Atala News

June 2011 Atala Conservation Report

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:01:00 +0000

You know that Life has been very busy when this newsletter is so many months behind! I apologize for allowing that happen. Since last summer, I have been helping with Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) surveys for imperiled butterfly species almost every weekend, working full time during the week, presenting lectures, doing monthly children's programs....it has not left much time to write about those things! (Not to mention moving back and forth between Miami and Davie---that's nine moves since January! Sort of like camping out between two beautiful butterfly gardens, but I'll be staying put in Miami for the summer.)

This "Atala Conservation Report" is overdue, but I think you will find it as interesting as I do. I presented a more detailed report for the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group in April. Atala activity has been virtually non-existent, especially in Broward and Palm Beach this year, but some very thought-provoking information was uncovered in the process of preparing the presentation.

Over the past seven years, I have documented atala activity in 132 sites, primarily in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. There is a wide margin of error: I am only aware of sites that people have told me about or that I have found; and I am more aware of Broward County sites because I usually live there! There may be (and hopefully are) hundreds of other locations....So...If you have information that would change any of my information, PLEASE let me know. I would love to be proven wrong on the site numbers!

It is significant that of these 132 sites, only 17 have been active in the past two years, and only nine sites have had any activity this year. The types of sites with atala activity vary between the three counties, too. The data also shows that 2007-2008 produced "bumper crops" of atalas. Perhaps this is another reason why many people are feeling exceptionally deprived this year. The cold fronts apparently impacted the colonies for the worst and now the drought seems to have affected many of the butterfly species (host and nectar plants are stressed).

For purposes of this report, the following descriptions characterize the five types of sites where atalas have been documented during these seven years:

Any location on private property, owned by an individual, is designated as a “Private Garden.” Your yard would be considered a “Private Garden.”
Any place that is openly accessible to the general public is labeled as a “Public Park,” even if it isn’t actually a city, county, state or federal park. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and Bill Baggs State Park are both designated as a “Public Park” because they are fully accessible to the public.
Any site that is located in an area completely bordered by concrete, such as highways, streets, paved parking lots, etc., is labeled an “Urban Lot.” Most of the Urban Lots have ornamental coontie planted along the curbs or in small landscaped clusters nearby, and most also have some kind of flowering plants as well. The parking lots of a mall, as well as a median strip dividing a highway, are both considered “Urban Lots.”
Another site type is designated as a “School Campus” and includes any educational facilities such as elementary schools and university campuses. These usually contain a mixture of large open green spaces, parking lots, buildings, and ornamental landscaping, and often a butterfly garden containing coontie.
The last kind of site description is labeled as a “Preserve.” It designates natural areas or other ecosystems that are locked and generally inaccessible to the general public (except with permits). There are numerous ‘preserves’ that are not actually off-limits to human activity, such as Big Cypress Preserve. For purposes of this report, a site is labeled as a Preserve only if there is virtually no public access to it.

Because we live in an extremely urbanized environment, practically all of these sites could be labeled as “Urban Lots” and the differentiation between them may be very subtle and in some cases, subjective.

For example, several sites with atala activity were actually plant nurseries. I elected to identify most of those sites as “Public Parks” because they are accessible to the public and actually have quite a bit in common with parks! A few were designated as “Urban Lots,” however, because they are literally in the middle of a highly developed area.

In Palm Beach County, I have documented only 28 sites with atala activity since 2003, and all but two of the sites have been inactive this year. I hesitate to call these sites “colonies” since many of the locations do not have ‘continued occupancy,’ and the atalas abandon the site(s) after a generation or two, or experience freeze-back and do not return. Of those 28 sites, twelve are recorded as Public Parks. Six are logged as Urban Lots. Eight are located in Private Gardens and two are documented on a School Campus. There are none located in true Preserves.

In Broward County, the picture is somewhat different. Here, I have documented a total of sixty-three sites in the past seven years. Thirteen Public Parks, six Urban Lots, and thirty-five Private Gardens have had verified atala activity. There are four School Campuses and two true Preserves with atala activity. Something that should gladden the hearts of our Broward County butterfly gardeners is that more than a third of the Private Garden sites have been certified as “wildlife or butterfly friendly” by one or more environmentally-aware organizations such as NABA, Audubon, the National or Florida Wildlife Federation, NatureScape Broward, or UF/IFAS Extension’s Florida Friendly Yards. It made a difference.

Miami-Dade County has twenty-five locations recorded as Public Parks, two as campuses, but only one Urban Lot….and surprisingly, only ten private gardens have been documented. The three true Preserves were difficult to tease out because many of the Public Parks have locked areas associated with them. Basically, if the atala activity was documented in the Public park section, it is designated as such; if the activity was recorded in the locked section, it was scored as a Preserve.

Miami-Dade also boasts two massive federal parks, Everglades National Park (ENP) and Biscayne National Park (BNP). There have been atalas documented in both locations, but the atala activity in ENP was a result of our human intervention as we released thousands when we were trying to re-establish the species between the years 2004 to 2008. BNP has recorded a stray atala several times in the past few years, but reports have not been verified.

So here's the score board:

	Public Parks	Urban Lots	Private Gardens	School Campuses	Preserves
Palm Beach County	12	6	8	2	0
Broward County	15	6	35	6	1
Miami-Dade County	25	1	10	2	3

One of the most significant findings in this study, particularly in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, is that these locations form very clear-cut corridors on the map. I have previously mentioned Sam Wright’s important 2007 study on Key Biscayne, which showed that the atala butterfly did in fact disperse from Crandon Park to Cape Florida—a distance of only two miles took three years! But the important thing is that the people in the Village of Key Biscayne planted coontie and nectar sources for the butterfly and it had a corridor to follow. Unfortunately, neither of these two locations has recorded new activity since 2008.

In both Broward and Miami-Dade, the documented sites of atala activity are literally within a few miles of each other, and often within a few blocks of each other. It does not matter if the sites are public or private, but more that they are close to each other and contain the necessary ingredients for "happy hairstreaks.' I find that promising for future colony strength.

The map, which unfortunately I can’t show you on the blog, underlined some important inferences about the atala. First, private gardens are as important to the species' survival as we thought (Smith, 2000; Koi, 2008) Secondly, corridors are being used by the butterfly to self-establish in suitable habitat (that includes every one of the categories). Quite a few of the sites were self-established in the sense that no human assisted in their arrival, and all of these self-established ‘colonies’ were within a few miles of the closest known site.

Third, it was once proffered that the atala needed a “coastal” environment to thrive (Kilmer, 1992). Indeed, some of the most stable and prolific colonies have been near the coast. However, I think that perhaps this presumed ‘preference for the coast’ may have been an artifact of the environment. Until eighty years ago, the east coast of Florida was only six to ten miles wide. The Everglades was literally that close to the Atlantic Ocean, so everywhere in south east Florida was “coastal” to some extent. Southeast Florida has been drastically altered by canals, diminished wetlands, invasive vegetation and cities built on miles artificial landfilled territory. A question to consider now is, “How many miles from the ocean are still considered coastal?”

One of the surprising self-established colonies, in a National Wildlife Federation certified garden, showed up nearly 27 miles from the shore. It was also less than 8 miles from the Everglades. I think this further establishes that this species not only needs our gardens, it will seek out our gardens, and we are important in its survival!

In other news, many of us have been helping Florida Wildlife Commission and FNAI search for Schaus Swallowtails in the Florida Keys and Biscayne National Park's offshore islands. It is sometimes extremely difficult work, but we have been rewarded with a number of sightings. To get to the islands, we have to be escorted by boat. This is Rhodes Key in the distance. Then we sometimes have to wade to shore as there are no docks...this is me and Caitlyn Fisher waiting for a ride back to the mainland after a hike through the thickets. Some of the islands have no trails, and although the drought has been extremely detrimental to the vegetation, it also meant there were fewer mosquitoes....fewer, but we still had to wear mosquito suits!

And some of the FNAI surveys have been very rewarding for the beautiful wildflowers...this is flowering Buttonbush, found at Snake Warrior's Island in south Broward County....what a gorgeous sight! The park is restored and is quite large with plenty of trails.
The next photo is a target FNAI species, a Baracoa Skipper, taken by Barbara DeWitt, on the ubiquitous Spanish Needles flowers. "Poor Man's Patch" and "Green-Eyed Grass" flowers were found in Miami-Dade, as well as the migrating Checkered White butterfly. I happened across a majesty of migrating whites that stopped to nectar and lay eggs on their host plants in an abandoned field in south South Dade. It was quite a treat of hundreds of fluttering jewels that included Great Southern Whites!

And please join us for the next NABA count! We will be doing the Coral Gables Count in Miami-Dade on June 25 (miamiblue at bellsouth.net). The south Broward counts will take place on June 26 (bcbcmail at gmail.com or cycad49 at aol.com) and the north count on July 23. There is a $3 fee which helps support NABA; it is great fun and you do not need to be an expert to participate. We are also seeking people to help with FNAI surveys in all three counties~~We need you!

Last but not least, I'll be leaving for Gainesville at the end of the summer....it is time to get serious about pursuing those higher academic levels. I am so looking forward to learning and working with the experts at the University of Florida, and the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera.

Happy Shavuos!

January 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:17:00 +0000

Hoping that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season, and is looking forward to a promising and fulfilling New Year for 2011.

The atala populations have been affected strongly by the cold fronts that have moved through South Florida in the past few weeks, but the good news is that there remains a few hardy individuals here and there in colonies that have been fairly stable over the years. Unfortunately, this hasn't been true for many of the private gardens.

The adults I have seen in November and December appeared to be fresh and newly emerged; the pupae were all about a week away from emergence after each cold front. I found no eggs or larvae, but because I saw adults and pupae later, those life stages were hiding somewhere!

I am back in Miami-Dade for the month of January, so there will be opportunities to monitor the new sites we've discovered doing surveys for FNAI (see below!) Miami-Dade county has been extremely supportive in my atala surveys, as well as issuing permits for Miami Blue NABA so that we can gain access to natural areas, to look for the atalas as well as other imperiled species.

The cold weather~and the holidays~have made getting out to do surveys more difficult, especially as you have most likely noticed, most butterflies are hunkered down for warmth deep in the understories and canopies of un-trampled places! If you are interested in participating in surveys for Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI), there are plenty of opportunities coming this year to get involved. If you live in Miami-Dade County, contact Elane Nuehring (MiamiBlue (at) Bellsouth dot net); if you live in Broward, contact me (sa

ndykoi2009 (at) gmail dot com) or Barbara DeWitt (badewitt (at) gmail dot com). We would love to have you join us for a field trip or two!

I photographed the atala above nectaring on ubiquous Spanish Needles (Bidens alba) in south Miami-Dade last November. The Lyside was photographed by Barbara DeWitt; these are two of the imperiled species we have found in our survey areas...and there have been many others, as well.

It is exciting to find any of the 28 or so species we are searching for, but just as fun to find things we are not looking for...such as the Gopher Tortoise, taken by me at one of the sites. FNAI is also tracking the tortoises, as well as other animals, so we are delighted when we find them.

Here are some photos of other things you've been missing! This big soft green moth is a Pluto Sphinx (Xylophanes pluto). The host plants include Firebush (Hamelia patens), many of the Chiococca species and Pentas. The delicate little white moth is called a Small Frosted Wave

(Scopula lautaria). It is a species of Geometrid moths, named for their dizzying array of bands, stripes, patterns and camouflaging colors. The caterpillars are called loopers or "inch worms" because of they walk by spanning a length with their forelegs and then pulling up their hind quarters to meet their front legs....as though they were measuring inches.

We have also seen a cluster of Io Moth caterpillars (Automeris io), which have spines that sting if they are touched. The adult moth is beautiful,with huge "eye markings" on the hind wings. We see many other non-target species of butterflies, as well.

