September High Spots

September High Spots

Strong winds which blew for 3 days straight with Fall high tides and very high rough seas have put the final end to our turtle season for the year, washing away all the last nests.  The last one on the island was to have hatched this week and it is unlikely it survived either.  So our season ends on a whimper rather then a happy note.  One little miracle left from Irene was that 3 eggs someone found laying on the beach were left laying beside the stakes for one of the nests.  Len who watches that area of beach carefully took them and reburied them high at the base of a dune.  Even though the odds were next to nil that they would hatch, small miracles do happen and all three hatched together and all got to the water.   

We are going to fast forward through September because there is just too much going on to ever catch up in detail.  I was able to get a few fun reflections in the Marina while we waited to head out on a speedy trip across the sound on one of the Amelia River Cruise outings.  There were several, with some of the three Workshop groups we had in the month.

Their newest boat captain is not quite into the pace of things here on the island, and hasn't quite got the hang of what "Island Time" is all about.  Being former military, he is still caught up in punctuality and feels he had to leave precisely on time and get back on time.  An hour cruise is just that with him.  I guess we were spoiled with Capt. P. J. Dave and Kevin who just go with the flow and what seems like a good schedule at the time taking advantage of the tides and a little sense of adventure always eager to explore what's just around the bend.

We did get to see the birds in hot pursuit of the Shrimpboat scarfing up the by-catch that is thrown overboard by the Shrimpers.

The Marsh grasses are a very beautiful green right now with their peak production of seeds topping off the plants to make every thing look to be the bright Spring or early summer colors you would normally see in new tree leaf growth. In reality, the marsh plants are nearing the end of their cycle.  Very soon, these seeds will ripen into a beautiful gold color, giving our islands their name, The Golden Isles.  Sometime you should read the poem "The Marshes of Glynn", written about the marshes just north of us up in Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.

Heading up the familiar route to Beach Creek on the South End of Cumberland Island in search of horses, we didn't get a very good view of the horses on the way, but did get to see some birds.  This Osprey seems to be saying his evening Prayers as it is becoming time when the birds will all be finding that perfect roost for the night.

Two of our most well-behaved sailing friends on this trip were these two regular visitors to the island.  They hardly moved the entire trip.

For a few days earlier in the month of September the fires reignited up in the Okefenokee Swamp surprising us with a couple of mornings of the heavy smell of smoke.  Then torrential rains soaked us with more than 3 inches in the rain gauges inside the park in one period of couple of hours.

Another few days we had an old fashioned Nor'easter blowing us away at least on the beach.  It did not do much beach damage but was interesting to experience and see this contrast in the usually sunshiny calm ocean side.

The winds on the river washed the sea over our remaining nests once again.  The excavations proved out our worst fears with only 6 surviving out of two nests one in one morning's digs.  Most of us are expecting the worst so haven't even wanted to post them for onlookers to see.  It is very distressful end for what was such an exciting season.

Another bright spot of happiness at my house was the emergence of our one surviving Swallowtail.  It was smaller than the other one which had developed naturally outside and turned into a Chrysalis at the nursery.  I have learned much about caring for these guys this year.  I think that it is better to leave the plants outside where they receive good healthy sunlight in which to grow with this type of Caterpillar.  I believe that the health of the plant plays a big part in the healthy and successful development of the Swallowtail caterpillars.  In the future with my new plants growing in my garden I will have some healthy food growing for them to eat by just keeping them supplied with fresh cuttings.  I do know that left outside something eats the caterpillars.  I suspect it is the tiny wasps which I found swarming my caterpillar denuded Passion Flower when all of the dozens of them disappeared overnight outside.

I had one amazing morning with clouds that just made you want to become a bird so you could freely explore the illusive mountains the overhead moisture had created.

The glow from behind the rain cloud was amazing and photographs just cannot do justice to such a panoramic display.

A flock of Great White Egrets soared in front of them with their tucked-back necks, unlike the Woodstorks and Roseate Spoonbills who seem to stretch out their necks as far as they can reach.

