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A manatee is a harmless, slow moving aquatic mammal - not a fish - with a light brown to gray hide, often covered with barnacles and algae. Their nickname “sea cow” comes from their diet of seagrasses and aquatic plants, found in shallow waters adjacent to tropical shorelines. Fossil records indicate manatees were present in the bays and rivers of Florida about 15 million years ago.  A family of manatees, one with a mutilated tail, forage in an Ocean Reef channel. In 1951 Everglades National Park biologist Joseph Moorea began the now-standard practice of identifying individual manatee by the propeller scars on their backs caused by careless operation of motorboats. In 1832 when Audubon visited the Keys he wrote about “those singular animals called Sea Cows or Marratees [sic], and he had conquered hundreds of them…because the flesh and hide bring ‘a fair price,’ at Havannah [sic].”  1890 John and Eddie Pent and a crowd around a manatee on a Coconut Grove pier. (Credit: Archives State of Florida) In 1891, Kirk Monroe wrote that the manatee “abounds” in Biscayne Bay and related an incident in which his Miami neighbors killed one of a “herd” of five, supplying the “settlement of 100 souls with meat for three days.”  Indians killed the manatee for food- fried, grilled, or boiled or dehydrated by smoking beside a fire under a chickee hut. They’d trade the hide for coffee, sugar and salt. Bones were used for rituals. In 1893, Florida law made it illegal to kill or capture manatees. Despite the law, the waters of the Keys were akin to the wild west… albeit a wet and wild frontier. In 1919 Zane Grey, renowned author of westerns, and President of the Long Key Fishing Club, wrote: “Who fishes just to kill? At Long Key last winter I met two self-styled sportsmen. They were eager to convert me to what they claimed was the dry-fly class angling of the sea. And it was to jab harpoons and spears into porpoises and manatee and sawfish, and be dragged about in their boat. The height of their achievements that winter had been the harpooning of several sawfish, each of which gave birth to a little one while being fought on the harpoon! Ye gods! It would never do to record my utterances.”  The Save the Manatee Committee was established in 1981 by Jimmy Buffett and Gov. Bob Graham. Committee Chairman Jimmy Buffett and Pat Rose, Department of Natural Resources, review a script promoting awareness and education about the endangered West Indian Manatee. (Credit: Archives State of Florida) Miami’s boom of the 1920’s gave rise to greater populations living in South Florida, particularly near the coast. Then came the bust and Floridians resorted to hunting manatee to put food on the table to survive the Great Depression of 1929. Historically, the Seminole Indian Tribe used the manatee for food, traded the skins for essentials, and used the bones in rituals.  Manatees search for fresh drinking water, but never feed or water them. This could attract them to dangerous areas, like docks, putting them at greater risk of a boat strike. It is also illegal to feed and water manatees. Manatees are thermoregulators, meaning that they attempt to maintain a constant body temperature. In nature, manatees retreat to deeper areas where a layer of salty bottom water helps to trap heat and allow for warmer conditions near the bottom. Like manatees, Florida was settled by people seeking refuge from the cold. As populations grew, so did the range of the manatee. who were frequently seen in canals and yacht basins, attracted by a new form of warm-water refuge caused by population growth. The advent of large power plants aligns with the manatee’s expansion up the Atlantic Coast of Florida. Power plants were constructed in Fort Lauderdale (1926), Palm Beach (1946), and Ft. Pierce (1945), and later up the Gulf Coast to Ft. Myers and St. Petersburg (1958) and Crystal River (1966).  1980’s Highway billboard By the early 1970’s it became clear that the manatee was struggling with the effects of living close to man. Boat collisions, habitat loss, seagrass decline, coastal development, human interaction, toxic red tide algal blooms and climate change impacts threatened their existence. The Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed in 1972. In 1975 the Florida Legislature named the Manatee the “Florida State Marine Mammal”. and in 1978 enacted Florida’s Marine Sanctuary Act. The Save the Manatee Committee was established in 1981 by Jimmy Buffett and Gov. Bob Graham to promote awareness and education about the endangered West Indian Manatee.  Today it is illegal to pursue, harass or play with a manatee. Man hugging a manatee Miami Seaquarium circa 1987 (Credit: Archives State of Florida) In 1991, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) aerial survey of the population of the Florida manatee revealed only 1300 individuals. By 2016 things were improving, and the manatee moved from an endangered status to a downgraded threatened status. In 2019 the USFWS estimate of Florida Manatee was about 6300 individuals. The 2022-23 USFWS survey estimated Florida Manatee numbered 8,350–11,730. With 3,960–5,420 on the west coast and 3,940–6,980 on the east coast. The manatee’s history in Florida is linked to population growth and development, and their survival in our modern era is unclear. The fact that this creature has persisted to this day gives me hope for the future.   A Florida “Save the Manatee” license plate is a smart way individuals may support manatee research, rescue, and monitoring efforts, to guide conservation actions.