Speaking of which, come to the our Broward County Butterfly Club NABA meetings, held at 6:30 PM on the second Thursday of the months (except summer). The meetings are held at the Broward County extension office (3245 College Avenue, Davie). On January 13, come learn about the beautiful native Coreopsis species in Florida from Rosie Sidelko. On February 10, Tim Breaseale will be teaching a hands-on workshop to teach you how to get the most out of your digital camera (Tim makes a living as a photographer and I met him in Ecuador, where he taught us the same!) On May 12, Hank Poor from Miami Blue NABA will be sharing his amazing macro-photos of the Secret Life of butterfly biology. Every meeting is a chance to schmooze with other butterfly enthusiasts, learn new things and pick up some native plant bargains for your garden at the raffle. If this cold continues, we may all need to replenish the garden this spring and meetings are a perfect opportunity to do so.

I will be leading a native plant installation at Stan Goldman Park (800 Knight's Road) in Hollywood on January 9th, from 1 to 3 PM for the City of Hollywood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. I will be there earlier in the morning to monitor for imperiled butterfly species, as well. Stan Goldman Park is accessed off Johnson Street, just southwest of the I-95 highway, behind the small convenience store. It spans the area between Johnson and Hollywood Boulevard; we'll be planting in the restoration area and removing invasive plants.

There will be another native plant identification and non-native plant removal program at Sheridan Oak Forest (the natural area in John Williams Park, 6101 Sheridan Street) on February 13, from 1 to 3 PM. Again, I will be there earlier, if you would like to join me to look for imperiled butterfly species for FNAI. We have had some very successful programs in the past few months, with Girl Scout troops and high school students. These photos are of ecology-minded volunteer students doing invasive plant removals Holland Park.

We have monthly programs scheduled until June and it is not all hard work! As we walk the trails in the parks, you can learn about our native plants, the parks, the butterflies, birds, animals and the ecosystems. This pleasant little lake was photographed at one of our survey sites last year....we see many such scenes every time we are out!

And speaking of beauty....

....the Lunar Eclipse/Solstice was a sight!

Although I took many photos, my little camera works best with small creatures such as butterflies. The Moon required the skills and camera of my friend Josh Feingold, whose photo graces this paragraph! We were among those who awoke in the middle of the night to watch the Solstice festivities in the sky. The next time this special event takes place at the same time as the Winter Solstice will be in 2094....if you missed it in this lifetime, you'll have to make a spiritual note to witness it in another incarnation!

One more quick note...you gotta check out his video of a Hawk Moth pollinating a Ghost Orchid in Big Cypress!!!

Make a resolution in 2011 to participate in Citizen Science projects, and help scientists fill in the gaps about the vast array of Life this blue-haloed unique little planet we call Earth!

Wishing you blue skies, warm sunshine and brightly colored butterflies and birds in the Year of the Rabbit!

August 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 21:34:00 +0000

Unfortunately, the atalas are crashing almost everywhere...for everyone! In fact, in the past few weeks, I have gotten quite a few emails from people with atala gardens, as well as from organizations, telling me that this year either the butterfly did not show up, or did and has already crashed. The slight showing we had in June crashed without the usual irruption. I took this photo in south South Dade a few years ago, but it is not there this year.

In turn, this crash instigated an influx of requests for "where to find atalas"...I do not want to be too tough here, but the atala is not a commodity that can be ordered up like a lunch plate, or picked up at the handy-dandy local marketplace!

So I have to add with all seriousness: PLEASE do not take any pupae or larvae from a site IF you do find them somewhere. With the colonies collapsing the way they are now, taking pupae or larvae from a site could be very detrimental for the colony....although I am sure that some of you may thinking that it would be 'helping' the atala to establish new sites, what you may not realize that you may indeed be causing two sites to die out...yours and the one from which you took individuals!

Think of this: There has to be a certain number of viable adults of both sexes for the colony to survive (as well as host plants and nectar sources for the adults). If you remove any life stage from a site that is barely hanging on, the colony may die out completely. There is a good chance that the individuals you take from another site, to put in your garden, will not survive (for many reasons!) In fact, more introduced colonies fail than succeed!

On the other hand, when an irruption does occur, there are usually an abundance of larvae or pupae that people can collect in an attempt to 'seed' their own colony or establish a new one. Always take within reason when that occurs, and only with owner permission; follow a conservative guesstimate so that there are still plenty of individuals in all life stages in the extant colony --unless, of course, the owner wants you to take them all because the coontie plant is more valuable to them than the butterfly! I don't get that value-system, and probably neither do you, but some people really are like that :-)

Also remember that you are probably not the only one taking larvae or pupae from a site. If you take ten larvae, and John Doe takes ten pupae, and Jane Doe takes another ten of each...well, you get the picture. This is one reason why I seldom give out specific locations on this blog. People can cause a collapse as quickly as weather or other natural causes. I have had organizations ask me point blank if people steal their atala larvae or pupae and I have to answer that it has been known to happen....But, by removing individuals in any life stage from a colony, you are altering the natural balance of the colony, and it may fail.

Everyone wants to have this beautiful butterfly in their garden. Right now, everyone's coontie plants are flush with new green growth and the nectar sources are rich. With so much available for the atala right now, the fact that it is not showing up is telling us that the insect is not doing well this year.

The past two winters of lower-than-normal temperatures has given them a slower-than-usual year. Again, this may be part of a bigger cycle of which we are still learning. So...if you do find a colony, I would appreciate your letting me know, as this is one of the insects that I am tracking not only for my own research, but for Florida Natural Areas Inventory, too (more on that below).

The atala is truly an insect "poster child" for the many challenges that butterflies face, perhaps even more so than many other butterflies--because once established, the atala will happily live in your garden and people feel a personal loss when their colonies crash. After all, people have a lot invested in their colony....time, money and emotions!

I'll be speaking about the atala colonies and population status for Butterfly Days, organized by the Miami Blue Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), and hosted by Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens on September 25, 2010, at 2:30 PM. This event is a winner for everyone and I do hope that you will join us for one of the events, September 24-26th!

I have also accepted the position as liaison between FNAI and the Broward County Chapter of NABA, as well. This is a much needed Citizen Science project in which anyone and everyone who loves butterflies (and other wildlife) can get involved! I'll be presenting a program about the project, the butterfly species we're looking for, and how you can make a contribution to the FNAI database at the Broward County IFAS Extension Office (3245 College Avenue, Davie, FL 33314; 954-370-3725) on August 12, 2010, at 7 PM.

Come early to browse the plant raffle, filled with native butterfly plants supplied by our members and chat with nature-loving people like yourself! FNAI is tracking nearly thirty species in Broward County and the volunteer work you do is important: it helps scientists establish management plans for imperiled butterfly species, make suggestions to the State of Florida's policies, and impact federal guidelines.

This lovely Statira butterfly, by your truly, was one of the FNAI target species that we found in Broward County! The Lyside Sulphur, another target species, was photographed by Barbara DeWitt on one of our forays in Broward.

This is a photograph that I took of a Dainty Yellow (Nathalis iole) very early in the morning at one of our survey sites...it is not a target species, but I liked the way the rising sun shone through the wings as it nectared on Fogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), surrounded by the morning mist!

I have been performing surveys for FNAI for the past month, sometimes with Barbara DeWitt, and we have been very pleased to locate four of the targeted species in previously unknown locations! The surveys also helps us establish new distribution and range maps for the species. The Miami Blue NABA chapter has also located several of the more southerly species and I would venture to say that Palm Beach NABA has been as busy.

You can be a part of this exciting research study and I urge you to join us this Thursday night to learn more about how you can help with the surveys!

Hug the trees~hug your friends and family~ and go find butterflies!

July 2010 Atalas are back!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:19:00 +0000

The atalas appeared at some locations in June right on "schedule", but they haven't appeared yet at other places where they have been stable for years. Reports are positive for Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Plantation home sites, Tree Tops County Park, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens and Crandon Park. They are negative for more sites than they are active this month, but the important thing is that they are back. This is a photo I took at Nova Southeastern University.

If you have a colony or wish to establish a colony, please feel free to contact me. Sooner or later, the hope is that the active colonies will be irrupting and will be 'volunteered' to participate in 'assisted re-location' to a new site....maybe yours! The

good news is that the host plants, coontie, are flourishing with bright green new growth.

Many friends met at Fern Forest Park on Saturday afternoon, June 26, 2010, to pay homage to the extraordinary life of Walter Johnston, who passed away in early June. He will be very missed by all of us: Master Gardeners, NABA members, American Orchid Society members, garden clubs, NatureScape people, the IFAS extension office, and National Wildlife Federation Habitat Stewards, as well as many others. Walter was an exemplar for environmental stewardship, butterfly gardening and just a wonderful, loving humane being. He is survived by his wife Mona, who has sent many of the photos that you have seen on this blog, including the "Butterfly Oracle 2010" posted in January. We feel that the Monarch Oracle was telling Walter that his transition was going toward a more spectacular future in another realm. He will be greatly missed, but we're sure that he's on to bigger and better projects.

The July Butterfly Count for the Broward County Butterfly Chapter (BCBC) of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) will be taking place in the North Circle on July 17th, 2010. We can always use extra help covering the areas. You can sign up at BCBC's website, or contact Barbara DeWitt (badewitt at comcast dot net) for Hugh Taylor Birch; Sandy Fernandes (sanav at comcast dot net) for Hillsboro Pinelands; Nancy Johns (blacktail07 at yahoo dot com) or myself (sandykoi2009 at gmail dot com) for Crystal Lake Preserve counts.

There is a $3 fee to participate, which supports national NABA; children are welcome~they often see things we adults miss! If you live by Tamarind Village, contact Mona Johnston (12banger at bellsouth dot net).

If you've never been to Hillsboro, here are some photos of what you've been missing. Although it is mostly pinelands, there are hammocks as well, and this little tree-lined lake in the north section is where you could see the Ruddy Daggerwing butterfly.

This gorgeous flower is called Feay's Palafox (Palafoxia feayi).

At Crystal Lake Preserve, a scrub ecosystem, you can see plant rarities such as Tallowwood, also known as Hog Plum (Ximenia americana), the delicate little yellow flowers of this Narrowleaf Silkgrass (Pityopsis graminfolia), and Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) with its beautiful pink inflorescence.

You just gotta love pink grass!

You can also participate as a 'garden watcher' if your garden is located within the count area! All you have to do is note the butterflies in your garden, the length of time you observed, have the GPS location of your home, and let one of us know what you saw. It's very easy. The North Circle count area can be found on BCBC's webpage. Garden watchers must also donate the $3 participant fee and the data is equally important because it allows scientists to locate the range of a species more precisely.

And sometimes, you may see a rare one, such as this Goatleaf Leafwing, taken by the late David Lysinger from the Miami Blue NABA Chapter.

On that note, please come to the next Broward County NABA meeting on August 12, 2010, at the Broward County IFAS Extension office located at 3245 College Avenue in Davie. The meeting will start at 7 PM, but come early for friendly conversation and a look at the plant raffle. It is always possible to find rare native butterfly plants and the price is right! I'll be presenting a PowerPoint titled "Endangered, Threatened, Vulnerable and Imperiled Butterflies: Citizen Science needs YOU!"

Learn how you can participate in some vitally important Citizen Science projects for Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) and the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group (IBWG). The Florida State-run organizations have the difficult job of tracking some extremely rare biota. FNAI tracks plants, animals, insects and even ecosystems. IBWG tracks imperiled butterflies. Both are tracking the atala, by the way, as well as other uncommon butterflies such as the Florida White. My friend Paola Hernandez took this photo at Castellow Hammock.

Come to the meeting to learn how to document the butterflies that are being tracked, where to look for them, and what to do when you find them. FNAI even has some perks, such as travel reimbursement, for serious watchers.

I will be leading a "Walk on the Wild Side" at John Williams Park, Sheridan Oak Forest, in Hollywood (6101 Sheridan Avenue, just west of St Rd 441), on July 5, 2010 from 9 AM to noon. This is one of the areas that FNAI would like more butterfly data about. I've documented 17 species of butterflies at the park, and one Io Moth, but more eyes means more sightings. If you'd like to help pull exotics in this "balmy" summer air, bring water, gloves and a trowel, too, for some work time. This is me explaining how important the Sabal Palmetto, our State Tree, was to our first inhabitants and early settlers.

