tufted Titmice., Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Carolina Wren families account for most of the sightings.
On Wednesday, Judy saw one of the cubs near the Bunting House and later walking along the boardwalk between the lakes. Ed came on the radio to tell volunteers to keep a tremendously great distance between themselves and the cub and to not put the cub in a position where it had people in front of it as well as behind it. He was concerned that the cub would panic, go over the railing into the deeper water, and be killed and eaten by an Alligator, which would be a very definite possbility.
We heard these conversations on the radio as we were returning from the monthly north end bird census. We tallied 26 species at the north end, but it was all of the regulars that would be expected. However, we did see one Barred Owl up close when we stopped the truck and it happened to be sitting at eye level about 12-15 feet away. It looked back at us and then slowly turned its head back to the water to resume looking for prey. There was also a white phase Short-tailed Hawk that was startled as the truck approached and flew low, directly over the bed of the truck where we were standing.
While waiting in the parking lot before taking off in the truck, two pairs of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flew over and the hummingbirds were active around the Rosekrans Butterfly Garden.
One nice observation late Tuesday, not actually in the Sanctuary but close, was a trio of young Wood Storks foraging in the roadside ditch along Sanctuary Road. One had to be one of this year's fledglings because its head was still fuzzy.
Friday, July 23
The day was quite short for several reasons. The primary one was that the Sanctuary closed at noon to the public because of the possible high winds and rain from T.S. Bonnie. It also rained most of the morning, but not heavily. Bonnie was much ado about nothing as it turned out and was pretty much of a non-event.
Nonetheless, with no visitors and light rain, there wasn't much going on. Flowers and frogs liked the weather, but everything else was subdued. The Swamp Lilies at the left were blooming near the Red Maple sign past the north lake.
Carolina Wrens were the most vocal of the birds, often chattering and calling from higher up in cypress trees that we're accustomed to seeing them. We did hear a Limpkin calling from the north lake as we watched Black-bellied Whistling Ducks circle overhead. The ducks, wrens, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were the most active of the birds. We only saw one vulture, a grumpy looking Turkey Vulture perched in a snag along the entrance trail during the morning rain. The only birds active in the air were Chimney Swifts, although one flight of White Ibis, perhaps a dozen birds, did fly over in the morning.
The orphaned Black Bear cub was inside the Living Machine on Thursday according to Ed, but we didn't see or hear any sign of it today. Florida Fish & Wildlife estimates it is about six months old and too young to be on its own. Ed asked that volunteers report if it seems to be undernourished and the FWC may try to capture and rehab it.
Four different species of frogs were observed during Friday's rain. The small female Pig Frog at the right was beside the south lake rain shelter. Green Treefrogs and a Leopard Frog were seen, and Florida Cricket Frogs were calling from the wet prairie whenever the rain began to fall more heavily.
Previous two weeks: July 9 & July 16