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The more I write about nature, the more people identify me with the subject. Every week, I get texts and emails with pictures, links to articles and sometimes even a call to get out here NOW… there’s a huge flock of birds at the three way… referring to the intersection of Card Sound Road at Crocodile Lake in North Key Largo. From Ocean Reef, as you turn north on Card Sound Road, it is the first wetland to the right, and is a productive birding spot.  A huge congregation of wading birds on a cold overcast morning in Crocodile Lake. Photo by Jeanette Rivera. Such was the case on January 31st, about 8:00 am on a really cold morning with overcast sky when I received a call from Jeanette Rivera, naturalist at Ocean Reef, who was heading to work when she spotted a huge congregation of wading birds. She snapped a photo with her iPhone and in it were White Ibis, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, White Pelican, Great White Heron, Reddish Egret and Wood Stork. It was just beautiful. Rivera said, “I was in shock that there were so many birds in that one spot! It was really magical… special…I love it!” As you can tell, Jeanette is very passionate about nature. Of the birds present on this morning, the Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, White Pelican, and Great White Heron were a special treat, as they are most typically seen flying overhead, but on this day they were all here! According to Isabella Collamati, Invasive Species Biologist at Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, ‘time of day, time of year, temperature, and tide would probably be the biggest factors for why they chose to gather that day. It all lined up so that the water was deep enough to host enough prey to keep all parties interested, but shallow enough to make the hunting easier.” The birds diet consists of minnows, mullet, and killifish, and they are pickier about size than species.  Observe how the Reddish Egret hunts. They do a “Crazy Dance” using their wings to shade the water for a better view and then give chase until they can strike their prey. Reddish Egrets differ from other egret species, that simply stand and wait for food to come before they strike.     By the time I arrived, some of the birds had already left, but there were still dozens of birds. I had fun photographing the Reddish Egret and it’s distinctive hunting behavior. As it searched for fish, it would do a “crazy dance” as it jumped and hopped back and forth with outstretch wings raised over its head, peering at the water. The wings cast a shadow so they can see the prey better. The Reddish Egret is also one of the rare egrets, with only 2,000 pairs thought to be breeding in the U.S. A Roseate Spoonbill sat grooming on a red mangrove perch. Not sure it was there because the tide had risen and it’s short legs were no longer able to maneuver in the deepening wetland. Spoonbills have the broadened bill-ends full of nerve-endings, to feel for animals when mud-grubbing.  Spoonbills have the broadened bill-ends full of nerve-endings, to feel for animals when mud-grubbing.  Show me a little pink, peach and fuscia you pretty Rosie. Though not a wading bird, I saw a Belted Kingfisher hunting near this shallow wetland. The Kingfisher can regularly be seen perched on the power lines along Card Sound Road. Winter and Spring is nesting season for these birds, though I am not sure where these particular birds were from. Historically wading birds nested in the small Keys and nearby mangrove islands, within Florida Bay, far from human disturbances. The Everglades supports 70-90% of all wading bird nests annually. Wading birds initiated approx 89,514 nests in the Everglades in 2021. The wading bird nesting in 2021 was the highest recorded in 80 years.  The Kingfisher often perches along Card Sound Road. Their “mohawk” style feathers on their head give the kingfisher an air of confidence. Nesting success is highly dependent on the availability of fish and waters shallow enough to concentrate the fish, and water just the right level for the birds to wade in. Wading birds are abandoning their traditional nesting grounds in Florida Bay, and are moving north, partly due to increased salinity and the resulting reduction of species of fish that thrive in brackish water. Salinity of the Florida Bay is a problem, and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is intended to divert more fresh water through Taylor Slough to Florida Bay to improve the bay's health by reducing salinity. On the mainland Everglades, Madeira Hammock and Paurotis Pond, are locations with a reliable amount of birds and also a short field-trip from the Keys. It is very special living near designated wildlife refuges and national parks, but birds cannot read, and can easily settle in parks and gardens with suitable conditions. Or even can be seen flying overhead… This story was told to me by an avid tennis player Pat Holbrook, about a situation that occurred in mid-serve, requiring a “do-over”. As Pat tossed the ball preparing to serve up a winner, she called “let”… there is a Roseate Spoonbill flying over the tennis court. It is rare to see a Roseate Spoonbill, but never had she seen one flying overhead. An unexpected pause, a brief delay of game… and all the players agreed, nature had served up a winner.