Nova Southeastern University held an interesting in-depth seminar and public discussion about the Deepwater Horizon oil leak on June 16, 2010. You can find articles from most of the speakers and some videos of the lectures on the Nova website. The program helped participants understand the many aspects involved in the leak, the clean-up efforts, and our dependency on oil, for practically everything, not just your car!

You can also download a paper prepared by Robert Jarvis, Professor of Law at Shepard Broad Law Center, about the complex legalities surrounding the disaster. I found his information helpful in comprehending why President Obama (or anyone else) can't just 'crack the whip', so to speak, to get efforts moving along more quickly, as well as the complications surrounding the accountability of BP (or someone) for the massive impact on people and animals, economies and eco-systems.

You can also find the latest information on oiled birds being reported, including here on the eastern Florida coast, at Cornell's eBird site. Yet another example of how important Citizen Science is!

For another look at "Hands Across the Sands" last weekend, take a look at my friend Roberta Shaw's webpages, CritterTales! This wonderful site has pages of activities for kids (some of which I helped produce back 'in the day'), as well as Roberta's incredible photography of wildlife. Check out the "Walking the Ridge" pages, too, for stories about the Ridge Forest Preserve, located on the back side of Tree Tops Park in Davie. There is even a page with free wallpaper downloads of her beautiful photographs for your computer.

Although I don't usually promote my art on this blog, I would like to let you know that I am selling a unique silver pendant that I designed and silversmith friend Fran Davis produced. The Hebrew calligraphy around the perimeter of the pendant is the word "Shalom," which means 'peace' and 'wholeness.' The four Shaloms that circle the center represent the four corners of the earth. The Sanskrit word in the center is "Om," said to embody the Creation of the World. The "Om Shalom" pendant is a visual prayer for peace and wholeness encircling the world.

The pendants are $38 each, plus $2 shipping and handling. It is available in a domed or flat design (flat is shown here because it reproduces better in a photograph). The pendant is .925 g of Sterling Silver and 25mm (0.98 ") in diameter. Necklace cord is not included so that you can choose your own style. Call or email to order (954-449-5428 or sandykoi2009 at gmail dot com.)

Remember to keep Gaia-Earth in your prayers and meditations! Wishing you all a Sweet Summer Solstice & Shalom!

May 2010: Serious meanderings--Oil kills everything....

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:43:00 +0000

"Oil kills everything." These are the words of Jean-Michel Cousteau. It is a serious and dangerous situation we are facing along the shorelines from Texas to Florida. The accident at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig has taken human life, and if projections continue as they are now, we are in more danger than most people can imagine. All of the marine life, and animals that live along the coastal areas, and eventually all of us, will be in serious, even mortal, danger....

I grew up watching Jean-Michel's father, Jacques, explore our oceans. He is one of the reasons that I got my diving certification many years ago. There is nothing more mesmerizing than floating among a school of colorful fish as they cascade around you under the serene crystal clear environment in the water. And nothing is as heart-breaking as knowing that this beautiful life in the Gulf and our oceans are being devastated by such an avoidable disaster.

Watch a YouTube video made by the Cousteau team at the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig. Jean-Michel was at Valdez after it struck the coast of Alaska. He says that this oil leak is eight times worse than Valdez....that it will last for decades, and that in truth, the oil from the Valdez is still present in the waters there.

Sadly, one of the reasons that this oil leak is so destructive is because it is now the breeding or spawning season for hundreds, even thousands, of species that call the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding estuaries and coastlines home. It is the breeding season for big marine life, including the Blue Fin Tuna, Blue Whales, endangered Sperm Whales, and many other species of whales. For a list of protected species that call the Gulf home, visit NOAA.

The endangered Kemp's Ridley Turtle was one of the first casualities, but endangered Hawksbill, Leatherback and Loggerghead turtles, as well as threatened Green turtles also live in the Gulf. Nine species of dolphins live in the waters, including Bottlenose, Atlantic Spotted and Risso's dolphins. Imagine looking out over the once-blue waters and not seeing a dolphin because they have all been killed by toxic oil!

It is also spawning season for endangered Nassau Grouper and Speckled Hind Grouper, and many smaller species of fish. It is nesting season for Least Terns, Northern Gannets, Magnificient Frigatebirds, and Brown Pelicans....all of which nest along the shore and estuaries.

In the article by Scientific American, "Oil in Gulf Spells Disaster for Young Birds as Breeding Season Unfolds," Jan Dubuisson of the Gulfport, Mississippi Audubon Chapter talks about the rehabilitation efforts needed to help these birds survive. This is a photo from the slide show of a Northern Gannet, whose white feathers have been coated with oil from the Deepwater leak.
I did wildlife rehabilitation for nearly ten years a long time ago, and I can tell you that this is a traumatic experience for the animals, but that without help, they will die from the toxins.
So far, "...24 birds have been rescued from the Gulf of Mexico waters around oil-spill containment ships or on beaches, where volunteers and experts are on the lookout....The birds rescued so far include Northern Gannets, Pelicans, a Sora, a Magnificient Frigatebird, and Laughing Gulls, along with a handful of unexpected species [such as] rock doves and a cattle egret that are not generally expected to come into contact with the oil," Dubuisson said.

You may be wondering why we should care about species that we don't eat or use in some way (I am refraining from using the word "exploit" here, but I am biting my tongue). Even if we don't use them in some way, the animals that people eat also have to eat to survive: all those bottom dwellers, filter feeders (oysters, mussels, scallops, clams, etc.), small fish and plankton are the base of the food web. Some people seem to think if the oil sinks to the bottom, all will be fine. We won't see it, they think....but it will suffocate everything that lives on the bottom (if it hasn't already been killed by long-line fishing or drag netting). And everything that lives on the bottom feeds the next layer on the food web, which feeds the next layer, and so on...until it reaches the tuna and other species that many people eat....

The eggs of the spawning marine life will suffocate, and any of the surviving offspring (called fry when very young and fingerlings later) will suffocate in the "dispersed" oil. You may think that they will be able to swim 'away'...a fry or fingerling is so small that they can't swim 'away' from a disaster of this magnitude....2500 square miles of oil and increasing daily.

We need to realize that there is NO 'AWAY' here....we live in a delicately balanced terrarium on this planet. There is no 'away' for our refuse, no 'away' for our disasters, no 'away' from anything.
Everything we do affects the entire globe, whether economically or environmentally.
Consider that 95% of the US fishing industry is based in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf and the ocean are Florida's livelihood, whether via vacationing tourists who come here to dive, fish, bird, or sail....or via the people who work in those recreational and vacation businesses. I haven't mentioned the coral reefs and the estuaries! Florida Bay is already endangered because our past and current rape of the Everglades water flow....

It is very fortunate indeed that the BioBlitz at Biscayne National Park took place before this happened. We now have baseline data that will help scientists monitor the changes should this leak creep up the east coast and into the Gulf Stream. Audubon has been counting bird populations for a hundred years, so we know the status of our bird populations (here and worldwide). Any many other smaller groups have been doing the same for other species (herps, reptiles, butterflies, dragonflies...in moments of despair, I think that at least future generations will have a detailed record of what we have destroyed in the last few hundred years!)

But you can do things to help! Particpate in one of these Citizen Science projects. We need people to go out and monitor beach nesting birds, count butterflies and help scientists monitor potential problems before they get out of hand.

Urge legislation to BAN OFF-SHORE DRILLING, and encourage alternative energy production. (Solar is the way to go...wind vanes kill birds by the millions, and coal is NOT clean, no matter what is done to it...it is toxic, polluting and devastating. I have seen firsthand the damage here and in Ecuador.)

Email President Obama and Governor Crist, and our senators and congressmen, including your county commissioners!

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO BIRDS (and other animals) that get caught in oil taken from the Boston Globe....Warning: this will break your heart. I am posting so that you and others really understand what is happening to these innocent creatures. I worked in wildlife rehabiltation and in an emergency vet hospital for many years. Many of these creatures will die before they get help, and some will die from the trauma of the rescue....

If you have wildlife experience, get HAZMAT 3 training to help with oil response. If you want to volunteer, get HAZMAT 2 training. It is free and available locally through efforts coordinated with the Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale, and the National Humane Society (contact Debbie Drake). I know that there are not enough classes offered and that the notice may be too short for many (Although I missed it on the west coast because I found out about it on the day it was offered and I was working; I just found out about the virtual training below!)

VIRTUAL TRAINING is now available through BP's website. Take the courses online and print out your certification to help hands-on as a volunteer or rehabilitator.

If you can't take HAZMAT training, there are other ways to help. Audubon chapters are collecting towels and other necessary clean-up items, especially Dawn dishwashing liquid (the original brand only).

Hair booms don't work well, as reported by MSNC News and CBS News --it doesn't work as well as touted (it sinks to the bottom when it gets water-logged); so I stand corrected on that attempt to pass along helpful information. DON'T send any more hair to a Matter of Trust , which was collecting hair for that purpose.

For current news about the leak and how to help, contact Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

And visit Global Coherence Initiative in your prayers and meditations to the planet, people and animals. We need spiritual energy as much as we need physical help in this emergency....

The good news is that I'll be moving back to Miami next month :-)

May 2010-BioBlitz: Wildflowers, Butterflies & Moths Galore

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Fri, 07 May 2010 02:14:00 +0000

Have you noticed the plethora of tiny yellow butterflies that are fluttering en masse over the 'weedy' or grassy areas in your neighborhood? Take a serious look at the median strips between the highways you travel every day on your way to and from work....if you carefully observe the seemingly empty space, you will see an amazing migratory event occurring before your eyes. We all know about the Monarch, but there are over 38 species of semi- or migratory butterflies in South Florida! The tiny (less an inch wingspan) Dainty Yellow (Nathalis iole) is one semi-migratory species. You will see them congregating in areas where the ubiquitous wildflower Spanish Needles (Bidens alba), its host plant, flourishes. The miniscule wildflower Fogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) and small pink Mexican Clover (Richardia species) grow rampant in these areas and are some of the diminutive nectar sources for this tiny butterfly. Dainty Yellows disperse northward, but are not true migrants. This photo was taken at Hillsboro Pineland last year, nectaring on the invasive exotic flower Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata).

On the other hand, you could be seeing Barred Yellows (Eurema daira), which is not much bigger than the Dainty. They are a true migratory species, and they are also on the move now. Their host plants, Pencil Flower (Stylosanthes hamata) and Joint Vetches (Aeschynmene species) also grow in these disturbed sites, along roadways, in abandoned lots and natural areas.

As UF lepidopterist Thomas Walker exclaimed in his 1991 paper, "81.2 million butterflies between Gainesville and Okeechobee (an area of 51,600 Km2) would scarcely be noticeable...." Nor are they any more noticeable between Okeechobee and Fort Lauderdale! Certainly not at highway speeds...you can't safely slow down on the highway, but you can observe the median at the traffic light. There is always something to see!

Along with wishing that the incredible fragrant inflorescences of our palms were not cut down by mad-hackers in the landscape business, I wish that the median strips between highways were allowed to flourish with the array of wildflowers that grow there. This is one of many issues being addressed by the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group. I remember calling FDOT thirty-some years ago asking them to please not cut the wildflowers growing along the turnpike, because as soon as they did, the majesty of butterflies disappeared. Their response was that people complained about snakes and rats, so they cut the habitat down. How inane...where do they think those animals went? To the backyards of the people who complained about seeing them, of course!

Wildflowers are a-bloom now that spring has finally arrived. Take a walk and look for the subtle beauty of these rare and delicate flowers sprouting along the roadways. I have seen our state flower, Coreopsis, the brilliant Narrow-Leaved Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) shown here, the ill-named but pretty little-flowered Toadflax (Linearis canadensis), Water Dropwort (Oxypolis filiformis) and Oakleaf Fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius) and many others!

These wildflowers have miraculously survived massive condo and retail developments, and the concretization of the land, all in the name of civilization. To quote Thoreau: "If a man [or woman] walks in the woods for the love of them half of each day, he is danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off these woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen."

