8/9/2019 November 2006 Along the Boardwalk Newsletter Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

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Boardwalk Along the Along theBoardwalk

Swamp SanctuaryCorkscrew

www.corkscrew.audubon.orgNovember, 2006

Quick ID GuideWhats an easy-to-see differ-

ence between Louisiana andNorthern Waterthrushes?There are two easy-to-see differ-

ences. First, look at the throat. TheLouisiana Waterthrush has a clearthroat; the Northerns is striped.

Second, look at the tail movement.According to Sibleys, the Northernstail bobs straight up and down whilethe Louisianas tail swings back andforth while bobbing up and down.

Northern Louisiana

What do you say ifa visitor on the boardwalk is talking on a cell phone?

Approach the visitor with empathyand say, Excuse me for interrupting,but cell phones tend to scare the ani-mals in the sanctuary and disturb othervisitors. So, I need to ask you to pleasefinish your call and turn off your cellphone. We appreciate your coopera-tion. Then, once the visitor ends thecall and shuts off the phone, depend-ing on his or her demeanor, try to pointout something of interest.

Susan Schumann-Skehan isAudubon of Floridas 2006 Volunteerof the Year. AoF Executive DirectorDavid Anderson described the reasonsfor Schumann-Skehans selection:

Susan has been a Boardwalk Naturalist for 15 seasons. She is an avidand expert birder who shares her deepappreciation of nature in an incrediblycheerful and positive way.

The magnitude of her volunteerspirit is evident in her eagerness to dospecial projects beyond her Boardwalk Naturalist schedule. Susan was a keymember of the Capital Campaign Com-mittee to build the Blair Audubon Cen-

One of Corkscrews own is named AoFs 2006 Volunteer of the Year

ter at Corkscrew. She participates inmonthly bird counts, guides for theAdult Education Program, and assistswith a variety of administrative tasks.

It is said that some birders have aspecial talent of teaching rather thancompeting when birding. Susan is theguide everyone wants to go out with asshe is generous with her information.Her talent for identification by soundis legend.

Her love of birds and her dedica-tion to the Audubon mission are conta-gious and inspire her colleagues, thestaff and visitors to be better environ-mental stewards.

This summer the Resource Man-agement team attacked both exotic veg-etation (Cuban Nut Sedge) and float-ing tussocks (chunks of floating peatlike organic icebergs) in both lakes.

When the lakes are covered withvegetation, anaerobic organic materi-als build up in the bottom of the lake.Opening up the Lettuce Lakes occa-

Volunteer refresher New Volunteer Basic Training will

be taking place on November 17, 18and 20 from 8 am until 3 pm each day.

Any current volunteers wanting arefresher course are invited to attend allor part of this program. Please see the

schedule which is posted in the BuntingHouse and contact Sally Steinat Sstein@audubon.org to register.

Both Lettuce Lakes cleared to breathesionally is good for them. The waterbecomes more oxygenated (aerobic)and allows bacteria to break down thoseorganic materials. This adds to the lifeof the lakes, which would otherwiseeventually fill in.

New areas of open water have al-ready attracted Belted Kingfishers, her-ons, Anhingas and a Pied-billed Grebe.

Volunteer donations provide more wish list itemsMore thanks, first to volunteer

Bruce Froysland whose donation addedanother boardwalk radio for volunteerand staff use.

South Florida stampedThe large Wood Stork poster cur-

rently on display in the Blair Center isfrom a new United States Postal Ser-vice release that features southernFlorida wetlands and some of the spe-cial species found in them.

Another donated item from thewish list comes from Eloise Ingramwho provided the library with back cop-ies of American Butterfly magazine.

Nov/Dec art exhibitedBatiks by Natalie Guess and wa-

tercolors by Phil Fisher are featured inthe Blair Center foyer during Novem-ber and December. For informationabout the artists and future displays,visit the Corkscrew web page.

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In Case a Visitor Asks

October Sightings

Narrow-leaf Sunflowers bloom near the wildlifecrossing (October 3).

A River Otter rests in front of the pond cypressbench along the exit trail (October 10).

A Philadelphia Vireo stops for some insectsbefore heading further south (October 20).

How can some snakes climb up smooth tree trunks?

Below is the list of bird and butterfly species spotted by volunteers during October. For mammal and herp sightings plus frequency of all sightings, go to the Corkscrew web page (www.corkscrew.audubon.org) and click on Wildlife.

BIRDSAnhingaGreat Blue HeronGreat EgretSnowy EgretLittle Blue HeronGreen Heron

Black-crowned Night HeronYellow-crownd. Night HeronWhite IbisRoseate SpoonbillWood StorkWood DuckSandhill CraneBlack VultureTurkey VultureSnail KiteRed-shouldered HawkShort-tailed HawkCoopers HawkBald Eagle

MoorhenLimpkinMourning DoveYellow-billed CuckooBarred OwlNighthawkChimney Swift

Ruby-thr. HummingbirdBelted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Eastern PhoebeGreat-crested Flycatcher Acadian Flycatcher Eastern Wood PeweeTree SwallowBlue JayTufted Titmouse

Carolina WrenRuby-crowned KingletBrown-headed NuthatchBlue-gray Gnatcatcher Swainsons ThrushCatbirdMockingbird

Brown Thrasher VeeryWhite-eyed VireoBlue-headed VireoRed-eyed VireoPhiladelphia VireoNorthern Parula Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throat. Blue Warbler Black-throat. Green Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler

Palm Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American RedstartProthonotary Warbler Worm-eating Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Golden-winged Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Nashville Warbler OvenbirdNorthern WaterthrushLouisiana WaterthrushCommon YellowthroatHooded Warbler Summer Tanager Scarlet Tanager CardinalPainted BuntingRed-winged BlackbirdBoat-tailed Grackle

Common Grackle

BUTTERFLIESZebra LongwingGulf FritillaryRuddy DaggerwingWhite Peacock

ViceroyMonarchQueenBlack SwallowtailTiger SwallowtailGiant SwallowtailPalamedes SwallowtailZebra SwallowtailLong-tailed Skipper Brazilian Skipper Skipper spp.Phaon CrescentSulphur spp.