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Happy Fall! It’s finally arrived... if only on the calendar. There’s been a small drop in temperature (the 80’s instead of 90’s) and the mosquito count is noticeably down. I don't want to jinx us, but we're two months shy of the end of 2024 Hurricane Season and we haven't had a powerful hurricane... yet. Hurricane destruction comes in waves; first from the wind and water, which results in power outages, broken infrastructure, roofs opened and while mosquitos are eating you alive, the second wave of destruction which I fear most begins, when the unemployed surfers with chainsaws appear and start cutting down our mangrove shoreline to improve a view.  Distinctive snorkel roots from the Black Mangrove stick out from the ground like fingers, and grow alongside Red Mangrove prop roots. The strongest hurricane winds do not uproot the mangroves, but can shake the trees so violently that the bark peels off, exposing the cambium layers to salt spray and waves, quickly killing the tree. Both dead and living mangroves are protected as outlined in the 1996 Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act. There are very specific regulations and heavy fines for illegal mangrove trimming. Florida law allows property owners and/or professional trimmers to trim mangroves to improve their view or access navigable waterways. Visit https://floridadep.gov and search for Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act to learn more. Always check with local environmental officials before trimming mangroves.  A white ibis observes from a mangrove branch.  A roseate spoonbill probes for mollusks and other invertebrates in the sediment. The Keys have four tree species in their mangrove forests: the Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) with it’s spider-like prop roots and cigar shaped seeds, the smaller White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) with it’s pea like seeds, the dark barked Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) whose distinctive aerial roots stick up from the ground like thin fingers, and Green Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus), the tree with the distinctive bark which looks as if it want to come off.  Red mangrove seeds develop on the tree and when they fall into the water they soon sprout roots along rocky coastlines.  White mangrove seeds are pea-like. All mangroves disperse their seeds by water. The red mangroves are particularly important because their high arching prop root systems entrap sediment and decayed organic materials, making them not only an essential habitat in the marine food chain, but also “land-builders” which have formed over 200 islands in Florida Bay. Mangroves are cold sensitive plants, that range from the St. Johns River on the East Coast, down through the Florida Keys, and up Florida’s west Coast to Cedar Key. North Key Largo is home to about 8,000 acres of mangroves. Mangroves are the nursery for the oceans. When they are destroyed it upsets the ecosystem. Fishermen know that 75% of the game fish and 90% of the commercial species use mangrove roots and shallow waters to shelter from predators until they reach a size large enough to fend for themselves. Mullet, mangrove snapper, snook, tarpon, shrimp, sea trout and blue crab call the mangroves home. The American crocodile lives in the mangroves and the mangrove water snake hides out among the tangle of prop roots and branches. Bottlenose dolphin feed on fishes associated with mangrove systems.  Manatees are frequently observed swimming in proximity to mangroves. Manatees (Trichechus manatus) feed on seagrasses and other submerged aquatic plants and are frequently observed swimming in proximity to mangroves. On a visit to my favorite mangrove lined canal, I sensed a photograph, however the water needed cleaning of a landscaper’s errant grass clippings that littered the surface. As I skimmed the water with a net to catch the clippings, my splashing attracted a West Indian manatee. Next a small nurse shark swam by... the place was alive. I thought all I needed to complete the scene was a bird. As I positioned the camera to capture the photo, a green heron flew in and perched on one of the prop roots. At that moment I felt as if I were Dr. DoLittle on an animal adventure. The rare and endangered Mangrove Diamondback (Malaclemys terrapin) only lives in the brackish back waters of the Florida Keys and Everglades. White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) feed on crabs and Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) prey on mollusks and other invertebrates living within the sediment. The entire Everglades population of the wood stork (Mycteria americana) nests only in mangroves.  The reclusive Mangrove Diamondback terrapin lives in the brackish waters of the Florida Keys and Everglades. Photo by: Morgan Barnes  Pelican guano coats a small mangrove island. The Red Mangrove, the “walking tree” found growing on the shorelines, is the basis for an impressive natural ocean filter system for litter dumped at sea, highlighting the importance of individual and organized coastal clean-up efforts. Back in the early 80s, my husband Ted and I would explore the mangrove shoreline, and leave with treasures like old buoys and wormy driftwood. It was athletic work as we balanced on the giant prop roots and labored to free a piece of debris from the mangroves. We called the shoreline our “Overseas Lumber Company.” Once home Ted would rip the driftwood into strips and make the most beautiful wormy frames for displaying my photographs. As I sit musing about some of the best times of my life, Ted appears steadied by his walker. I great him cheerily “Happy Fall!” He replies, “Trying not to.” All we need to do is understand some words and the context helps us out with the rest.  