Spring and Summer 2011 Florida

Cozumel, Mexico is a United Nations named Island of Peace.

I don't care to count how many times people have asked me if I left Mexico because of the violence and the skeptical looks I got when I said that Cozumel is not a violent place. I can truthfully say that I felt much safer in Cozumel than I do in the States. Case in point, the night that the neighbors behind my townhouse starting shooting right outside in the middle of the night. Nobody was hurt, but I knew real fear for the first time in many years. But in spite of trigger-happy neighbors, I am learning to love Florida more and more. I still am very homesick for Cozumel, but this place has a lot to offer. I am learning about the early settlers, the Florida Crackers and the extreme hardships they endured to live in this beautiful but harsh environment. Since I have always loved the sounds of thunderstorms, most afternoons I am delighted to listen to the rumblings of thunder in the distance.

I guess the big thing for me is the wildlife. I live in Cape Coral and it is abundant here. It is a nature photographers dream. Like the adorable little burrowing owls. They are all over Cape Coral. Most of the people in the city are delighted to have them as neighbors, even in their yards. They put up perches for them and protect them. In my neighborhood there are many nests within a few blocks radius. The owl at right is hovering over me when I walked Freckles by his nest in the late evening. The reason for his interest is his young family on the left. These are tiny birds, barely larger than a robin, quite small for a predator. They can be ill-tempered if you get too close to their nest and territory. They remind me of Meercats in the way that they sit high on their perches watching all around for danger or food. I love showing these guys off to visitors, when they hear owl they are not prepared for the cute fuzzy birds that these owls are and are always delighted when they focus in on them. Like the people that clean out the turtle nests in Cozumel, they have people that clean out the owl nests after the babies have fledged. I haven't signed up for that job yet.

I refer to the photograph on the left as beauty and the beast. Love the little hooks on its "feet". I tried to get this identified, but it wasn't a good enough shot for my "bug people" to be able to tell. It may be a Japanese Beetle.

About 20 minutes from my house is an area called Six Mile Cypress Slough. It is a rich habitat for wildlife and plant life and an important ecosystem for fresh water in this area of Florida. It provides flood control and cleans the water while the slow flow allows sediments to settle out. The lush plant life cleans the water by absorbing pollutants. It deters flooding by retaining storm water that eventually filters into the ground to replenish the ground water. When early developers were busy draining the swamps and filling them I doubt that they had any idea of the unintended consequences to our drinking water and ecosystems and flood control. But they do now.

Low impact recreation is allowed here. It has a great boardwalk above the swamp which allows you to go deep into the interior and view the plants and animals without getting too close and walking up to your hips in muck. One of the stops along the trail is at a lookout where there were many baby alligators this spring. I have visited the slough a few times this summer. Even on the hottest, muggiest days when you get back under the canopy of cypress and other trees, the temperature drops and it is cool and peaceful. In the winter during the dry season the swamp was pretty dried up. But the last time I was there a few weeks ago, it was all under about 1 1/2 feet of water which was doing its job of getting cleaned and filtered. There was much less wildlife at that time, but still some.

Below is a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron which kept right on hunting in spite of me flashing the camera all the time. It is dark enough under the canapy that you almost have to have a flash to get a good shot. It was weaving its way in and around the Cypress trees.

These birds range from Florida to Minnesota on the north, Missouri and Texas to the west. But rarely further west than that. They perfer a habitat of woods and swamps. They also range throughout the Caribbean. In some areas they are considered endangered, but for the most part they are a pretty stable species. They have a strong enough acid in their stomachs to disolved the shells of small turtles. In addition they eat crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, small fish and aquatic insects. These hersons are active day and night.

Feral pigs like the small one to the right can be found in the slough. These pigs are very destructive to Florida and many other states. The ones I saw and photographed didn't seem very big, but they did have the tusks and the pack of them rooted their way below us and left the vegetation shredded by their sharp hooves. There are much larger feral hogs that can be found in the state and I really hope I never run into any of them on trails that I walk.