A very hated kind of flying device lays burst into shreds by the high altitude it had obtained before falling to the water below, hence becoming beach trash, which gulls will start to eat, but choke and can't expel.  Worse yet, they can be an appetizing bite full of death for some sea turtle who mistakes this tentacled balloon remnant for a Jelly, one of their favorite foods, or wrapping its ribbons around some swimming sea bird.

The reflections on the low tide shoreline mirrored the already overwhelming beauty.

I stop, as I tear myself away from the beauty and head back, for one last glimpse from the river side and catch the sun almost peeking out, giving me some great light column rays before it rises above the clouds to become just another partly sunny day.

In September one thing that we fishermen look for is the great schools of Mullet which form in the river's waters as part of their mating ritual.  The Cormorant was much closer to shore and as with the larger fish may have been drawn toward the ripples the Mullet make as they move in-sinc near the surface and which means fish for dinner.  Some people won't eat Mullet except smoked, which is considered a delicacy, but some say there are ways to cook them that make them very tasty.  Smoked Mullet I like but have not had them any other way.  When they are like this you catch them with a casting net and the small ones are for bait, but have seen some quite large ones caught that way also.

The welcome moisture of the recent rains from the night before, and the still-high humidity give more sun rays to enjoy on the road back to the equipment barn.  It is rare that this happens but when it does it is nice to have your camera handy.  There is just something heavenly about is, you almost expect to hear an angel choir humming in the background.

The beach has been filled with birds.  Lots that we don't see up on our end of the beach very much in the summertime.  There was a flock of small birds which may be a species of Plovers migrating through, and lots of the Black Skimmers.

Here are a bunch of smaller birds who seemed to be catching up on their zzzz's.  These could be a different species or an immature version.

The Skimmers have such interesting beaks with their splash of vivid red orange across the massive beak.  The smaller birds mixed in here seem to be different from the others and look more like the Plovers with the dark necklace.  I am not a true birder, knowing all the varieties of birds that are not the more common ones.

I do know what this fellow is though but I am not so sure he does.  Methinks he may have decided he is a Sea Turtle for today.  Maybe this is a bit of 'devolution', returning to the sea and trying to find those flippers.  For this one, though, he will be stuck with his claws.  He strolled along the escarpment until he found an easy access to the water.

Then he headed straight for the surf.

Quite the eager little boy to try to get to it.  Once there, it seemed to lay down and let the water come up around and looked like possibly drank some.  It had rained very hard the night before so it was not thirst which drove him to the water.  I had experienced this once before on the ocean side and had waded in and rescued the Tortoise for fear it would drown.  This time I just wanted to observe because with the river waves I could easily intervene if it became necessary.

The waves kept coming in and leaving but the turtle wadded even deeper.

At this point it was just kind of doggie-paddling and yet holding its head above the water's surface.

After being washed around a bit it got its footing once again and headed back toward the dunes.  Very interesting behavior which has the experts scratching their heads and saying we didn't think they did this.  I guess when you live right next door to the sea it is just impossible to resist its call even if you are supposed to live in the desert like dunes.  Possibly this one may have had some pests under the shell, he needed to clean them out.

Another of the many beautiful sunrise mornings, which have been a mix of some great and some mediocre gray.

This is the beginning of a large 6 foot by 2 foot commission piece.  The drawing is almost complete and I am adding a heavy layer of a Masking agent, kind of like Rubber Cement, to the plants, Lily Pads, and Koi fish before painting in the watery background.  The reason is that the darker colors I will be using for the water will be hard to cover for the white areas and lighter areas of the foreground.  Also I want the water to be very wet looking and I will spray the paint with water to make it run and drip to convey the water.  That way I don't have to figure out later and draw on top of the paint, since will have already decided where, for the most part, things will be.

