 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.
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There’s so many critters here in the Florida Keys, I’ve been able to write about a different variety each month. So far I’ve covered those who are feathered, furry, or scaly, from a spectrum of soft bodied insects to mammals, amphibians to birds, with some that slither, run, scurry or crawl and others that sail freely on the wind.   The male Golden Silk spider is a fraction of the size of the female. It’s been educational and enjoyable, photographing and researching each subject. Up till now… my current subject spiders creeps me out. I am not really afraid of them, but I don’t like looking at them either. There’s probably some good reason why at Halloween a lot of decorations depict spiders. Arachnophobia!!  A Cellar spider (Pholcidae sp) was attracted to the moisture in my kitchen sink. When I was five years old, sleepovers at my friend Jennifer’s house were fun, and spiders were part of the excitement. The rarely used room where we slept had pecky cypress wood covering the walls and ceiling. and brown spiders the size of silver dollars hung from webs in the dark, dusty corners. (I guess the spiders were what the monsters ate when they came out from underneath the beds.) Researchers believe we are not born with the fear of spiders, but instead are taught this behavior. Children are curious about spiders, and will capture them and watch how their tiny bodies move via their eight long legs until a parent/teacher intervenes, with the message of “be careful, they bite.“  Southern Black Widow spiders (Latrodectus mactans) are a venomous spider found throughout the Southeastern U.S. Credit: James L. Castner UF All spiders bite, however only two of them in Florida will provoke a strong reaction in humans: the Southern Black Widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) and the Brown Recluse spider (Heteropoda venatoria). According to the Florida Poison Information Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami (1-800-222-1222) if bitten by a Black Widow you will likely experience severe stomach pain, and you should go to the emergency room immediately. The Black Widow received its name from the belief the female spider would kill and consume the male after mating.  Brown Recluse showing “violin” shaped marking. by Jean Woods The Brown Recluse spider is typically found in Central and Southern Missouri… not here. The only documented case in Florida of a Brown Recluse spider bite involved a sailor who was bitten on the hand by a male Brown Recluse in the cargo hold of a naval ship in Jacksonville. The Brown Recluse spider bite causes pain, blistering and frequently necrotic lesions in humans. They are often blamed for mystery bites, wounds and bacterial infections that require treatment with antibiotics— a misdiagnosis by the public and doctors who are not trained in spider identification, nor have seen the spider inflict the bite. There are more than 250 species of spiders in Florida. Around the house, spiders are beneficial insects who consume flying insects, cockroaches and other small domestic pests. In the wild spiders spend their days hiding in leaf litter, and under debris, and emerge at night to hunt. They also spin elaborate webs in clearings to catch flying insects who cannot see the webs until they are ensnarled. Once in their web, the spider bites it’s victim and a small amount of venom is used to immobilize the insect, then dissolve it into a “smoothie” for the spider to ingest as they cannot eat solid food. A spider may bite a human if held or pinched; the bite may hurt for a while but quickly goes away and is much less severe than a bee sting.  The Mabel Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge argyrobapta) has an orange and green, almost metallic colored body. I have a general rule when walking in the woods: always go with someone else, and let them lead the way. This is because my attention is usually behind the camera lens and I have a bad habit of walking into spider webs. The two methods people use to avoid walking into spider webs are (1) Carry a long stick to brush away webs in the path, (2) Avoid disturbing the web by walking around it. The second method respects the spider’s efforts making a web which is light, elastic and stronger than steel, and is how the spider, who may have poor eyesight, senses vibrations from their prey, as the web acts as an extension of their sensory system.  This Ghost spider (Genus Habana) was hiding among the leaves in a fruit tree. Most spiders have eight eyes and eight legs. and come in a multitude of colors and can be patterned. Some have tiny hairs on their legs that can sense electric charges around plants or the movement of air emitted from a flying insect’s wings. Not all spiders spin webs, and those that don’t, rely on their better eyesight to capture prey.