I think one of the most surprising thing about this park is that it is right in the City of Ft. Myers. While it is very peaceful, you can faintly hear traffic noises from the busy roads bordering the area -- but it seems worlds away.

Back to Cozumel and into the warm water. In other blogs I have talked about Parrotfish. I am revisiting them because I was disturbed by a statement someone made about Parrotfish destroying the reef. I wanted to set the record straight as these fish can't talk and defend their way of making a living. For the most part, Parrotfish only clean algae from dead coral. They have an amazing digestive system which extracts the nutrients breaking down and using every bit of nutrition they find and then excrete what is left which is your basic sand. As an aside, have you noticed that the sand around Cozumel does not burn your feet? I think we have these puppies to thank for that, plus the amount of pulverized limestone that makes up the sand.

Parrotfish go through color and sex changes in their lifetime and I can't begin to keep up with the different phases other than that I believe they all end up as "terminal males". Pictured above is a Rainbow Parrotfish on the left and a baby Spotlight Parrotfish on the right.

Sometimes Parrotfish will take big bites out of living coral a mark which some believe is a territorial mark. But it is certainly not enough to destroy the reef and in the universe's infinite wisdom, I am sure there is some symbiotic nature to whatever they are doing on the reef. There are no mistakes in the evolved natural world.

But where the mistakes in the natural world do occur, it is most likely that humans were involved. There has been a lot of speculation of how the invasive species, the Lion Fish happened to get into the Caribbean and Atlantic waters. Some say they were released from aquariums, so say the Panama Canal gave them a pathway from the Pacific, but what matters is they are here and they are very busy voraciously eating everything they can and they don't have any natural predators, yet.

I am told that Lionfish are good to eat, but I have not had the opportunity to try them. I would like to. Seems somehow "right" to be eating these guys. The bucket on the left was from one of the tournaments on Cozumel. I am told that they are appearing on the local menu of a number of restaurants. Great. I believe that the marine park allows them to be killed, unlike any other species of fish found there. So you spear fishing aficianados, here is your chance to get in some spearfishing and rid the Cozumel waters of this highly undesirable critter.

Cozumel has seen the devastation of invasive species before. The island is still plagued by the boa constrictors that are the offspring of the first ones that were released in 1971 after a film crew was finished using them. They devastated the monkey and parrot populations on the island and are a firmly established predator now. Perhaps adding them to the local menus would help.

Florida seems to be the place for releasing things into the wild that really don't belong in this part of the world. I won't get into all the details of invasive species, but it is a huge problem here because of the exotic pet trade. Cape Coral has Nile Monitor lizards, although I have not seen any first hand, they are all over the Cape. Cape Coral has more canals than Venice, Italy, so there is a lot of room for these guys to expand their territory. Iguanas were becoming a problem here, but we have had a couple of good freezes in the past few years and it killed the iguanas off and I hope hurt the monitors. One of the invasive species is the Cuban Tree Frog. The one to the right is wedged in a part of my sliding glass doors and when he appears on my sliders, he drives the Abyssinians a little nuts trying to get at him. They look cute, but they really don't belong here. They eat at least 5 species of native frogs, not to mention local lizards and snakes. Their tadpoles compete with local species and hurt their numbers that way. They also lay eggs in birdbaths and fish ponds. One of the more annoying things they do is poop on the windows and leave unsightly streaking - I am not a cleanaholic, but I dislike having to clean the windows all that often because of Cuban Tree Frog poop.

These frogs were probably not pets, but got here as stowaways on cargo ships from Cuba. They grow much larger than the local tree frogs and have actually been know to cause power outages by short-circuiting utility switches. They can get into houses, hang out in toilets and sink drains and generally make unpleasant neighbors.

To the left is a common site all over Florida and the deep south -- Spanish Moss. Well first off, Spanish Moss is not really a moss (or lichen) but is a bromeliad or air plant. While it generally does no harm to its host tree although it can create wind resistence which can be a big problem in a hurricane.