One of the most exciting things to occur was the 2010 BioBlitz at Biscayne National Park, in conjunction with National Geographic Society (NGS), April 30-May 1. Think of it as a huge 24-hour "Nature Nerd Festival"! Over two hundred scientists in many fields from all over converged on the park and canvassed every habitat, nook and cranny, to document every species in any taxon that could be found. When we left, the count was over 800 species, with reports still being compiled by NGS.
This is Sea Oxeye Daisy, a beautiful coastal plant that sometimes colonizes in semi-urban areas as well as on beaches. This lovely specimen was photographed on Elliott Key.

There were marine biologists, diving to record corals, nudibranchs, fish, crustaceans and marine mammals. There were ornithologists, netting and banding birds (including Painted Buntings!) There were botanists, lepidopterists, entomologists, herpetologists and mycologists. There were students and volunteers, as well as school groups in the afternoon to learn about science. There were people studying the lichens, ants, beetles, trees and flowers!

This is one of our biggest native moths, the Black Witch (Ascalapha odorata), joining the BioBlitz crew at the data collection center. She was a very 'good witch' blessing our day.

Each morning we were up well before the sun in order to travel to our respective assigned sites. One of the most abundant creatures was the mosquito, so I was glad that I brought mosquito suits for our crew: Here are Alana and I dressed to the hilt for a day's surveying, wearing the field biologists favorite fragrance, Eau d'Deet...sometimes you just have to wear it....Advice to the wise: spray your clothes, not your skin.

I was honored to spend the days with some very special friends: Charlie Covell, the moth curator at the University of Florida's McGuire Center, and author of one of the best field guides on moths and someone who has shared many stories about the atala 'back in the day'; Marc Minno, who has published several excellent field guides and gardening for butterfly books; Alana Edwards, president of the Palm Beach Atala Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association and accomplished photographer; and Suzanne Koptur, master botanist and professor at Florida International University who specializes in pollinator insects. It was delightful to spend so much time with them.

Highlights to the field surveys included this gorgeous moth that Charlie named the Faithful Beauty (Composia fidelissima). He was with us at the time and told us the story while Alana took the picture as it nectared on Sea Rocket. The moth's hostplant is called Devil's Potato (Echites umbellata), a lovely white flowered rare native plant.

Here's Charlie and I checking out the "Insects du Noir", the night's bounty of insects that were trapped with his night lights, for identification in the labs.

To read more about the BioBlitz, and see more photographs visit the websites for National Geographic Society and Biscayne National Park.

The good news is that I have been invited back to Butterfly Days this year, September 25-26, 2010, at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens...more on that later!

In the meantime, keep your eyes open for those migrants: birds AND butterflies!

April News~Challenges and New Hope, always!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:26:00 +0000

As some of you know, Life has been one challenge after another for the past year (for me and our favorite hairstreak!) I won't burden my friendly readers with the gory details, but after moving three time last year, my new house in Sarasota was robbed in February, shortly after relocating again. They took many items, including my computer. I had learned a serious lesson when this happened to a friend a few years ago, so I had moved the six years of atala data, thousands of photographs, finished papers, journal articles, etc., to an external hard drive. By the grace of G-d, the thieves left the external hard drive behind (although they took EVERY cable and all the other accoutrements of my computer).

They also missed my camera, but because they took the cable, that has been another glitch in trying to normalize Life to some extent. I am just about over the recovery mode, and received much needed support in many forms from friends, both at home in Lauderdale, and here on the West Coast. Although I am trying to get the hang of living here, my heart is yearning to come home.....

In the meantime, though, I have done several programs at John Williams Park in Hollywood this year. In February, we had a few attendees for Audubon's "Great Backyard Bird Count" but it was not well attended for the non-native plant removal in the afternoon. Nonetheless, I gathered a few overloaded bags myself, especially the ubiquitous Caesar's Weed. In March, we had over twenty students from Hollywood Hills High School's Eco-Krew on hand again, and they collected many more bags of Caesar's Weed and Air Potato. They also managed to rip out and annihilate two medium sized Brazilian Pepper trees that I have been hankering to destroy for several years (but had no tools with which to do so).

Leave it to a handful of strong, young, determined students to figure out an alternative method: climbers broke the branches one by one, and another student, who lived nearby, ran home to 'borrow' his father's machete! The City will be treating whatever remains of the roots. These two trees were virtually the only mature Brazilian Peppers in the park, so removing them will go a long way in preventing further infestation of this invasive tree. After a day's hard work, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and "S'mores" on the grill!

I also had the delight of leading a tour through Sheridan Oak Forest for twenty-six Boy Scouts who were camping in John Williams for the weekend. They liked it so much that asked Jack Mathison, who is the Assistant Director of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department for the City of Hollywood, and who happened to stop in for a visit, if they could do it again...
Fortunately, he said YES! So we have set up several more dates for the summer.

Miami Country Day School also asked me to lead a tour through Everglades National Park in February; this is the fourth or fifth trip we've taken together. Although the first day was quite cold and rainy, the kids had a good time and got to see lots of wildilfe and birds. One the second day, they actually witnessed an alligator in the process of processing an anhinga! Poor bird, happy gator. The children were both awed and a little frightened by the spectacle and they certainly acquired a true respect for the most important predator in the 'Glades. Alligators can move surprisingly fast when they are hungry, as many unfortunate animals (including people) have discovered.

I also got to take an excited group of Spring Campers from the City of Hollywood's program to Sheridan Oak Forest this month, too. We didn't see alligators, but we did see a lot of birds and butterflies. The "forest" is a very exciting place for children who have seldom seen such a sight!

On the lighter side, the little Florida house that I am renting in Sarasota has the ever-present-on-the-west-coast citrus trees in the back yard. It has a tangerine tree and a beautiful, sweet ruby-red grapefruit tree. I have been enjoying the grapefruits since moving in, but the tangerines were extremely bitter. West-coast denizens told me that the fruit would get sweeter after a cold front. We have had, as you know, numerous [unpleasant] cold fronts on this side (and I know the east coast has been reeling from the cold, too!)

After the last cold wave, I went out to the grapefruit tree to gather a few for juice, and was surprised to see many of them on the ground partially or completely eaten by wildlife (either by the neighborhood squirrels, or the opposums that I see in the evening). I chuckled to myself, thinking that those tangerines must really be bitter, if the wildlife is choosing a grapefruit over a tangerine!

Then I noticed scores of empty tangerine skins on the ground underneath the tangerine tree; curious, I decided to pluck a tangerine to test the local hypothesis that cold makes them sweeter.

Imagine my surprise to when I tried to find a tangerine ON the tree! Empty fruit shells were clustered on every branch, the insides munched in situ. I did manage to find six untouched tangerines, and they were sweet indeed! I ate them all. SO I am passing along this bit of naturalist-type information: citrus does get sweeter after a cold front. There are still plenty of grapefruits for me and the wildilfe, so I do not feel guilty for eating the last six tangerines.

On the heavier side, now: a very disturbing event has occurred at Nova Southeastern University. As you know from previous posts, the atala butterflies self-established in the "Mesozoic Garden" two years ago. There was plenty of coontie for the caterpillars, lots of nectar for the adults, and sufficient roosting sites to keep the colony happy. We planted more coontie and more nectar sources a year ago.

The other half of the garden is maintained by the Pharmacy School and is referred to as the "Medicinal Garden." It used to have plenty of nectar and roosting sites for the atala and other butterflies. However, someone at the school authorized the complete removal of the flowers, and roosting shrubs, replacing the 'jungle' with a series of mostly invasive, non-native plants offering little nectar or unusable nectar, and no roosting sites.

The plant at the left is Sansevieria hyacinthoides, one of several species. Organizations pay THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS and volunteers spend THOUSANDS OF HOURS removing this Category II invasive from Florida Natural Areas and Parks (I know, I am one of them!) It is listed as a plant to avoid by the Institute for Food and Agricultural Services (IFAS, associated with the Extension Office of the University of Florida). In addition, Broward County has listed this plant as a B1, with a strong advisement to avoid planting it. Treatment priority calls for "Immediate REMOVAL."

I would venture that someone did not do intensive research before choosing the plants; one plant, now only a few inches high, will grow to be "3 feet wide and 6 feet tall", and is used as a marijuana substitute, with hallucenogenic attributes. I do have to question by whose authority that one was chosen!

FLEPPC is a state-wide organization which monitors the invasive status of non-native plants. It doesn't promote ONLY native plants; many non-native plants are 'well-behaved' and stay where they are planted. However, it does provide a very extensive list of invasive plants that they advise strongly against using because they are considered highly disruptive to natural eco-systems. NSU has planted quite a few of them, in addition to planting a few with undesirable side-effects!

I understand that this is meant to be medicinal garden, but there are literally hundreds of native Florida plants with medicinal attributes from which to choose. Not only are there medicinal uses, the native plants proffer important nectar sources for the atala, which are considered an "Imperiled Species" by the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group .

It is my opinion, and that of many others who now wish the jungle was back, that the new replacement garden is simply unattractive and sterile, as well as toxic, non-native, and invasive.

Another issue is that NSU landscape maintenance crews are the same group of general laborers hired by practically every place in Florida that has lawns, bushes and trees. These laborers are hard-workers, but often have no training for actually doing anything but hard labor (I have never seen work done by these guys that exhibits a properly trimmed tree, seen a bush that wasn't mutilated by dull blades!) The complaint here is primarily regarding the palm trees on campus.

Palm nectar is one of the most significant nectar sources for the atala (as well as many other insects and pollinators). The yard crew on campus continually chops down the inflorescences depriving the butterflies of much needed nectar. If the palm inflorescences were not cut until fruit began to form, it would be a major step in the right direction.

I encourage individuals and organizations to be aware of the multitude of factors that disrupt, or enhance, atala habitats and act accordingly in the best interest of the colony.

In that respect, I offer this list of hand-management for atala colonies:

1. Plant and maintain a minimum of twenty coontie (50-100 is better). Coontie care can be found on Tom Broome's Cycad Site. He has excellent articles about fertilizing, trimming. hand-pollination. root-division, and species types.

2. Use pine duff (shed pine needles) as mulch instead of wood shavings (Broome). One reason is because the pine mulch allows water to penetrate to the tap roots of the coontie. Pine duff
helps prevents fungus and mold development because it does harbor excessive moisture for long periods of time, and mimics the natural pineland of the coontie's original eco-system. The use of such dry, clean substrate in domestic or semi-wild populations also helps prevent fungus diseases which the larvae may contract when they crawl in the substrate.

3. Allow nectar sources to flourish without undue trimming by overly-enthusiastic lawn maiintenance crews (when trimmers 'square off' a shrub, they often destroy the flowers, and tear the stems, which opens the plant to diseases. Nature did not place any square-cut shrubs on the planet for a reason!)

4. Plant native Florida nectar sources as much as possible. The atala has a short proboscis and small flowers are preferred. My article, "Nectar sources for the Atala" is available for free from the Florida Entomologist.

5. Do not remove the blooms from palm trees until the flowers have been pollinated and fruit is beginning to form.

6. Plant native roosting tree, such as cypress, oaks, cedars and pines, such as you would find in a natural environment. Butterflies need shade and safe roosting sites as well as food sources.

7. Avoid pesticide use of any kind entirely. There are thousands of gallons, literally tons of pesticides already invading our soil, water, and even our homes. Remember that some fertilizers can be just as destructive to the environment.

At least one Fort Lauderdale site has announced atala activity this month. I am awaiting more good news from all of you!

On April 30-May 1, 2010, Biscayne National Park, on Biscayne Bay, and National Geographic will be hosting a BioBlitz---documenting every life form found at the park, from tube worms to birds, from river otters to sharks. I will be priviledged to partcipate with other Lepdioptera-loving scientists as we document butterflies, moths, and other insects. This is a magnificient opportunity for you to chip in your energy and skills to help (and learn) as a citizen science volunteer! Visit http://nps.gov/bisc/supportyourpark/bioblitz.htm to learn more about this exciting day!

I am looking forward to seeing you all soon! Next blog: WILDFLOWERS are EVERYWHERE!