Pest control is a choice, and my preferred method is preventing a bite by wearing gloves while working where spiders may be found, and shaking out shoes that haven’t been worn recently before putting them on. You can deter spiders by turning off outside lights at night, so not to attract flying insects, a spider’s preferred food. Realize that proper identification of the spider is the first step, and if the spider is beneficial, let it be. Never will I forget the words of Jean Geddes, full-time Keys resident, fisherman and naturalist, and one never afraid to speak her mind. whom I met in the early 80’s. She said her favorite time of year was when the White Crowned Pigeons arrive and at the same time, the winter “snowbirds” depart. It is the frenetic pace of the season with the “three activities a day crowd,” plus feedings, that keeps Keys service workers and professionals in our tourism economy busy, and longing for the calmer days of the off-season. All they have to do is endure “Spring Break.”  Common Yellowthroat male with a dark mask. These birds feed on insects, and here is perched on a Giant Milkweed branch. For years I’d make note of the first White Crowned Pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala) I’d see, usually in late March or April, after they’ve flown from Central and South America, across the Gulf of Mexico. When they stop here they need water and food. Figs are high on their list… all sorts of figs, which are full of nutrition for our feathered travelers. My home is surrounded by a majority of native plants, including a large Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis.) White Crowned Pigeons also favor gumbo-limbo, blolly, poisonwood, rough strongbark, and ironwood trees.
 This year, while sitting under the fig tree and waiting, I managed to photograph my first White Crowned Pigeon. It is a challenge is to maneuver into a good clear vantage point for viewing the birds, without alerting them to your presence. I found it particularly helpful to use my Nikon 180 - 600 mm lens and stand in the shadows so I could watch without being discovered. In just a few weeks benefiting from the tips about what to look for and where to stand, I was able to get close-up photos of various birds in my yard including a Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum), Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris), White-Crowned Pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala), and Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor).  White Crowned Pigeon in a Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) Figs which are a preferred fruit.  Prime viewing spot for birds is under this Banyan Tree in my yard. Some ficus, such as the Banyan tree require a lot of space for their roots to grow yet not disturb water pipes, but they are full of food for birds After all I’ve learned about finding migrating birds in the outdoors, my most unusual bird sighting was inside the home of Gail and Spike. While working on a photo project we were distracted by the flapping of a bird trying to get out. From high above on the window ledge the bird looked out and repeatedly was repelled by the clear glass barrier keeping him in. It darted up to the curtain and clung onto the fabric, probably wondering where is my branch? Confused, hungry and thirsty, this bird needed out. We called Ocean Reef’s naturalist Jeanette, who was there instantly and within a couple minutes had netted the bird. Jeanette took him out into the sunshine among the trees and flowers and butterflies and released it and as the bird flew off, I recognized that bird as the one often seen flying in pairs in the late afternoon catching mosquitos. From my photos the bird was identified as a Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica), and sure enough it feeds primarily on flying insects and it mates for life. It also likes chimneys, but it is unclear if the bird entered the house through the chimney or an open door.  After my efforts to locate migrating birds in the wild, I encounter a Chimney Swift inside a home.  The bird clung onto the drapery fabric, probably wondering where is my branch?  Ocean Reef naturalist Jeanette swiftly netted the bird and admires its beauty. The small beak is ideal for catching flying insects. It is helpful if you can identify the birds by learning their songs. The Merlin app which listens for birds can give a pretty accurate ID to aid in visual identification. Unfortunately the spring migration coincides with the departure of our snowbirds, who also have a loud call… caused by the rumble of their jet engines warming up on the nearby airport runway, which successfully drowns out any bird call.  Insects are the main source of food for the Prairie Warbler  A Palm Warbler seeks food on the ground.  A Prairie Warbler seeks insects in the Wild Tamarind Tree.  With the help of charts such as the one featured here, homeowners can improve their yards by choosing plants that will attract and nourish wildlife. From “The Florida Keys Environmental Story” article by Jim Duquesnel. "Practical bird-protection means not only preventing the destruction of birds but creating conditions which shall make the world more habitable for them. Tree planting for birds should be given especial consideration on Arbor Days"
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CAROL ELLIS
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