TheYellow

RatSnake isFloridas

best tree-climbing

snake.

Snakes use concertina movement toclimb trees the act of gripping withsome parts of the body while pullingor pushing with other parts of the bodyin the general direction of movement.

Concertina movement is very ir-regular and appears to be quite strenu-ous. Thus, it takes snakes much longerto climb a tree than to move on theground or in the water.

This push/pull motion is made pos-sible by scales that are keeled, or ridged.Unlike smooth scales, a keeled scalehas a raised ridge on the center of eachscale which enables the snake to gripsmooth surfaces, much like a good tread

on a tire grips the road better than a baldtire can.

All snakes either have smooth orkeeled scales, and one way to distin-guish is that smooth scales typicallyreflect light, making the color patternof these snakes shiny, glossy, or irides-cent, whereas keeled scales tend tomake snakes dull and non-reflectivebecause of the raised ridge.

Tip: To explain the idea of concertina movement to a visitor, illus-trate the push/pull movement of themusical instrument, the accordion. Foryou non-musicians, a concertina is atype of accordion.

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Profile Strangler Fig

Ficus aurea

The Strangler Fig is a native of South Florida and the West Indies,growing primarily in tropical hardwoodforests. It can be a large tree, 50-60 feetin height, and it is a unique plant.

Strangler Figs begin as epiphytes,usually growing on another tree wherebirds or other animals have depositedseeds through their droppings. At Cork-screw, hosts are typically CabbagePalms and Bald Cypress.

The seeds are sticky and attach tothe tree. After germination, the fast-growing fig sends down aerial rootswhich reach the ground and establish asoil-based root system. As the roots en-large, the fig becomes self-supporting.

Figs can growfrom the ground asnormal trees, butthe stand-alonetree does not usu-ally grow very tall.

On some hosttrees where the figbegins relatively

low, we can seewhere the tree be-gins to grow upand the roots be-gin to grow down.

The StranglerFig does notstrangle. If it be-gins high enough,it will grow above

the top of the host tree and develop adense canopy which shades out every-thing below. It may eventually kill thehost tree, but not by strangulation.

However, we are at the far north-ern end of the figs range. Because thefig is a tropical tree, it is not cold-toler-ant, so when temperatures in our lateDecember and early January morningsdrop to the low 30s or less,the cold re-tards the figs growth. Consequently, nodense canopy ever develops to depriveour host trees of needed sunlight.

Strangler Fig Trivia Broken twigs exude a milky sap,

which may cause a skin reaction insome people.

Strangler Figs are in the family Moraceae (mulberry family).

The Strangler Fig is the host larvalplant for the Ruddy Daggerwing but-terfly, whose caterpillars can be seeneating fig leaves in the late summerand early fall, below.

Reproduction iswhat makes the Stran-gler Fig unique. Thefruit is actually a hol-low, globular receptaclewith hundreds of smallfleshy flowers facingeach other on the inside.The figs are pollinatedby a tiny gall wasp thatenters the receptaclethrough a small open-ing. Each flower inside the receptaclethen produces a tiny fruit containingseeds.

Each one of the more than 700 figspecies in the world is pollinated byonly one, or rarely two, species of figgall wasp. The species of tiny gall waspthat pollinates our Florida StranglerFigs is Anidarnes bicolor. The mutual-ism between figs and the wasps that

pollinate them is one of the most spec-tacular examples of coevolution.

The fruits (figs) grow in clusters onshort stems that grow directly from thetree trunk and branches. Each fig has atiny hole, a bract-lined entry pore, thatis just large enough for the female gallwasp, full of eggs, to enter.

As she squeezes through the en-trance, she loses both of her wings andis unable to leave. She deposits the pol-len that she has carried and lays hereggs in the stigma of the flowers insidethe fig fruit. Then she dies, and the holein the fig wall closes.

After a few days, the young malewasps, which develop faster than thefemales, hatch, chew open the eggs of the females, and mate with them. Themales then chew a hole in the wall of the fig fruit and die.

On the way out, the winged femalesare tagged with pollen. The new female

wasps, full of eggs now,can only make oneflight with their delicatewings. In that oneflight, the female mustnot only find the right

species of fig, but a fruitin the right stage of de-velopment. If she fails,she will not have thestrength to make an-other flight.

It is essential for thefig, too, that she suc-ceed. The tree abortsunpollinated fruit.

If she happens uponthe correct species of

fig tree with the rightcharacteristics, she will

reenact the process of her mother toensure new generations of fig gallwasps and Strangler Figs.

A ProthonotaryWarbler eats a figabove the Box 5bench at the northlake. Figs arefavorite foods of Red-bellied andPileated Wood-peckers.

References:FLORIDATA (www.floridata.com)

Florida Entomologist, Sept. 1999, p. 54