2010 Butterfly Oracle

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:11:00 +0000

Much thanks to Mona and Walter Johnston, who have received GOOD NEWS for 2010 via the Butterfly Oracle!

They have informed me that the newly emerged Monarch male alighted on Walter and declared 2010 to be a good year for everyone, butterflies included.

I know our butterflies certainly could use some warmer weather (not to mention all the humans here in Florida...especially up here in Sarasota.) At least we still have double digits, friends!

The atala has suffered a severe crash this year, although the good news is that at least a few colonies survived well until late November. We will all be holding our breath until next spring and summer for these colonies. As I mentioned in the previous blog, this may well be part of a larger cycle that we don't recognize yet.

One of the colonies that I visited in November had several adults and numerous pupae and caterpillars and had been doing fine all summer (but NOT irrupting, either!)

Meanwhile, Dr Joshua Feingold purchased a lovely citrus tree this summer that arrived complete with a Giant Swallowtail larvae...despite cooler than normal temperatures, the butterfly emerged within ten days and Josh captured this beautiful close-up from a perspective most of us don't get to see often!

He also caught this view as the butterfly emerged:

Here on the frigid west coast of Central Florida (yeah, that's where Sarasota is located....), our oak hammocks have an outbreak of one of the nastiest little moth caterpillars you'll meet. It is the infamous "Southern Flannel Moth" (Lagoa crispata), sometimes called a "Puss Moth," because it is soft and fuzzy looking....but its sting is worse than a hornet!

I finally contacted the Audubon Society here on the west and attended the Regional Conservation Coalition meeting in Venice as well as the local meeting. It was great to be with birders (and some butterfly) people again. The west coast is a great place to visit for birds, butterflies and general wildlife and I am hoping to take some field trips this coming year.

NABA meets during the day, unfortunately, so I have not yet met with them, although I have spoken to members. Being in a "almost-retirement commmuity" like this has some true downers, and this is one of them! The "tourist season," which we know so well in Lauderdale and Miami, has quite different demographics over here! Tourists here are older, and stay for six or seven months. On the east coast, our tourists are generally younger, staying for a week to ten days in hotels...and instead of frequenting the golf course, they seem to frequent the watering holes. (and no, I did not bother to look up the actual demographics! This is based on my humble observations, only.)

On a short personal note to my friends on the East Coast, I have moved from Bradenton to Sarasota, so I am closer to work and to a little more activity (that meant three moves in 2009....which was not fun.)

I will be in Lauderdale for the GREAT BACK YARD BIRD COUNT on February 13, 2010, John Williams Park, 6101 Sheridan Street, Hollywood, FL, from 9 AM to noon for birding. Anyone who wishes to help remove exotic invasive plants from 1-3 PM is welcome to join in. (Wear long sleeves and pants, bring gloves, gardening tools and water. HOPEFULLY you'll need sunscreen, too!) I look forward to seeing you!

STAY WARM! Blessings to all! Become part of the world-wide quest for sustainability, diversity and peace: link to the World Shift Network and The Club of Budapest, founded by Dr. Ervin Laszlo.

Atalas on NSU campus, October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:41:00 +0000

This gorgeous "freshly minted" atala was photographed by Dr. Joshua Feingold on the campus of Nova Southeastern University, where they self-established themselves a few years ago. It is exciting when we 'plant' a colony, but even more exciting when they arrive on their own to claim a perfect habitat! And the Mezozoic Cycad garden at NSU suits them just fine (if we could convince the PTB not to trim off the palm flowers until they have been pollinated!)

I want to let everyone know that Dr. Feingold will be presenting a free lecture on NSU campus on October 15, 2009, from 10 AM to 11:25 AM, called "Atala Butterflies on the NSU Campus".

The Lifelong Learning Institute, Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, at Nova Southeastern University is located at University Park Plaza, 3424 South University Drive, Davie, Florida 33328-2022. It is just south of Nova Southeastern University’s Health Professions Division. Enter at the Pier One entrance on University Drive and continue straight though the parking lot. Park in the area in front of the academic buildings.

The telephone: (954) 262-8471. Email: ilr@nsu.nova.edu Website: www.undergrad.nova.edu/lli

Don't miss this opportunity to see incredible photos of the atala, learn about their history on campus, and maybe catch a glimpse of those iridescent wings as they flutter by!

Atala days are coming to a slow period again, even though it seems that they just got started. I have been very lucky to have Marilyn Griffiths at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden send me atala population data almost every week for the past two years and I am in the process of compiling that information right now. The graphs are very interesting, and regardless of the slow start this year, the atala crash-irruption cycle is holding steady.

And I hope that I'll be seeing you in Hollywood at John Williams Park, Sheridan Oak Forest, on November 28th from 9 AM to noon for a bird & butterfly "Walk on the Wild Side" nature walk! I'll be back again on December 27, same time, same place. This walk is in the middle of the "Christmas Bird Count," which Audubon has been doing for over 100 years....you can track the bird counts across the nation, and plug into a fantastic historical archive while helping scientists monitor bird populations.

We have two more walks scheduled in 2010, so keep your calendars out for more adventure-to-come.

February 13, 2010, we'll be birding in earnest for the Great Backyard Bird Count with Broward Audubon and friends, and posting our results on Cornell University's BirdSource afterwards. YOU can help out with this simple Citizen Science project from your own back yard, too! Just log on to eBird and check it out.

On March 6, 2010, we should be seeing some robins and other early migrants as they make their way northward for breeding season. The butterflies will be enjoying the new spring growth and blooming wildflowers resplendent in Sheridan Oak Forest, too.

Remember to check the North American Butterfly Association website for local happenings in Broward as well! There are great speakers every month, plants for your garden, and lots of community.

http://www.childrenandnature.org/blog/ is a wonderful blog abut introducing kids to nature and a great resource for teachers and parents.

See you soon! Happy Full Moon and Simchat Torah :-)

August 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:25:00 +0000

Butterfly Days with the Miami Blue Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in July was awesome, as usual, and it was great to meet up with my butterfly friends and colleagues! The lectures were very exciting (and Dr. Lincoln Brower ,who has been studying the Monarch, was especially interesting!) Dr. Charlie Covell was also there, who is one of the researchers who remembers the "assisted relocation" and "hand-rearing" stories of the atala from the 1950's.

This is an amusing story that evolved last year to be resolved just before the conference....One of our NABA members insisted that another members' butterflies were 'brighter' than the ones in his garden and he asked me about it. I, as well as the 'degreed' lepidopterists, assured him that he was probably seeing newly-emerged adults, and that there was probably no reason why butterflies at one location would be brighter than butterflies at another....

At Butterfly Days, I spoke on "Butterfly Migration: Beyond the Monarch." One of the things I do before a lecture is research any new published data. To my surprise, a newly published journal article proved our member's observations about wing brightness to be true! Something none of us really considered before had been discovered: the wing scales of migrating butterflies are thicker than those of non-migrating or resident butterflies....therefore, the color is brighter! The thicker scales are needed to help the butterfly survive not only the flight, but the over-wintering in Mexico, as well. We are always learning something new!

However, it has been a long summer, my friends, otherwise. As many of you now, the position in Manatee County did not work out as planned and I found myself in an unfamiliar place without my close friends, my butterfly, or a job. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant "space" to be. More than 150 people lost their jobs in the County during the brief four+ months I was working there, so although I was not alone in this respect, I was without my network back home in Lauderdale, and I have certainly been feeling like a ship without a rudder (or sail!)

A part time position was offered teaching art at a Montessori School in Sarasota and after much very serious thought, I finally decided to stay for a while and accept the position. For those of you who may not know, my first degree is in Fine Art, and I have been producing artwork for a long time....(the second degree is science). And I fully support the Montessori philosophy.

I am also going to be teaching a few non-credit Adult Education classes.The adult education classes are very eclectic; being unemployed (again!) has forced me to fall back on everything I know! I will be teaching Butterfly Gardening (thank you, Janice, President of Broward NABA, for your input on that), and leading "Backyard Birding" trips and "Beach-Bum Walks" to identify the shells, birds, seaweed and stuff that washes up in the rack line. What may be more surprising, is that I will also be teaching Mandala Drawing, Origami, and Astrology (which I was taught back in the 60's!) as well as Hebrew classes for kids, too.....as I said, everything I know how to do is being pulled out of the hat....

In the meantime, I am continuing to accumulate data from all of you on the atala. Some of the colonies are finally coming into a normal eruption cycle, albeit more than a month behind "normal" schedule. Of course, I only have six years of data, and only for Southeast Florida, so whether this is simply a trough in a much bigger cycle that I haven't figured out yet is unknown!
This photo by Dick Freshley shows eight atalas clustered on a small shrub next to the nectar source described below. It is not unusual in an eruption to see twenty or thirty atalas aggregated on vegetation near nectar sources. They do not flush easily, making them a perfect subject for your camera, too. Perhaps because they are poor fliers and "know" that they are toxic, they will sit still while they are being photographed.

An undocumented nectar source for the atala has been recorded and photographed by Dick at Okeeheelee Nature Center, where he is a dedicated volunteer, and where we established a colony several years ago. (And yes, we have had to provide "assisted re-location" a few times.) Dick writes that he must have "hundreds of photographs of the atala" but that he finds them so beautiful that he is "irresistably drawn to taking more." As many of us agree-the atala is just breath-taking. Okeeheelee is one of the sites with "hundreds" at the moment, and he writes that it is a special treat for people to be able to see them.

I imagine that this is what it must have looked like in 1910, when Healey wrote that the atala was the "most conspicuous insect in South Florida." I have tried to film them when they erupt, but the videos are not very good (I can photograph, but videography is another thing! Especially trying to film something smaller than a quarter!)

The nectar source that Dick recorded is called Clerodendrum ugandense, a beautiful flower from Kenya and Uganda. (Marilyn Griffiths from Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens emailed to tell me that the name has been changed to Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense', so you may want to look for either name. But she also informed that they don't see many butterflies nectaring on it....)You all know how much I love native plants, but I also like nectar sources for butterflies, other insects and hummingbirds. The plant is not listed as invasive, so keep an eye on it, and perhaps, trim the seed heads when they form to prevent them being spread.

This is Dick's photo of the atala on the "Blue Glory" flower, and click this link to learn more about it from the University of Florida website: Clerodendrum uganense.

And if you haven't downloaded your copy of my article "Nectar Sources for Eumaeus atala", you can download here it from Florida Entomologist as well as get an extensive butterfly nectar list at the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group. And there are also many resources to be found at the North American Butterfly Association website, including lists of nectar sources and photographs which myself, and other members, have provided for the website.

In the meantime, stop in to the next meeting of NABA to learn something new, meet new friends, and score some inexpensive native nectar plants!

Happy Days are Here Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:43:00 +0000

The good news is that the atalas are back, as of June 10, folks! The reports are still sporadic, but we there are more and more sightings from Palm Beach to Lauderdale. Miami is still lagging behind, unlike years past. Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden gave up waiting and did a little "assisted re-location" with a breeding stock that originated with them years ago. Those individuals did not survive, so another attempt was recently made to 'seed' the colony. I'll let you know how the colony is doing.

There are several sites in North Lauderdale, a few in Palm Beach. Those of us involved with the butterfly are not advertising locations yet so that the colonies are not disturbed by collectors or people eager to "assist" their re-location. As I told one of our helpers, it is difficult to keep any kind of records of what colonies are going where and when....it's good to establish new colonies, but it is very helpful to those of us following it on a scientific level to let someone know. Tell me...or any of our NABA or IBWG people to help us keep tabs on the butterfly! A few new colonies have appeared on their own, too.

Dick Freshley sent the larvae photo...the ovipositing photo is mine....

This is the longest that I've held my breath waiting for the miraculous summer re-appearance!

OK, everyone...BREATHE!

June 2009 Atala Blues & Beautiful Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Atala colonies have yet to recover, although there are now slight stirrings of activity in three sites; one in Miami-Dade (not Fairchild, surprisingly!) and two in north Broward. No one is reporting substantial numbers, however. This year’s date of May 29th is the latest date for re-appearance that I have recorded in the past six years; and usually by now we are seeing the butterfly pop up from seemingly “nowhere.” I have had people in the Caribbean ask me, “Where do they go?” I hope to have an answer for that question someday, but at this time we just don’t know where they go!

