Refuge

Blue-gray gnatcatcher, taking a break from some gnat- (or other) catching.

…or pantry, or “eyesore that needs to be whacked weekly with a LOUD polluting device”, depending on your perspective.

Winged sumac is even more gorgeous in the fall!

Some day the mayhaws will fruit…?

Storms over the last couple of years have brought dramatic change to the plant community along the northern fence. The original idea was to flex against the neighbor’s whack-a-mole wall o’ privet (Ligustrum sinense) with a mostly edible buffer of yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), blueberries (Vaccinium spp./cultivars), winged sumac (Rhus copallina)

Chickasaw plum / Prunus angustifolia, and Robert’s geranium / Geranium robertianum in early spring.

chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia),  Eastern mayhaw (Crataegus aestivalis), muscadine/scuppernong (Muscadinia rotundifolia) and a ground layer of wild strawberry (Fragaria virginicia). This worked rather well until Florence used the neighbor’s trees to flatten the entire assemblage. The neighbor’s privet rebounded with great enthusiasm within weeks, but it has taken a couple of years for the fruit buffer to recover. In the meantime, a new group of plants has colonized the newly-sunny gaps – outcompeting pernicious privet seedlings – and IT HAS BEEN JUST AWESOME FOR BUGS AND BIRDS!

Think this is a common yellowthroat in the pokeweed, which has been mostly denuded of its inky berries.

Blueberry bee – pollinator of…you guessed it. Photo from mid-spring.

Yellow passionflower, delicate cousin of maypop, Passiflora incarnata.

Venus’ looking-glass, back in May.

Earlier in the year, dewberry (Rubus flagellaris) took advantage of the real estate, along with some Venus’ looking-glass (Triodanis perfoliata), and new beautyberry seedlings (Callicarpa americana). American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), the frenemy/‘sallat’ of olden days,  also arrived, and St. Andrew’s cross (Hypericum hypericoides) is increasing. It wouldn’t be SE NC without edge-loving jackson-vine (Smilax smallii), catbriar (Smilax bona-nox), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus cinquefolia), yellow passionflower (Passiflora lutea) and creeping cucumber (Melothria pendula).

Spanish (pre-)needles!

Now that fall is here, members of the aster family are taking charge, mostly featuring Spanish needles (Bidens bipinnata), dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium) and  horseweed (Conyza canadensis). See banner photo!

 

So many red-eyed vireos in the beautyberry.

A female (orchard?) oriole rests between snacks.

 All this to share that we’ve never seen such variety and quantity in the birds, in every month of this crazy year, each finding something useful and/or comforting in the various layers of shelter, food, nesting. It’s mind-boggling, and so much fun to observe. Now if this lovely buffer could only cancel out the relentless mowing and blowing on the other side…

 

 

 

 

Sanibel-Captiva – mangroves!

Edge of Tarpon Bay, from a kayak.

Sanibel-Captiva is a study in edges.  Mangroves dominate the northern bay shores – these species have some fascinating adaptations.

Red Mangrove propagules, (seedlings) ready to drop.

Red Mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, with its prop roots, drop roots, and pencil-shaped propagules, is the most salt-tolerant of the island’s 3 species.  These trees exclude salt at their root surfaces, and can also store and excrete some salt in their leaves and fruit.

Red Mangrove prop roots in the tannin-stained edge waters of Tarpon Bay. Check out the lenticels (for gas exchange/O2 movement) on the roots.

These may be the pneumatophores of Black Mangrove – this photo was taken last spring, at Ding Darling NWR.

At slightly higher elevations, the Black Mangrove, Avicennia germinans, can be recognized easily by pneumatophores surrounding the trunk – vertical structures which allow these trees to access oxygen in the anaerobic soil of high-tide areas.

White Mangrove leaf and glands, from University of Florida’s School of Forest Resources.

White Mangrove, Laguncularia racemosa, is found mixed with Red and Black Mangroves, slightly more inland, and can be distinguished by its more rounded leaves that have 2 sugar-excreting glands at their bases.  White Mangroves have the smallest propagules, and much smaller ‘peg root’ pneumatophores.

Unlike Red Mangroves, both Black and White Mangroves predominantly excrete salt through their leaf surfaces.

Buttonwood in flower at the Bailey Tract.

Buttonwood, Conocarpus erectus, another common associate, produces seeds rather than propagules, and is found just inland/upland from the mangroves.

Little Blue Heron has a successful morning among the mangroves at Ding Darling NWR – check out the shrimp it is carrying…

Mangrove Tree Crab, aka Aratus pisonii, NOT on a mangrove, but high up on a Sea Grape, aka Coccoloba uvifera, at Ding Darling NWR.

These plants form the structure of a fascinating food web that relies on tidal fluctuation, leaf litter, shredding and decomposing organisms, algae, over 200 species of fish, and an incredible variety of birds.

High tide with young pelicans and cormorants at spoil island in Tarpon Bay.

In addition to providing structure and substance as part of a food web, mangroves can be land stabilizers.  Mangrove communities in Florida develop in the fine-textured sands and muds of lower-energy shorelines, and create a peat layer with a combination of leaf litter and accumulation of debris within the roots.  All three mangrove species can hold sediments, and stabilize shorelines, reducing flooding and wind damage landward of the mangrove fringe.  (source, NWFC/USGS report.)

Black-crowned Night Heron, resting low in the mangroves at Ding Darling NWR.

The state of Florida and the City of Sanibel recognize the value and importance of this plant community to the ecology and economy of southwestern FL, and have laws and rules regarding any action that involves mangroves.  Many of these rules were established in the late 1960’s and early 70’s.  Florida might be known for ‘crazy,’ (see ‘Fake or Florida,‘ Seth Myers’ hilarious sketch…) but it has been doing a few things right,  maybe North Carolina can take a listen?!