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“I see said the blind man as he picks up his hammer and saw,” is one of my favorite expressions, where “see” refers to sight or understanding. and the moment when I finally recognize what is going on. It was just a regular trip to the mailbox; on the way I’d glance at the bed of aloe vera plants with their tall bloom spikes, hoping for a hummingbird to hover on by. Surely one day I’d see a hummingbird as each Fall Hummingbirds leave their breeding grounds throughout the Eastern United States, and winter in the Florida Keys. while others take their fly-way South through Texas to Panama.  Ruby-throated hummingbird approaching an aloe vera flower. Surely they were present in my yard. Yet they eluded my vision until I took the time to sit and wait, camera in hand, for the invisible to appear. To say I'm a multitasker would be accurate, while I sit in wait for the hummingbird, the phone rings and now I’m also talking to a client about art work when suddenly I blurt out “Wait wait I gotta go… It's here…” My reaction to spotting my first hummingbird could have been likened to giving birth to my first child. But in a flash it was gone again.  Ruby-throated hummingbird male hovers in midair while sipping nectar. I silenced the phone, and waited with my strict attention on the flowers. In about 10 minutes the bird returned. I lifted my camera, pulled off some shots and I captured that amazing bird approaching, hovering, and nectaring on an aloe flower. The photograph revealed it was a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), its name referring to the ruby-red feathers on the male bird’s throat.  Firebush (Hamelia patens): a Florida native with orange-red flowers Having finally seen a hummingbird in action, I can truly appreciate these amazing little helicopters, as they swoop down from the treetops, hover in midair while sipping nectar, then zip away all in the blink of an eye. They are so small, about 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches, weighing less than a quarter of an ounce, a hummingbird could easily be missed. Perhaps you could hear them coming by the humming sound caused by the rapid beating of their wings… that’s why they are called “humming” birds. Ruby-throated hummingbirds’ wings beat at an amazing 55 beats per second. They have to keep moving since hummingbirds have tiny feet, which is great for aerodynamics, however there's a downside: these birds cannot walk. They can only perch or scoot sideways.  Firecracker plant: with red, tubular flowers, growing 3-4 ft. tall and 6 ft. wide Hummingbirds need to feed every 10-15 minutes which increased my opportunities for getting a photo. They can only feed from dawn to dusk so they must consume more than half their weight in food and 8 times their weight in water. They’ve adapted to survive darkness when they cannot feed by eating as much as they can just before dark. At night, their heart rate and body temperature drop to conserve energy, sort of like a daily hibernation, otherwise they likely would starve. Hummingbirds preferred flower color is orange, red or pink. Their needle-like beaks are specialized for feeding on tubular-shaped flowers, where they eat insects found inside, and with their tongue extending beyond their beak, drink the nectar, as if sipping through a straw.  Geiger Tree (Cordia sebestena): a large Florida Keys native with bright orange flowers Frequently mentioned on lists of Keys Hummingbird plants are the following:
The aloe plant is rarely mentioned as a nectar plant for hummingbirds, although the aloe bloom is pinkish-yellow and has a tubular shape. Hummingbirds learn by trial and error which flowers give the best results, so the aloe in my yard evidently has passed the taste test. They also like the red Bombax blooms which appear in late Winter/Spring.  Adult Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird o a feeder looking “back at ya”. Photo by: Ed Cox A short while later I resumed the phone call that was interrupted by the bird. Luckily I was speaking with a fellow nature photographer who understood my enthusiasm, and then shared some of his great photos of hummingbirds. I noticed some photos involved feeders which are great for viewing hummingbirds. A feeder is filled with a mixture of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water. Boil the sugar solution till the sugar is dissolved, then cool.. Since the feeder itself is red, there is no need to add red food coloring. Be careful to avoid placing the feeder in direct sunlight, as this stimulates bacteria growth, and clean the feeder every five days. Though feeders satisfy the sweet tooth, gardening for wildlife is always a better nutritional option, especially if you have a variety of plants which are in bloom at different times.  Adult Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at a feeder. Photo by: Ed Cox  Juvenile Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird Photo by: Ed Cox Lately there has been a lot of talk about getting healthy again. There is plenty of room for common ground with this discussion… after all who doesn’t want to be healthy? Getting started is half of the problem. Often we place too much emphasis on how disciplined we must be, and set unrealistic goals which become more of a chore than a healthy habit.  