I leave you with one more of the really nice sunrises.  The Black Skimmers are much more skittish than the regulars who have gotten used to me cruising by in my quite noisy buggy.  They fly up, giving another dimension with their black silhouettes against the pastel colors of the background.  Just the reverse of my painting with the foreground parts being the light places.  Different moods different views. Keep me in your thoughts and help Bruce keep the gallery running smoothly (but don't let him touch the painting) while I travel to my mom's for her 90th birthday.  You see I have my reasons for trying to hurry ahead.  The Fall colors will be waiting to find their way back to you.  We'll see if my "ESP" endowed mom will really be surprised by all that is in store for her this week.  This is the best kept secret our family has ever pulled off with Niece Julie directing the whole thing.  She commanded a year ago that everyone in the family had to be there and I think that will be the case.

After the Storm

After the storm had gone, the beach returned to normal, though not so wide, and with lasting effects to be felt long after the storm, with all our turtle nests having been impacted; to what degree time would tell.

First morning back on the beach with calm once again restored the air, is filled with large Dragonflies as I reach the entrance to the beach.  It looks like a snowstorm of the winged creatures out of a clear sky silhouetted by the sunrise.

The beach was surprisingly un-littered but still some very interesting treasures to find.  There was a wrack line as expected of the dead marsh grasses that was filled with tiny Box Crabs or Marsh Crabs.  The birds lined the whole beach searching for that seldom enjoyed delicacy.  Many pretty shells were scattered around with several early morning beachcombers hunting for treasures, some going away disappointed.  Lots of the shells still had live residents.

Not so many gooey gummy things as usual after a storm.  One very large Moon Jelly the largest I have seen,  Something I had not seen is "Sea Pork" which is very gristly and firm; I wasn't quite sure if it was animal or vegetable.  It is actually a colony of tiny turicate animals known as zooids.  I added it to my collection of living things to take to Kayak Amelia.  I took the Yellow Sea Whip also, which, when I checked in this week, did not survive very long.  Jody at Kayak Amelia feels that if something doesn't survive it becomes food for the others.  It looked like it had collected a bunch of trash from the bottom of the Yellow Sea Whip sea, but it was organic, tube worm-like casings, although it did have some monofilament line tangled in its branches.  The Brown Sea Cucumbers can be pretty slimy so I threw it back in the water.  An interesting critter that is used as make shift sandals in some island societies which must brave the sharp corals to catch fish.  By squeezing the Sea Cukes they get the sickly slimy stuff and apply it to the bottom of their feet.  Doesn't hurt the Sea Cukes at all.

Between the molting birds and the Warble infested squirrels, my backyard critters are not very pretty right now.  My squirrel feeder is empty today, so the squirrels have tried all day to get to the bird's feeder outside my window, climbing up the screens and the nearby vines.  This little Wren sitting atop its house is singing the blues I think over his unattractive state.

But back at the beach some of the larger Whelk shells have been pretty.  I like to line flower beds with them.  I stick the pointed end down into the ground that leaves the flower like spiral sticking up. Thankfully I live on an older street with not a single one of the Community Nazi Organizations that seem to love to tell you what you can and can't do at your own house.  One in Chattanooga refused to allow the building of a ramp to enable the wife of one of my old friends, and War Hero and for several years a POW in Vietnam, Roger Ingvalson, to get him from the car to the house after undergoing his dialysis treatments.

A friend around town called me just as I was getting in the car the other morning at 7AM.  She said she had found a "Wash Back" on the beach.  I knew she had read my note on not putting Wash Backs back in the water because they might need some rehabbing if they truly were washbacks.  I was on my way to do Turtle Patrol, I met her since she did not see any local IslandTurtle Patrol folks out.  I told her I would get it where it needed to go.  Once I got it I realized it was probably just a new hatchling that had gotten left behind.  It still had its egg tooth.  I ran into Pat Foster Turley on the beach who writes our local nature column.  I told her to come with me.  She had her own treasures, two Horse Conch's which were alive.  The Conch's went to Kayak Amelia's saltwater aquarium.  As soon as we got our treasures into my holding tank and headed toward the water's edge a beautiful blue Dragonfly flew into the box also.  What a beachcomber's treasure chest of living creatures.