Friend Dr. Joshua Feingold sent an incredible photograph of three tiny Galapagos Blues, (Leptotes parrhasioides, Wallengren 1860). He captured the underside as well as the brilliant blues topside with this photo. They are nectaring on a flower that is about the same size as Squarestem (Melanthera nivea), a common “weed.”

There are only ten butterfly species in Galapagos; this one may look familiar, because it is very similar to our own “Eastern Pygmy Blue.” The Pygmy is our smallest butterfly and the Galapagos Blue is about the same size…wingspan: 0.5”! It eats a Balloonvine species (Cardiospermum), and fortunately there is plenty of Balloonvine on the islands for the tiny Blue.

Meanwhile, another famous Blue (Morpho peleides) was captured on film by Art Constantino at the UF McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in Gainesville several years ago and is now adorning the cover of a new book! The Empowerment of Self-Healing by Rod Kelly is a wonderful book about Rod’s journey to health from life-threatening illness. No better symbol for transformation could have been chosen than this brilliant sacred-blue butterfly. Congratulations to Art, and thanks to Rod for writing this book and sharing his wisdom with others seeking spiritual renewal.

On a sadder note for our Beautiful Blues, Paula Cannon has been watching a Miami Blue (Hemiargus thomasi) colony is Bahia Honda for many years. Miami Blues are an Endangered Species, protected by Federal Law. The complication is that to protect any endangered species, whether a polar bear or a butterfly, the habitat wherein it lives must also be protected. We have certainly learned that it is not always possible to protect the environment—we can’t stop the polar bear’s icy habitat from melting because we simply won’t be able to get “green” fast enough to undo the damage.

BUT, we can do something about protecting the habitat of the Miami Blue. It is not a popular choice, though, because the destruction is being caused by another non-native creature introduced by humans…the iguana. The reptile is voracious and devours Nickerbean, the host plant for the Miami Blue’s larvae. They are causing major damage to the environment (as those of you who may have them ravishing your gardens know.) Unfortunately, there is no humane way to deal with the situation: the iguanas have to be destroyed. They are yet another non-native, invasive species, like the pythons that are infesting the Everglades and impacting the ‘livelihood’ of the alligators and other animals there and in Big Cypress.

The Florida Wildlife Commission is doing the best that they can, but like many governmental agencies that have been hit by the same economic downswing, there are simply not enough employees to chase the iguanas and still do the other jobs required. They have captured hundreds, but there are still hundreds destroying the habitat. Paula sent these pictures to show the damage. The photos were taken on May 21, 2009. The damage since January has been extensive. Remember that you can find out a lot about the status of our imperiled and endangered butterflies by visiting the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group website. We post journal articles, status reports, documents and the minutes from our meetings. I have also posted a list of butterfly plants (host and nectar sources) that can be downloaded to help you plant for them.

The good news is that another Blue, the Nickerbean Blue (Hemiargus ammon), which uses Pineland Acacia as the host plant (no, NOT Nickerbean!) This is a rarity, but Paula, and Alana Edwards found the butterfly and Paula gave me permission to post this great photo of the Nickerbean Blue, too. Thanks, Paula!

I had a very short but sweet reunion with friends when I spoke at the Miami Blue NABA Chapter last month, too. Chris, Paola and Julianna Hernandez came to the presentation; Chris is back at Crandon Park and afterwards we walked through the hammock at Castellow. It took all of us several tries, but we finally captured one of the many Florida Whites (Appias Drusilla) flitting around in the forest! Julianna was delighted with our excursion and thought that Gumbo Limbo was a fun tree to touch.

I stopped in Lauderdale for a day and did some business, but managed to play a little bit. I chose to take Loop Road so I could do some birding (Sweetwater Slough was bone dry, though!) But I did come across this interesting mixed-flock bird-convention, consisting of Woodstorks, American Egrets, and Black and Turkey Vultures, in the middle of nowhere.

Dick Freshly sent this awesome photo of a newly emerged Zebra Heliconian. Although I have tons of Passion vine in my yard, I don’t see Gulf Fritillaries or Zebras here….the Monarchs have discovered the Milkweed, though.

The Gulf Fritillaries have discovered the corky stem passion vine hiding in the grass that grows along side State Road 41 in downtown Bradenton, though. It is a miracle, truly, that these insects can find a cluster of passion vine nestled amongst the litter in a sand-and-grass median strip along a major highway, but that is what they do.

I saw this saying on a button somewhere: I pledge allegiance to the Earth and the flora, fauna and human Life that it supports, one planet indivisible, with safe air, water and soil, economic justice, equal rights and peace for all. It’s the only home we have while in a physical body, and we are co-creators, so let’s create a beautiful healthy spiritually centered home for all of us!

Happy Full Moon to all~May you be filled with Love and Light!

April 2009--Atala News are the Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Atala populations crashed almost completely as of February; I suspect that the unusual cold, the length of the cold fronts, and the drought affected their normal recovery with more impact than did even the four hurricanes in 2004! They were showing some recovery in late March in South Miami-Dade, but by mid-April all signs of life had disappeared in the colonies.

Current reports from Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale indicate zero atalas in any life stage; including the oldest re-introduced colony (which has been viable for five years!) This is the most significant crash I have seen in six years; but some colonies had no activity until early May in past years, so we aren’t completely depressed yet. There was one site reporting some activity on the northern edge of Broward County; to prevent over-enthusiastic collectors from impacting a fragile colony, I am not publishing its location. When the next irruption occurs, I’ll be begging for people to 'steal' pupae to establish new colonies.

I am still trying to figure out how to post a graph on this blog so you can see the general trends over the years, but I guess you’ll just have to attend the next meeting where I’ll be speaking about my favorite butterfly. Crashes are normal, but they aren't usually so severe as to have all colonies at all sites crash simultaneously.

People have been telling me that their coontie plants are either suffering from scale, and/or powdery mildew, or that they are flourishing without herbivorous insects defoliating them. The treatment for either of the mentioned diseases is posted here on the February 2008 blog archive.

Art Constantino also mentioned a thought about possible decreasing Ruddy Daggerwing populations. The Daggerwing uses the Ficus trees as a host plant. People are treating their Ficus trees for “Ficus Whitefly,” and the pesticide is potentially impacting the caterpillars and eggs of the Daggerwing. Likewise, treatment of palm trees for “Lethal Yellowing Disease” also impact the Monk and Palmetto butterflies that use palms as a host plant. It is a tough decision, because if the plant dies, one loses the butterflies that use it anyway; if the plant is treated with a herbicide or pesticide, one loses the butterflies that use it as well. Perhaps the answer is to treat the affected plant and also install a “free and clear” version in another location for the butterflies.
Here on the west coast, I have to say that Manatee County certainly has some of the most beautiful natural areas I have ever seen. These photos were taken in Emerson Point Preserve, one of the natural areas where I work. This is a kayak trip I led through what is affectionately called the "Mangrove Tunnel" by the locals. It is incredible.

And this is a "secret lake" that we visited, which is located inside a mangrove tree-island off Tampa Bay....what a magical place! Much thanks to one of our volunteers, Wayne Douchkoff, for the photographs of our paddle trip at Emerson Preserve.

We have been incredibly busy with programs, establishing trail signs, and rest areas along the miles of trails, monitoring our Bald Eagle family and watching migrations of birds, butterflies and dragonflies. There are two fledgling eagles at Robinson Preserve, and it has been a joy watching them test their new flight skills, play with their food, and gain confidence in their hunting skills. This photo of Mom Eagle is by one of our volunteers, Chris Constantino (perhaps one of Art’s relatives?)

In the near future, we’ll be watching our Scrub Jay colonies out at the prairie Preserves, too. In May, students and professors from the local colleges and universities will be helping out with our third annual Bio-Blitz, this one at Rye Preserve, which is a huge oak hammock with a natural waterway. I will be leading an all-day butterfly-blitz and I am very much looking forward to doing so. This coast has some true diamonds, such as the Tiger and Zebra Swallowtails, rare on the east coast.

I could not resist this photo of one of my back-yard squirrels munching on an orange from my tree. There were plenty to share, although the orange season is about finished now.

The migration movement of the beautiful Great Southern White has slowed down, but now I am seeing Large Orange, Sleepy and Cloudless Sulfurs flying around. (In California, March was the month of Painted-Lady migrations by the millions!) Which brings me to my next point…

I will be speaking at the Sunday, May 3rd meeting of the Miami-Blue Chapter of NABA at Castellow Hammock, in Homestead, at 1 PM. I’ll be presenting, “Butterfly Migration: Beyond the Monarch.” There have been a few new developments in the field of migration research since my presentation last fall for Broward NABA. And I am delighted to be speaking at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden this July for Butterfly Days, too.

I hope my Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade friends come over to visit Manatee County, too. It boasts a virtually intact eco-system that hosts rare species and miles of beautiful hiking, biking and paddling trails. If development greed stays under control, this jewel may be the most sought-after natural resource in Florida. As a Broward friend mentioned, “Wow. Mangrove-lined shores?! What a concept….” And the fishing is still good, as I’ve been told…..

Those of you on the east coast know that the beauty of mangroves has been replaced with concretized seawalls and boat docks. You also know that the fisheries are crashing. What you may not know is that the mangroves provide the nurseries for juvenile fishes….which safely grow up in the tangled roots to be the fish on your plate….you cannot destroy the habitat and still expect the benefits of it.

I could easily get on a soap-box about the value of natural lands, but I know that most everyone who reads my blog is already on the same page, so I will spare you the monologue.

LOVE NATURE.

COUNT BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS.

PLANT NATIVE.

February 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:26:00 +0000

A friend in Sarasota called me this morning laughing, "You’ve been in town for three weeks and you’re already on the front page of the Sunday paper…” The Bradenton Herald did a super story about Florida Trail Month, and I just happened to be the new Greenways and Trail Coordinator for Manatee County Preserves. Just doing my job, giving the reporter, Sara Kennedy, a tour of Robinson Preserve. That is how I ended up on the front page of the Herald; it was an overcast and chilly day, but the sun does shine here and the landscape is gorgeous!

Shortly after I moved into my new house, very close to the Manatee River, I saw a fluttering dark-winged insect in the yard. My heart stopped—was this an atala?! Closer inspection revealed the “White-tipped Moth” (Melanchroia chephise) nectaring on the Spanish Needle (Bidens alba) growing beneath my sweet orange tree. Its soft unstable flight pattern certainly reminded me of the fluttering “moth-like” flight of the atala!

I brought my coontie plants with me (and there is plenty of it planted here) but the atala butterfly itself has never been documented here historically. It was documented in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties by the earliest naturalists and botanists, though. We will never know if the coontie and the atala were a part of the original ecosystems here on the west coast, though. Several years ago, a park here on the west coast attempted to “re-introduce” the atala and was met with extreme criticism by entomologists and biologists because it was never documented by any of the naturalists, botanists or other scientists in the early 1800’s.

This is just a short note to let you all know a little about what is happening with me and the atalas…I am still keeping track of populations and colonies. The cold fronts have seriously reduced colonies, but there are still some remnants hanging on waiting for warmer weather (like me!) The new position I have with Manatee County Natural Resources is incredible.

We have twelve Preserves which are amazing to me every time I visit one of them. Today I spent time in a place called Riverview Pointe. It is connected to DeSoto National Park. I saw the biggest Gumbo Limbo tree I have ever seen in my life there. The waters are almost as clear as they may have been 100 years ago. There is life and green native plants every where I turn. It is beautiful; it is old Florida. It is so beautiful that I can barely articulate what I see every day while I am at work.

This is one of two baby box turtles that were found at Emerson Point Preserve. Many juvenile animals never make it past their first year of life; the best thing that the average citizen can do is provide a wildlife habitat in their backyard and support the animals that choose to live there.

This little guy, like last month's Gopher Tortoise baby, was trying to cross the road.