Bromeliads are all around this area. I love seeing them because they are the indicator of healthy clean air. They can't grow where there is much air polution. The one to the right was along the boardwalk in Six Mile Cypress. The one on the lower left is in bloom. There are also many native orchid species in this area, including the elusive and beautiful Ghost Orchid. There was a large cluster of Ghost Orchids in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary recently and the staff had a large scope for people to see the rare plant. A friend visited Corkscrew and looked for it to try to photograph it. Even with the strong scope it was very difficult to see -- way back from the trail and up about 30 feet in a tree -- impossible to photograph even with his 350 mm lens. But other orchids are more common here. I am sure I will evetually run across one in bloom on my travels.

And back to the island:

I know that many of you Cozumelholics keep in touch with the island in a variety of ways. Something new that I have been taking advantage of is the English speaking radio station which you can hear over the internet. It features island music and an upbeat mix from many decades. You can hear it by clicking on this link: http://www.cozumelradioonline.com/. I truly enjoy listening to it and hearing familiar voices. But I must say it made me painfully homesick.

Some of the local Cozumel chizmes (gossip) that you may not have heard. Susan Johnson is now the owner of the island fixture, the French Quarter, congratulations Susan. Cozumel4You can now be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/158064054226056/. Jennifer Marshall, a frequent Cozumel visitor from Texas has brought petitions to try to stop the abuse of carriage horses on the island. She presented these to the city council recently. The new mayor, Aurielo was not there. Jennifer has a website for educating people on this painful subject. Sam's Club opened on the island after years of rumors that it was coming. Greg who owns Woody's in downtown Cozumel was in a terrible moto accident and miraculouly he is recovering nicely. Please stop in and see him if you are on the island. A new cargo ferry opened and the marina is expected to open in late fall. Turtle season is going well with the exception of two white turtles that were found dead on the east side. I had the pleasure of seeing a couple of white turtles hatch last summer. The ones that died were adults weighing 200 kilos. There have been changes in roads and streets. So if you drive there, be prepared for some one-ways going in different directions and some additional streets.

Back to Ft. Myers

Some of you may know that I was active in the Cat Fanciers Association for many years while I bred and showed Abyssinian cats. So, one of the first things I did when I returned to the states was to join a local cat club, the Platinum Coast Cat Fanciers. The club put on a show the weekend of July 23 & 24 -- their 20th annual. I was active in the production of the show and, of course, did the photos. My cat, Tuffy, hadn't been in a show for over 6 years but he handled it pretty well, even at 7 1/2 years of age. His nearly 11 year old mother, not so much. So we had her stay home the 2nd day. To the right is an Egyptian Mau that was very interested in me and my camera.

The club is very supportive of local rescue groups and shelters. There were dozens of cats and kittens there for adoption and the weekend was very successful for rescue cats!

It was fun being at a cat show again and really great reconnecting to some old friends that I met in Florida in the mid-80s. Tuffy, above, was from the last litter I bred over 7 years ago. While I miss the kittens, I don't miss the expense and hard work that goes with breeding purebred animals. It has changed a lot over the years. When I was a show manager back in Michigan, I would always try to involve the local humane society in our show. Cat shows draw large crowds of cat lovers and is an excellent way to help the local rescue groups connect with the public and rehome some great pets.

In Cozumel the Humane Society has worked very hard to promote spaying and neutering all pets and worked towards educating the local folks on responsibilities with pets. It has been an upward climb, but their efforts are starting to pay off. But, they still have way too many unwanted pets and not enough adopters on the island. So many of the dogs and cats are adopted by tourists visiting the island and either taken back to the states and Canada, or escorts are found and they are flown to their new homes. If you are an island visitor, consider either adopting or being an escort. I have done the escort gig and it is very rewarding and easy peasy. See the website (link above) for more information.

 

Sanibel Island

My 2nd favorite island. I have spent as much time as I am able visiting the island. I am drawn to the Ding Darling Nature Wildlife Refuge. It bears the name of a Michigan man, J. Ding Darling, a political cartoonist and bird lover. Thank you to those with the forethought to protect nearly half of this beautiful island for generations to come. Can you imagine our congress today having that kind of forethought? I can't.