A Common Yellowthroat visits a water source late in the afternoon.  American Redstart with an eye on a small green worm in a Wild Tamarind (Lyceloma) tree. Birdwatching has surprising health benefits, and is good for the body and soul. First it is widely accepted that getting out in the fresh air and sunshine is good for your mind, and your body benefits from absorption of Vitamin D. Birdwatchers walk a lot, but not at a fast pace, since there are breaks when you stop and listen and look for birds. The excitement of the search for birds inspires you to walk farther than you normally would. A fitness expert told me that for every 45 minutes of walking, you earn an additional day of life… longevity earned one step at a time!  Female American Redstart in a Seagrape Tree - Blue Hole, Big Pine Key. Photo by: Isabella Collamati My first bird watching experience came two-and-a-half years ago in May during Spring migration. I was helping survey for butterflies, when someone spotted a Cape May Warbler. I took a photo which I later used to confirm the identity, and learn the bird.  American Redstart blends in with the mulch. Spring and Fall are the major times for bird migration. Songbirds fly South in autumn by the millions, including many young birds, some less than three months old. Their sheer numbers are staggering, and it is a great time to get to know a vast number of birds, in both mature and immature development. The Spring migration however is more popular, as the birds have had time to develop adult plumage and work on their repertoire of songs.  A Black and White Warbler probes for insects in the roots of a fig tree. For centuries man wondered about the seasonal movements of birds. Migrating birds move at night guided by the stars, orienting themselves by landmarks and sensing the earth’s magnetic field. Basic information such as how many birds, how high they flew, and where they were going remained a mystery. The earliest researchers extrapolated numbers by viewing the sky and counting how many bird silhouettes were defined when they passed in front of the full moon.  Male Prairie Warbler. Blue Hole, Big Pine Key. Photo by: Isabella Collamati In the last 80 years, thanks to the end of World War II and the donation by the Navy of 25 radars to the National Weather Service, scientists have used weather radar to track migration. Using radar they can now “see” millions of birds cross over the Gulf of Mexico on a non-stop flight of 600 miles. For migratory birds, their life is short and full of perils. Many songbirds live less than two years and 85% of them die during migration. Our role as caretakers of this fragile planet is more important than ever before, to ensure the survival of migratory birds. They need a reliable source of food and water, and lots of it. Though migratory birds may come to bird feeders, their preferred food is found growing on native trees and plants. It is not just the fruit and seeds, but also the insects that are found amongst the leaves and branches. As I write this journal, I am sitting under the large ficus tree… just outside my door… my special place for “wildlife” inspiration.  Cape May Warbler series for insects in a Wild Tamarind tree.  Cape May Warbler series for insects in a Wild Tamarind tree. As a beginner birdwatcher, all you need to be successful is a quiet place and one bird. Add to that a pair of binoculars and a field guide, or an app on your phone like Merlin Bird ID (https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/) and you are well on your way. The best place to start birding is close to home. It may only be for 10 minutes at a time in your backyard or local park or nature area, but you will get to know a few birds that you see frequently. Once you are comfortable with that you can join a birdwatching group which would have knowledgeable participants familiar with good birding spots. The Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a great time to start birdwatching. Often times newcomers think they are not knowledgeable enough to participate in the CBC; this is simply not true. What is great about the CBC is that the organizers create teams of individuals having a variety of experience and skill level. There are always participants willing to teach newcomers.  It’s important to provide fresh water for migrating birds. Photo series of a Palm Warbler enjoying the benefits.  It’s important to provide fresh water for migrating birds. Photo series of a Palm Warbler enjoying the benefits.  It’s important to provide fresh water for migrating birds. Photo series of a Palm Warbler enjoying the benefits. The 125th Annual Audubon CBC in the Upper Keys will commence at Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge visitor's center located at 10750 County Road 905, Key Largo, FL. Participants will meet on December 21, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. to join up in groups divided for counting in each particular sector of the count circle.
If you are interested in joining you need to sign up ahead of the event. Contact: Suzy Roebling Email: mullet_mansion@yahoo.com |
CAROL ELLIS
This photographic website provides me the opportunity for self-expression, for sharing Archives
September 2024
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