This Roseate Spoonbill was resting at Emerson Preserve one morning. One day while at Robinson Preserve I saw an entire flock fly overhead! We have miles of trails (my official job), something suitable for everyone at different Preserves: biking, hiking, roller-blading, skateboarding, horseback riding, birding, butterflying, and paddling. Many are wheel-chair accessible, and some are very primitive, like this one on a back-trail at Emerson Preserve.

Lately I have seen a lot of Great Southern White butterflies in the Preserves...they are one of the 36 or so species of butterflies that migrate through Florida. They use the coastal flyways on both the east and west coasts, but of course they are going to be seen a lot more in coastal areas with intact native vegetation. On the east coast, look in places such as John U Lloyd State Park, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, Jonathan Dickinson State Park and the undeveloped sections of the Indian River Lagoon.

Meanwhile I am still searching for that tiny Pygmy Blue Butterfly on the Glasswort in our salterns.

This is a folios lichen on an oak branch, measuring only a few inches. The tiny “cups” are the reproductive fruiting structures. It can be seen in any healthy environment-- yes, even on the east coast! It is beautiful, but very tiny and something many people don't see.

In an event reminiscent of John Williams Park in Hollywood, Boy Scout Troop 72 joined me for an “Air Potato Patrol” at Rye Preserve another morning; this is the troop with their collection, and the smallest and largest potato found!

Another group, this one consisting of junior high school students, also joined me for a “Rosary Pea Round-Up” at Emerson Preserve. The students worked very diligently cleaning up an area in this gorgeous Oak Hammock; it has remarkable shell mounds that were built by the Calusa Indians and an awesome view of the Manatee River! There is no shortage of exotic invasive plants on this coast either, although there has been a lot less damage to the environment on this side of the Everglades.

I miss my East Coast friends very deeply, but the days in the field are like magic because of the natural landscape. This photo is of the Sabal Palmetto strings, flowing gracefully from the fronds….Also known as "Cabbage Palm," it is our State Tree and it grows everywhere--

I’ll be posting more photos and urge you to come “Walk on the Wild Side” with me in Manatee County!

January II 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Last minute events and time with my east coast friends has made moving a whirlwind of activities. Photos from the party that Broward County Butterfly Club chapter of the North American Butterfly Association gave for me after my presentation, “Heavenly Hairstreaks and Beautiful Blues” are available to see. I will miss my wonderful friends from BCBC very much, but they have promised to make a field trip visit to me and the amazingly pristine Preserves where I will be working.

This is a photograph of an intriguing little moth called a Scarlet-Bodied Wasp Moth, (Cosmosoma myrodora). This beautiful moth, with coloration very similar to the atala butterfly, hangs out with the colonies of atalas in the Bahamas. This photo was taken on Andros Island, where atalas and the moths were nectaring on Hempvine (Mikania scandens). I have many photos of them both nectaring together on the masses of wildflowers surrounding the pine rocklands in the yet-undisturbed areas (at least the areas have been undisturbed for a hundred years, since the last clear-cutting of the pines during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s). Another close up can be found at Butterflies and Moths of North America. Art Constantino found the moth on his Beebalm in Fort Lauderdale.

Art's butterfly garden is a wondrous site, and he's been complaining to me that the Monarchs are bossing around the other butterflies; he is plant-sitting my milkweed plants for a few weeks, until I get situated into my new place. In return, though, he gets cuttings and an opportunity to propagate many more milkweed plants for members of Broward NABA and Master Gardeners.

I spent a delightful afternoon walking “The Ridge” with my friend Roberta Shaw, an incredible wildlife photographer and artist. Roberta has been doing “Critter Tales” programs for many years and her work is well known here in South Florida. The link has a lot of neat humane and wildlife education materials to download for free! The Ridge connects to Tree Tops Park, another beautiful oak hammock in west Broward County. We took the time to chat with a few young friends we knew who were doing a special school assignment about pine trees. There are quite a few old pines still to be found scattered along the Ridge, so we could help them out with some questions.

All of south Florida along the “Atlantic Coastal Ridge” used to have thick forests of pines and oaks. The Atlantic Coastal Ridge was a narrow strip of higher-drier land (6-10 miles wide) that extended from Jacksonville down to the Keys, but as far back as the very first explorers, these magnificent trees were simply seen as a resource to be exploited. Most of our glorious ‘resources’ were promptly cut down (here and in the Bahamas). The pines, especially, were hardy, tall, straight and strong, having grown up in the adverse environmental conditions of thin soils, limestone substrates, alternating droughts and floods, and seasonal hurricanes as well! This made our famous “Dade County Pines” (Pinus elliotii var. densa) extremely tough, termite resistant, and dense. The wood was so hard that it had to be drilled before it could be nailed, or it would break the nails!

Needless to say, it was valuable for building sturdy houses along the coast. The very old wooden houses you can still see occasionally are made from “Dade County Pine.” But the forests are almost gone now (see Miami-Dade County’s website for maps of the changes in the forest cover). The trees that are standing now are almost all evenly aged and have very small diameters because they are the first growth after the clear-cutting took place. In the old days, those trees were massive, as were the old cypress trees that lined Big Cypress Preserve. Here’s a picture of me with what was the oldest pine in Oslo River Conservation Area (ORCA) in Indian River County several years ago. The grand old tree was hit by Hurricane Wilma and downed. How sad to think of the acres and acres of huge pines cut down! (And oaks, and cypress…..the tree-hugger in me is showing….)

Anyway, it is always a delight when I spend the day with friends, especially when we are outside enjoying Florida’s amazing eco-systems! I also spent an afternoon with Dr Joshua Feingold and his equestrian wife, Laurie Flebotte, at a horse show this weekend. I know their horses well, but this is the first time I’ve seen a horse show, so it was a fun event. This is Laurie's gorgeous horse, Austin’s Wolf, affectionately called “Wolfie”. He has quite the personality! This is Laurie and Wolfie before their jump event.

They won some ribbons, too!

I want to let everyone know that Janice Malkoff will be teaching a great class about butterfly gardening this semester and I urge you to learn about it from one of our NABA experts! You can find information at Broward County Public Schools Adult Education.

Certify your garden at http://www.nababutterfly.com/. Broward NABA chapter is being offered a discounted fee to certify our gardens for this month. Check out the web site. (Art Constantino and I submitted lots of photos and info for the site!) It includes lists of plants for your specific area and the national office is seeking your input on what works well in your garden. It is a truly interactive site designed to help you get the most out of your butterfly garden.

Looking forward to Manatee County and hoping you can visit me on the west coast to participate in some of our exciting events! Kayaking, biking, hiking, butterfly and birding trips, photography workshops, exotic plant removals, and I even get to do dog walks. Life could not be better!

"If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen." --Henry David Thoreau

January 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:04:00 +0000

I am excited to be starting in Manatee County by the end of January. This is a photo of one of the Preserves where I’ll be working, called Robinson Preserve. It even has a salt marsh, which is a quickly disappearing habitat in many locations in Florida. I'm looking forward to finding the Pygmy Blue butterfly, an imperiled species that uses salt marsh Glasswort as a host plant. I’ll be leading hiking, biking, canoeing, and kayaking tours, clearing out exotics, and planning and maintaining trails through the preserves. Hopefully, some of my east coast friends will be coming over to the left coast to enjoy this incredibly green environment!

A Monarch Butterfly story: The pots in which I chose to plant milkweed for the Monarchs and Queens were great aesthetically, but I discovered that they were dangerous for the butterflies! When the caterpillars climbed down to pupate, they chose the lower lip because they couldn’t go anywhere else….it seemed like a great thing (I could keep track of the pupae and count them as they emerged)….but when the butterflies emerged, they tried to climb up so their wings could dry, and then they slipped on the smooth curved lip and fell wings-down to the ground! I lost a few because they emerged when I was not here to rescue them and of course I felt terrible about that happening.

So to stop that from occurring again, as soon as I saw the cats wandering around the pots, I placed them inside my butterfly cage, where they crawled to the top and pupated safely. It seemed that the latest 'clutch' of Monarch caterpillars would be pupating while I was on the west coast, but perhaps because of the cold they all emerged safely after I came back home. This is a photo of 11 of the 28 pupae in the cage, and another of a newly emerged Monarch amid the yet-to-emerge brethern. I had a little Monarch production line going this month!

Art Constantino is plant-sitting my milkweed for a while; he’s also propagating via the defoliated stems and returning some to me once I get settled into my new place in Bradenton. Some of the new plants generated will be donated to NABA meetings or plant sales.

For those of you who don’t know, milkweed can be easily rooted in water and re-planted! This is what the defoliated stems look like after about a week in water…a whole new plant is created. I suspect that because the caterpillars cause complete destruction of the leaves, milkweed regenerates quickly!
The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) announces the release of its new butterfly gardening guide for south Florida. The south Florida garden guide promotes the use of regionally native plants when creating butterfly gardens. Information found in the south Florida garden guide encourages gardening practices that will increase the local population of butterflies while informing gardeners about the use of plants that promote healthy habitats. With the help of NABA members in south Florida, native butterfly garden plants are rated for their usefulness as nectar sources, caterpillar food sources, and overall garden worthiness. Future users of the south Florida garden guide can add to the knowledge base by submitting an online rating form for plants with which they have had experience. Check it out and give your feedback about the plants! It will help other gardeners choose plants for their gardens. Several of us in the Broward Chapter worked on this project, including myself and Art Constantino.

This is a photo of my great Broward County NABA butterfly friends at my "last" presentation on January 8. We had a super turn-out and everyone enjoyed the delicious cake after the meeting. Thanks to Art Constantino for remembering to bring a camera!

Friends Kimberly and Tim and I traveled to Big Cypress for a day last month, too. This is inside the Panther Refuge; we didn’t see the cat, but we did see his paw prints!

We also saw this little sign for a "Gopher Tortoise Crossing" at another site that may have been used for a field education game...the little grasshopper using the sign as a perch caught my eye.

Atalas are recovering slowly at some sites in Fort Lauderdale, but Miami-Dade is reporting very few eggs or larvae. But, at least one site in Miami-Dade has witnessed quite a few adults nectaring on Jack-in-the-Bush, sometimes called Frostweed (Chromolaena odorata). Caterpillars and eggs were not found, but this is evidence that the colonies will be recovering soon. Thanks to Rusty Pfost for the updates and photo.

The January 10, 2009 Exotic Plant Removal/Identification Workshop at John Williams Park/Sheridan Oak Forest was the last one that I will be leading, but volunteers Lisa Cook and her daughter Jessica will be leading monthly workshops until summer. This is a great opportunity to get community service hours and make a difference in this beautiful oak hammock. We saw this gorgeous Silver Argiope spider (Argiope argentata). She is another new species for the park! We had a very productive day with seven volunteers, including two friends (thanks, Marianna and Sheryl!) from the North American Butterfly Association. Keep a watch on the City of Hollywood’s website for news about future workshops. Once you come to a workshop, your email address will keep you informed about upcoming projects in the parks. And anyone who attends the exotic plant removal and identification workshops will receive a free Native/Non-Native identification booklet that I designed especially for John Williams Park.

"Today I have grown taller from walking with the the trees." --Karle Baker Wilson.

December 2008 News

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:22:00 +0000

This is a poignant newsletter, my friends! I have accepted a position with Manatee County Natural Resources and will be moving to the “left” coast of Florida next month. It is both exciting to have the opportunity to work with such a fantastic organization and the wonderful staff there, but also very sad to be moving away from immediate contact with all my incredible friends here on the east coast. It will also be a challenge as I learn hands-on about the west coast ecosystems! I have spent many hours birding and exploring the west coast as a ‘tourist!’ This is a whole new agenda that I am enthusiastically embracing.

Atala populations are down almost everywhere, but Fort Lauderdale colonies are reporting a few adults here and there. Miami populations are virtually at a stand-still. I’m expecting another irruption in a few weeks.

If you have an atala colony please continue to send your field notes to me, because I am still collecting information. It is because of the commitment that so many of you have that we are able to better understand how to help imperiled butterflies such as the atala. This is ‘citizen science’ as it’s best, and scientists have learned how important the input from the community is while monitoring frogs, butterflies, birds, snakes…almost any life form these days needs help from all of us. And bookmark the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group for the latest news from Florida Wildlife Commission on the status of the butterflies that really need your help.