Sanibel to me, is all about the birds. To many others, it is all about the beach and shelling, but that is for another blog. The refuge has a driving tour where you can drive slowly through the place and stop and photograph all the birds that will pose nicely for you. Over the years I have seen professional photographers from every wildlife organization you can think of here because it is such a bonanza for birds.

Above is a small flock of Roseatta Spoonbills in the morning light. They are a bright pink splash on the landscape. I am glad I didn't get a closeup of their heads because they don't have such cute faces. There are no feathers on their head and they look a bit like a vulture (head alone) with a weird beak. Their range is the far southeast USA and Chile and Argentina to the south. They eat small fish, crabs, and vegetation. The technique they use is to sweep there bills back and forth through the water until they feel something and quickly clamp their spoon bills closed. They don't start breeding until they are 3 years old. Like so many of the birds of Florida and the south the love of their plummage for ladies hats and such meant that they were hunted nearly to extinction with only 30-40 breeding pairs remaining. This destructive fashion trend carried on from the 1870's until around 1920. Around 1900 Egret feathers were worth more than ounce of gold. The spoonbills have made a remarkable recovery and now their breeding pairs number in the 1000s. Florida has just removed them from endangered to threated statis.

To the left is the Osprey. It is also called "fish eagle". They are very common here, although a little less so in the summer. There are nesting platforms everywhere for them and they have a good track records of raising their young here. To the right below is a fledgling Osprey trying out its wings for the first time. It would lift off the nest and hover for a few moments and then drop back down to safety. When I returned a week later, the fledglings (3) were all out of the nest. The nest was near the lighthouse point and I observed the young ones hanging out on the top of the lighthouse and they were quite at home with their newly learned ability to fly.

Osprey's life revolves around fishing. You can find them hovering, riding the thermals, right at the edge of the beach and gulf. They are a diurnal species which means they are active in the daytime and sleep at night. So we get to see their spectacular swoops down to snatch fish. The Osprey and Owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. This is particularly helpful when they grab slippery fish. This species of raptor can be found nearly all over the globe. Their lifespan is 7-10 years with rare individuals living as long as 20-25 and a record holder from Europe lived to be over 30 years.

Osprey don't really have natural enemies other than Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles will sometimes engage in kleptoparasitism (don't you love that word), that is they will steal the Osprey's catch in mid-air. I was greatly thrilled to witness that a few months ago in Matlacha near Pine Island. An Osprey flew over the roof where we were sitting with an Eagle in hot pursuit. There was a flurry of flying beaks and talons and feathers and before I could get my camera up, it was over and the Eagle had the fish and was so far away that you can't tell what it was.

Oh, and I must mention the passing of "Wilma", Sanibel's long time resident crockodile. She died in January 2010 of either old age, or an extremely cold winter. She had been out of her element for many years. She had been captured and relocated to the southern tip of Florida where the American Crockodile's normal range is. But like so many of us, she kept returning to Sanibel. I had the pleasure of seeing her over 15 years ago. It was an amusing encounter as I was showing off Ding Darling to friends (Nancy and Del Johnson) who asked if we would see crockodiles. I said no and then explained that they weren't seen this far north and that we might see alligators but no crocks. A short time later we rounded a bend in the preserve and stopped because of the large crowd along the side of the road. And on the bank was her great big self for all to see and for me to have to eat my words. I have a picture of her someplace, but couldn't find it. She had a rough life, she battled with the big male alligators often, but that wasn't how she died. I was sad to hear of her passing, she always fascinated to me.

I recently learned that the island now has another female crock. She is around 8 feet. She was relocated to Sanibel from Grove City to the north because she was coming on private property. When they moved her they put magnets on the sides of her head to disorient her orientation to her previous territory. So, the beat goes on. And one last thing. A black bear has been spotted on the island recently. Probably a young male trying to find a new territory. So far, he has been keeping to himself bothering nobody, so there are no plans to relocate him.

And so, until next time, I am off with my camera to capture life's and natures moments.

Photographer: Carol McCutcheon
Blog: http://www.cozumelcarol.com
Photography available for sale at:
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/carol-mccutcheon.html
and
http://www.zazzle.com/cozumelcarol

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