Red mangrove shoreline at dusk. Seagrape trees often grown near red mangroves.  A little green heron sits undercover of the mangroves.  At Robbies Marina, in Islamorada visitors buy pails of fish to feed the resident tarpon. Some may think it odd that I live in the Keys, the fishing capital of the world and I don't fish. It’s not that I don't like the water. I love photographing its varying shades of blue and aqua. I came to the Keys in the mid-1980’s in a round-about way. I actually left my hometown of Ft. Lauderdale in 1979 aboard a yacht, and spent nearly five years, logging more than 47,000 miles by sea, including seven trans-Atlantics, as crew aboard the schooner “America.” Upon my return home, I had tamed my adventurous spirit, and satisfied a lifetime of “been-there-done-that’s” and also noticed the Ft. Lauderdale of my youth had vanished, as high-rise buildings were popping up in the once small town.  Though fishing for the “Silver King” was generally a sport reserved for men, that didn’t dissuade Shultz Heitman with her 185 lb tarpon catch circa 1900 (Credit: Archives State of Florida) Imagine what it would have cost to have chartered a yacht, and spent years living in exotic destinations? Yet we live in one of those special places called the Keys, where tourism and fishing have been the backbone of the economy for decades. Here we have hot weather, warm water, and skilled fishing guides for those willing to spend a lot of money to fulfill an item on their “bucket” list, to experience the rush of stalking and hooking a tarpon. The “Silver King” tarpon was the first major game fish sought in Florida waters.  This photo of hooking a tarpon was started out as a challenge and a dream, that actually came true. A pioneer in the sport of fishing, Stu Apte, age 94 still lives in Tavernier with his wife Jeanine. After serving from 1955-1958 as a Navy fighter pilot during the Korean War, he became a pilot for Pan Am. most importantly because their routes included the places he wanted to fish. Stu holds many records for fish, but his largest record on fly was for tarpon, a record he achieved twice on one day (May 28, 1982) fishing in Homosassa Springs; he broke the record in the morning with a 162-3/4 lb. tarpon, only to break his own record in the afternoon with one that weighed 164 lb. on 12 lb. tippet.  “The requisites to success in tarpon-fishing are a favorable locality, hot weather, warm water, infinite patience, plenty of endurance, coolness, skill, a good guide, carefully selected tackle, and a knowledge of how to use it. —“Tarpon Days,” Harper’s Weekly, June 26, 1897 When he wasn’t fishing, Stu was photographing and writing, or guiding other anglers to world records. In 1962 his angler Kay Brodney landed a 137.6 lb. tarpon on a 12-pound tippet, at Coupon Bight, Big Pine Key, fishing alongside a half dozen others, with baseball great Ted Williams, among the boats present. “It was fantastic to have her tie into that fish in front of all of those people,” Stu recalls. Now known as Coupon Bight Aquatic Preserve, it is a 5,400-acre protected area located south of Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys. An environmentalist in a time before sustainable fishing was even invented, Isaac Walton (1593 to 1683) in “The Compleat Angler” wrote: “The Earth is a solid, settled Element; an element most universally beneficial both to man and beast: to men who have their several recreations upon it; as Horseraces, Hunting, sweet smells, pleasant walks: the Earth feeds man, and all those several beasts that both feed him, and afford him recreation.”  In 1962 Kay Brodney record 137.6 lb. tarpon on a 12-pound tippet in the Florida Keys with legendary fishing guide Stu Apte. That quote was my inspiration: Can we still in the 21’st century have a battle with a powerful beast within sight of the trappings of mankind? I wanted a photo of a jumping tarpon on an anglers line with a traffic filled US-1 in the background for the America 24/7 (Day in a life of America) book project. I arranged for two guides, one as my photo “chase” boat and the second with long-time fishing guide Capt. Ron Wagner and two British anglers Pip and Ashley. My heart sunk when Capt. Ron said they’d been out all week and hadn’t hooked a tarpon. Undeterred, we approached the Channel 5 area where Capt. Ron put a small crab on the hook, cast it and within moments a tarpon grabbed it, jumped high into the air and the battle had began.  Following the fish through the concrete arch of the former Florida East Coast Railway Extension. I have heard stories of anglers while fishing at Channel 5 Bridge, would hook a tarpon, it would head through the bridge to the ocean and turn around and go back again. You have to follow the fish, and in heavy current it is easy for them to breathe, they have more oxygen and it gives the fish more stamina to fight harder. On this day this tarpon headed that way, in heavy current toward the bridge. The experienced Capt. Ron maneuvered the fish, line, and the boat through the concrete arches of the Channel 5 bridge and through to the ocean side.  Closer to the boat, the tarpon lept out of the water in front of me.  Landing a tarpon in view of US1. My camera captured many different views, but always in mind was the shot I wanted… a tarpon battle with a background of US1. As the sun got lower and the fish more tired, the angler Ashley brought it closer to the boat and it leapt out of the water in front of me. The shot made the book.
SO I guess I DO fish after all, sustainably, with my camera and lens, I RELEASE the shutter to capture a moment. |
CAROL ELLIS
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