I had never seen one of these beautiful little orange Horse Conchs before.  The Horse Conch is the State Shell for the State of Florida.  They grow to be very large, over 24 inches, but this pretty orange one was very small only about 2 inches.  It will loose its beautiful color as it matures.  It will however retain the bright orange on its body inside the shell. They will only be at the Kayak Amelia Aquarium for a short time.  As they grow up they get too big an appetite to be handled in the aquarium and will be released.

The little one was not super energetic but did make it's way into the water with a little help.

It got tumbled back a few times.

But it kept trying.

Finally it made it into the water and was gone.

This is the highest nest and we are hoping its eggs survived the wash over.  Nest number 18, the one I walked to check during the storm which did not get washed away, obviously had hatched at that time, but since they got washed over two nights in a row all the babies drowned.

I found some Dead Man's Fingers that were actually alive and well.  They were pink in color and were lacy looking.  They found a new home in the Salt Water tank also.

This little unusual colored Dragonfly posed prettily on top of my dead tomato stalk.  This was a dismal summer for my tomatoes.  My crop consisted of one small tomato and about 3 cherry tomatoes.  I guess I must face the facts, I can't grow tomatoes here.  I have tried for years and this was the worst, and the one I had the most hope for, because I was using heirloom seeds from the area.  I don't have enough sun in my mostly shady yard.

Guess I'll just stick to making a Butterfly kingdom instead.  When I went to the Farmer's Market that Saturday.  I was asking about native Butterfly Weed from Reflection of Nature Nursery.  He said he didn't have any but had some fennel which had some Black Swallowtail Cats on them.  So off I go trying to be careful not to dislodge them on the way home.  They were so tiny I would have never spotted them on my own.  I found them to be much more temperamental then the Monarch Cats.  It seems they go through about 4 metamorphosis and shed their outer skin each time.  That must be a very risky time as not all survived, biting the dust at different stages, one when it was almost grown.  It shed its skin and then was just was laying dead the next morning at the bottom of the cage.  But I do have two which have made it to the Chrysalis stage and one more picked up at this Saturday's market almost grown who seems to be healthy.  Pictures will follow as they progress.

The rides get more lonely and not as interesting with very few nests to check.  One morning last week I got to be the only witness as the sub came by just after daybreak.  Some of the men were out on deck.  I waved but they were busy and paid no attention.  You can be sure though, that there is someone watching me, and probably knows my name and social security number.  They are saying, "Oh never mind it's just that ol' turtle lady again.

This is an empty Horse Conch Shell which I found on the beach.  Very thick hard shell on it.  The color still resembles the smaller versions. This one was about 5 inches long.

The Caterpillars have grown and soon would become a Chrysalis.  These have the very unique defense mechanism I found out (Lisa had already warned me).  I moved it from one twig to another because the one it was on had broken in two.  When I touched it these two feathery looking antenna came out of one end and I got sprayed with a fairly stinky substance.  Kind of like having your own tiny pet skunk.

I had not seen the Osprey on the pier before as it flew in without a fish, to sit a while.  The Bald Eagles are also back to harass the Ospreys and try to steal their fish catch.  As Ben Franklin said they are just "Fish Thieves" when he was trying to keep the Eagle from being adopted as our National Symbol and I am beginning to think him right on that point.

I thought this shot really highlighted why this bird is such a good fisherman.  Look at those talons, almost like large fish hooks.  They have a rotating like thumb so they can really hang on and also twist the fish into the most aerodynamically position while in flight.  Large, high resolution eyes also, for spotting the prey from above, even underneath the water.  If you have ever seen how a Flounder blends into his environment from above you will think their vision must really be supernatural.

At low tide, the patterns were quite beautiful and I never tire of them.

Life on the island has certainly settled back into acceptance of what the weather has done as just part of life and life gets back to normal (whatever that is) once again.  The Shrimp Boats are back at work, the turtles are still hatching although not nearly with as much ease with hard packed sand on top of them, and the tourists who were scared when they heard the word "hurricane" have started to trickle back.  The Turtle Trot painting has sold and I received the canvas and stretchers to start another commission piece.  I am finally going to get those Koi's painted.  Life resumes come good or bad, fair weather or foul, we just learn to roll with the tide.