The last Exotic Plant Removal Program that I will lead at John Williams Park will take place on January 10th, 9 AM to noon. We hope that some of our other volunteers, such as Lisa and Jessica Cook at Hollywood Hills High School, will continue with the workshops. They have been working with me for nearly four years and have learned what needs to be done and know how to teach others. The good news is that the City of Hollywood has published a small book that I designed for the park that depicts the native and non-native plants that are often confusing to first-time participants. It will be available for anyone who participates in any of the future workshops.

Beacon Hill School kids joined me at John Williams Park this month, too, for a Nature Scavenger Hunt. This is a photo of some of the youngsters showing off their completed lists. They had an opportunity to see Monarch caterpillars and chrysalides as well as two newly emerged butterflies. The kids drew the event in their Nature Journals; we covered life cycles in our next class and the new conservation scientists drew habitats for Zebra Heliconians in their journals for the butterfly they made.

Always the nature-nerd, we saw these Gopher Tortoises while working for RS&H in St Lucie County this month, too. The juvenile was on the road, but I moved him to safety after taking his picture. I liked this photo of a Cattle Egret perched atop a Thunderbird car, too!

I had the good fortune to participate in this year’s Christmas Bird Count on December 22 with Bryant Roberts for Broward County Audubon. What a hoot--literally! We arrived at long Key at 5:30 AM to go owling, and heard Screech Owls, Whippoorwills, and Great Horned Owls. It is so magical to go walking through the forest at night. These are some photos of Long Key at dawn and the birders, and the beautiful oak hammocks, one of my favorite places in Florida.

We also covered Flamingo Gardens and Robbins Park in the afternoon. We saw Tanagers, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Wood Ducks, Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos, Cooper’s Hawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Snipe, Common Yellow-throats, American Redstarts, Indigo Buntings, Black and White Warblers, Rough-winged and Tree Swallows, Oven-Birds, Wood Thrush and many

others! What a treat for the eyes.

There were lots of butterflies, too, although I didn’t keep an official count: Cloudless Sulfurs, Large-Orange Sulfurs, Zebra Heliconians, Giant Swallowtails, Julia Heliconians, Monarchs, White Peacocks, Long-tailed Skippers, Ceraunus Blues and Little Yellows were flitting around everywhere we went.

This gorgeous bird is a Wood Duck.

I'll be presenting a program on January 8, 2008 for NABA at the Broward County Extension Office, located at 3245 College Avenue in Davie, called "Heavenly Hairstreaks and Beautiful Blues." It is an in-depth look at the identifying field marks to help differentiate between those maddeningly similar species. I hope you'll join us for this event! The program starts at 7 PM but come early to look at the raffle plants and greet friends!

Earth Events December 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:26:00 +0000

Many delightful events to share! Six months ago, a very special child was born to my good friends Chris and Paola Hernandez. At that time, Chris asked me to officiate at a blessing ceremony for Julianna Alexandra at some time in the future. That time was November 23, 2008. It was a small gathering of immediate family members and I was honored to be a part of this loving event. Chris and I used to work together for Audubon, and we took many field trips with kids to Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge;
we all agreed that the cypress forest was the perfect place for the ceremony.

This is not my usual role in the field, but one with which I am equally at home, as I see the Earth as a sacred vessel that contains Love and Light for all Life, and feel that it is my responsibility to disseminate that knowledge to all who wish to learn. And that is what I hope I give my readers, whether I am speaking of humanity, butterflies,or the Earth.

Following in that thought, I want to tell you about Earth Learning, an enlightening organization that is helping us heal this ravaged planet. It is a magnificent opportunity to re-connect with the people, plants, animals, and ecosystems, and regain spiritual balance through that awareness. Chris sent me the link and we both feel it is important to pass it on to you. There will be an intensive two-day weekend gathering, “Deepening Our Connection to the Earth," and camp out on Key Biscayne, Dec. 13-15, 2008. The $150 fee includes vegetarian meals, camping, and workshops, in Crandon Park. For more information or questions, For any questions, contact: Val Silidker (954 562-4981) Or Mario Yanez (305 323-8858). Check out the website; it's awesome!

Makes me think I ought to do some awakening camping programs at my favorite oak hammock in John Williams Park, where we had another very successful day on November 15, with twenty participants!

Seventeen kids from Hollywood Hills High School (HHHS) attended the event and we all worked exceedingly hard for the morning. Illona Morin from Broward NABA volunteered her morning with us, too (Thank you, Illona!) We even got television coverage by the news team at HHHS (www.HHH-STV.com).

A week later, Lisa and Jessica Cook and I spent the morning at the park putting stakes and caution tape around our plant investments to protect them from the lawn mowers and weed-whacking maintenance crew (OK, we know they are only doing what they think they were told to do). The City of Hollywood provided the materials, and we provided the labor. Lisa teaches math at HHHS, and her daughter Jessica is an awesome coordinator who gathers the student volunteers from HHHS for community service in the park. (Way to go, Jessica!)

The next exotic plant removal program at John Williams Park will be on December 13, 2008, 9 AM until noon. We could really use your help with this on-going project! Air Potatoes, Caesar’s Weed and Rosary Pea are winning the battle right now. Donate a few hours of your time and help us maintain this beautiful park. (And remember that community service hours are available for school kids, any age! Air Potato collection contests are fun for the younger kids and help us out a great deal….the current record is 598 potatoes.)

Broward County Butterfly Chapter of NABA will not have a meeting this month, but mark your calendars for the next meeting on January 15, 2009, at the Broward County Extension Office at 3245 College Avenue. I’ll be presenting “Heavenly Hairstreaks and Beautiful Blues,” an opportunity for you to learn about these very small, difficult-to-identify flying acrobats. Anyone who has tried to chase down a blue knows how challenging it can be! Meetings begin at 7 PM, but come early for socializing and looking at the plants for sale on the raffle table. It is a great opportunity to find just what you need for your garden!

Atala colonies have crashed at the moment and seem to have reached the lowest point in the cycle. This month we should see a slow increase in the populations, cresting some time in January (and they will crash again before spring, if past cycles hold to the pattern.)

Mona Johnston sent this perfect Monarch butterfly’s unsolicited endorsement for establishing a National Wildlife Federation Certified yard. Keep sending the great photographs, Mona!

Plant NATIVE plants. Love the Earth. Love your community. Love. Just do it :-)

November 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:19:00 +0000

October had a lot of activity, which I will share after telling you about November’s upcoming events. The NABA meeting this month is something you want to make time to attend! We meet at the Broward County Extension Office on College Avenue in Davie.

Dennis Olle, President of the Miami Blue NABA Chapter, will speak on Thursday, November 13th, 2008. Dennis will enlighten us with his knowledge: "In depth identification and behavior of the tricky Sulphurs and Yellows". Those creatures are a real challenge to identify, so join us for the evening to learn about their differences.

Our social time with refreshments begins at 6:30 and you can purchase plant raffle tickets then too; the meeting will begin promptly at 7:00. This is a great opportunity to pick up some rare native plants for your garden!

On November 15, 2008, please join me and friends for another Exotic Plant Workshop at John Williams Park/Sheridan Oak Forest, 1 block west of 441 on Sheridan Street. The program will start at 9 AM at the small pavilion beside the natural area, and end at noon. We have a lot of work to do as the Caesar’s Weed is growing rampant. Wear long sleeves and hats (Caesar’s Weed is not fun to remove from your hair!) Bring water and snacks if you like, and a camera to take pictures of the wildlife…there are always beautiful flowers and butterflies, cool spiders, squirrels and birds to see. You'll learn about native plants, too!

Atalas are crashing at most sites, but they ought to be showing some recovery in another month to six weeks, if they follow past patterns. Keep a lookout for the larvae hiding in the substrate, where they sometimes go to escape cold weather.

I had an opportunity to go to the West Coast of Florida with my friend Art Constantino last month, to visit a restoration area that will shortly be turned over to Audubon’s Corkscrew Sanctuary. What a gorgeous environment! I told Art that any day that starts out with sighting Roseate Spoonbills just gets better and better—and it did!

The total area of this mitigation land consists of 2,778 acres! The Wetlandsbank Group is responsible for this incredible restoration work and parts of it are open to the public now. Art had an inside connection, however, and we got to view the results of years of labor in areas that are still in process. This is Art, Robert and me in the field.

We saw hundreds of butterflies, found a little green tree frog, saw bobcat and deer tracks, and a Pygmy Rattlesnake, as well as hundreds of plant rarities, such as Pawpaw (Asimina species) and Corky-Stemmed Passion Fruit (Passiflora suberosa) with fruit.

The native sunflower (Helianthus floridanus) was blooming in big swathes of bright yellow and Liastris (Liastris pauciflora) formed gorgeous paths of bright pink.

Kestrels and Red-Tailed Hawks were everywhere; we saw Glossy Ibis and Shrikes, and we even saw Snipe and deer! It was a gorgeous perfect clear blue-skied day and I was privileged to have an expert guide in Art’s brother-in-law, Robert, who literally escorted us around for nearly six hours showing off the years of work he and his co-workers have completed.

And I had another delightful day with Miami Country Day School! We took a trip down the Miami River to learn about the old days. The younger kids did water tests with the help of the senior high students; the Miami River is not as pristine as it used to be, but we did get to see some interesting things, such as the big dredges lifting sludge from the bottom of the river. After the boat trip, we stopped at the Old Miami Inn for lunch and sketching of the neat old Florida houses. The kids were more interested in the ghost that is rumored to live in one of the old houses than anything else on the premises, which was quite amusing. Who knows?

I also had another field trip to Everglades National Park with Dr Joshua Feingold’s Biology students. It was great fun; the first bird of the day was a Pileated Woodpecker (who did not want his picture taken). The kids had lots of things to note for their field journals, such as this beautiful bright yellow tree snail, who was carefully placed back home after we took photos.

And finally, Barbara DeWitt and I took a mini-field trip to Florida Atlantic U’s Jupiter campus to hear a lecture by award-winning writer and lepidopterist, Bob Pyle, the founder of the Xerces Society. Bob is documenting a “Big Butterfly Year”, traveling around the country to raise money for Xerces.

His latest books are “Sky Time in Gray’s River”, and “Chasing Monarchs” and he has written more than fifteen books about nature and the environment. His lecture, “Frogs, Forts and Fritillaries: The Real World as Antidote to the Extinction of Experience,” addressed what many of us recognize as a serious disconnect from the Earth and the environment, what he calls the “extinction of experience”. Other writers, such as Richard Louv, coined the phrase “Nature Deficit Disorder.”

Many of us remember spending hours and hours outside playing, getting familiar with wetlands, forests, streams or beaches, by ourselves or with our friends…children today so often do not have the opportunity to just be kids and explore the natural world. This is causing a measurable psychological dysfunction that is being recognized in everything from medical journals to psychology reports. Some of the problem is simply a lack of natural areas to explore (but one of the things we try to do is awaken kids to nature in urban areas, too…it’s still there, but not as easy to find.) Some of the issues are societal (pressure to monitor children or fill their time with planned activities at every moment).

Bob’s suggestion is to compromise…take your kids to the parks or natural areas and let them play and discover on their own (keeping your eye on them from a little distance for their safety and your peace of mind). Introduce them to field guides (Golden Guides are a great resource for budding naturalists).

He also noted that our children (and some of you!) will watch television programs and documentaries about the natural world with fascination, but don’t go out to see the wildlife in their own “backyard.” They probably don’t even know that there is anything out there to see!

Teach the future caretakers of the Earth about the world that surrounds them. Plant a wildlife habitat, and a butterfly garden, and they will literally see life on the wing from their own back porch. Friends send me great photos of the life in their backyard, such as this awesome photo of five Ruddy Daggerwings nectaring on native Thoroughwort (Koanophyllon villosum) from friend Mona Johnston. And she shared this photo, too (Thanks, Mona!):

Love Nature! Be Green! This is the only planet we have.