A Mild Winter Raises Thoughts of Spring

After some very cold weather in January, conditions have warmed up considerably in February. A great blue heron observing a sunrise from Chadwick Park on Manasota Key seems to be contemplating the upcoming day and opportunities to catch fish. A view of a newly created salt marsh at Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve illustrates a little known fact- that only white mangroves grow in the recently created habitat. Once these white mangroves have become tall enough to provide shade, red and black mangroves will begin to colonize and eventually dominate the area. A great illustration of the too little known “miracle” of plant succession.

I always watch for the first willow flowers to appear in February- a sure sign of Spring to come. Other flowers continue to offer beauty and provide food for insects and birds.. This Asian hibiscus has an extremely long pistil and one wonders what might pollinate it in its native land. The Bolivian powder puff flower on the other hand is made up almost solely of long stamens and its nectar is very attractive to birds and butterflies. The S African honeysuckle flower is curved to fit the bill of an African sunbird and the nectar is unavailable to N American birds without a method of piercing the base of the flower; this cardinal has figured this out and simply bites the flower to obtain the sweet reward.

Although the seed box or primrose willow is an exotic wetland species, it thrives in nutrient rich waters and produces beautiful yellow flowers very attractive to insects. In this case the insect is a feral non-native honeybee which was one of the few bees active on a sunny but cool day. Since pollinator friendly native flowers are scarce in winter time I suggest some acceptance of the value of this plant despite its immigrant status. It really only mainly thrives in nutrient polluted wetlands. However nearby there were some large native elderberries with numerous flowers that were also attracting honeybees. It is not often realized that the elderberry plant is quite toxic except for the flowers and ripe fruits.

Butterflies remain uncommon during the winter but monarchs are more common than most species. This individual was basking in the sun to warm up on a large sea grape leaf. Once warm enough monarchs search for whatever flowers they can find such as this Mexican milkweed which provides nectar and larval food. Since our monarchs are non-migratory in S Florida, planting of non native milkweeds provides most of their available larval food since the native milkweeds are mostly tiny and scarce.

One of my favorite birds is the belted kingfisher which I do not often see in Florida. It is a winter resident here but migrates back to the north to breed, as does the catbird. It is predominantly a fresh water species and this was a rare sighting for my bay-front location. It is also a bit unusual in that the female is the brighter colored with a reddish band on the breast.

One of the great pleasures here in winter is to observe and closely study sea birds on the beach where they often rest in the morning before human disturbance becomes too much for them. Due to hurricane Milton and the subsequent massive disruption to the beach and adjacent areas, large equipment has been clearing sand from properties and placing it on the beach. This project is nearly complete and I was pleased to see the wonderful mixed species groups of seabirds once again on the morning beach. These beautiful birds have become accustomed to human activities within certain limits and it is possible to get very close views of them. For example here are photos of three interesting species, a royal tern, a Forster’s tern and a ring billed gull. Into this wonderful grouping of birds all at peace with one another there came an intruder with sinister goals! A single fish crow began to chase individual Forster’s terns with the apparent intent to cause them to disgorge a recent meal. Crows are of course intelligent and resourceful and unlikely to pass up an opportunity for a meal no matter how “parasitic.” This single crow caused a considerable disruption of the entire flock of more than 300 birds which surprised me; the flock broke up into several smaller groups and dispersed somewhat. This behavior is common enough among animals that it is defined as “kleptoparasitism .” As humans we should obviously avoid making any judgment about such behavior. Indeed perhaps we should endeavor to just let animals do what comes naturally as much as possible.

Every season has its beauties and difficulties. Middle to late winter in SW Florida is a beautiful but dry time of year with cool nights and warm sunny days for the most part. So at the moment some heavy rain would be a godsend, but it is not likely for another three months.

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