Teeny Tiny Greenhouse Frog

I found this tiny frog in a crevice along the rim of my pool. It was the tiniest frog I have ever seen. Furthermore, I started to see several of these in my pool. Photographing one, using my finger for scale, was a bit tricky as they are so fragile and not inclined to stay still for photo.

I searched amphibian web sites and think I have identified it as a greenhouse frog, based on its mottled bronze and brown markings. It is a nonnative species from the Caribbean, probably came here from Cuba, that is common throughout Florida.

The eggs are laid in the damp earth and they are apparently common in garden lanais. What is interesting is that it skips the aquatic tadpole stage after hatching from the egg. The tadpole fully forms inside the egg and when the egg hatches, the tiny froglet emerges.

After photographing it, I released it into the plants along my lanai. Unfortunately it will probably become food for the anoles that live there.

The American Alligator- Official State Reptile of Florida

When I first moved here, I thought it would be rare to see an alligator in a developed, residential, community. Wrong! Alligators are quite abundant here and I see one or two, and sometimes several, everyday in the ponds around Verandah. No matter how often I see these massive reptiles, it is always a thrill to see a prehistoric looking animal that has been relatively untouched by evolutionary change. If you went back 8 million years ago, you would see pretty much the same animal.

To spot them in the ponds, I look for blips on the surface of the water. I usually see them submerged with their eyes and nostrils above the water.

Sometimes I find them in the marshy areas along the power line road.

Alligators are not green, as depicted in children's books. If they have a greenish tinge, it is die to the algae from the pond vegetation sticking to their backs. They are generally medium to dark gray.

Sometimes they crawl up on the lawns to sun themselves. Its always a surprise to see a large gator in the backyard! Since they are ectothermic, they regulate their body temperature during cooler temperatures by basking in the sun. They are most active when it is warm.

Around here they range in size from really large ones, over 7 feet, to tiny babies like this one 3 feet long one on the grass and a 12 inch one I saw underwater. Someone in Verandah posted this photo of a clutch of babies they saw at one of the golf course ponds. Wherever there are babies, mama is nearby!

There is a very large one that travels from pond to pond nicknamed "Big Al". I think this was Big Al in the pond at Lakeview. I didn't want to get too close!

It's mating season for gators right now so they are frequently on the move around Verandah. They can be quite aggressive during mating season. Sometimes I can hear their loud, bellowing mating call. They don't have vocal chords so the sound is made by sucking air into their lungs and blowing it out.

Here are 10 interesting facts I learned about alligators:

1. Florida and Louisiana have the greatest number of alligators. There are almost 1 million alligators in Florida! That's 1 alligator to 20 people!

2. They were hunted almost to extinction in the early 1900's. The Endangered Species Act helped them recover successfully. Even though their population is large, today they are still protected by federal law as a threatened species.

3. Florida is the only place where alligators and crocodiles both naturally exist. The American alligator can be distinguished from the American crocodile by looking at the head shape. The snout of an alligator is rounded with no visible teeth showing when the jaw is closed. On the contrary, the American crocodile has a narrow snout and a tooth protrudes from the lower jaw when the mouth is closed. Florida gators are also more of a gray color and crocs are more brownish.

4. The female protects the nest and stays with her young, protecting them after they are born. This is very unusual for a reptile.

5. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the offspring. Cooler temperatures produce females; warmer temperatures produce males.

6. They have an excellent sense of hearing. Mothers can even hear their babies calling while they are still in the egg!

7. Mating season is late Apr through June. They generally build their nests and lay 20-45 eggs in June/July. Eggs usually hatch from middle of August to early September.

8. An alligator heart has 4 chambers. Most reptiles only have 3.

9. There are two species of alligators- The American alligator and the Chinese alligator.

10. Alligaors have a powerful bite but their jaw muscles are relatively weak. A person can hold their jaw closed with their hands (but I won't try it!).

Florida Softshell Turtles

There are several different species of turtles in the ponds and marshes around Verandah. The strangest one is the Florida softshell turtle. I usually see these underwater in the ponds with their snorkel-like nose poked up through the water for air. It's breeding season for the turtles right now so it is common to see them on the grass and crossing the road.

The Florida soft-shell turtle has a flat shell that looks like a pancake. Unlike other turtles, the shell lacks scutes and is smooth and leathery. They are much larger than the painted turtles I am familiar with. They display sexual dimorphism with the females being much larger than the males. With oddly webbed feet, they are well adapted to an aquatic habitat. Underneath and from behind, they have a light, cream-colored skin.

One of the strangest features which I tried to capture with the camera is their nose. It's kind of a pig-shaped nose shaped like a snorkel. The neck is quite long when they extend it. Such an odd looking face!

The softshell turtle eats mollusks and fish, of which there are plenty in the ponds around here. As far as predators, alligators have been known to feed on them and their hatchlings are preyed upon by birds like herons. I read that they will often use vacant and even occupied alligator nests to lay their eggs. I'll be on the lookout this spring for hatchlings.

Limpkins

Limpkins are a common bird around the ponds here in Verandah; especially the ponds bordered by woods.  Sometimes I even see them perched on a tree in the woods along the pond. 

Their flecked coloration allows them to blend into the woods. They look similar to a juvenile ibis. They are called limpkins because of the way they walk- it looks like they are limping. Limpkins are about the size and shape of an ibis.  At one time they were hunted almost to extinction in Florida but they have made a comeback.

Limpkins love to feed on apple snails, which are abundant in the ponds. I have also seen them feed on the freshwater mussels. They are really good at grasping the snail with its slightly curved beak then pulling out the flesh inside. I've also seen them crack open freshwater mussels with their beaks. The apple snail is an invasive species. Usually native populations decline when an invasive species takes over, but in this case, the population of limpkins in Florida has steadily increased due to an abundance of its favorite food. Along the shoreline of the pond, are discarded apple snail and mussel shells, left by the feeding limpkins.

They are one of the noisiest birds here at Verandah. At dawn or dusk you can hear them crying out. They are also very noisy at night. My very good friend, Kathleen Konicek-Moran, painted this picture of a pumpkin, titled "Night Screamer of the Everglades."

A special treat was watching a pair of limpkins with their two babies. They were so cute and had their downy feathers. The parents were teaching the babies how to feed on the snails and mussels.

Pileated Woodpeckers

Riding my bike early in the morning past a pine barren along Magnolia Drive, I caught a flash of red and heard a raucous cry in the woods.  I spotted not one, not two, but three pileated woodpeckers!  It's a real treat to see one. The pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America. I occasionally see one deeper in the woods in Verandah but these three were right along the margin of the woods. They are very distinctive by their large size, zebra striped face, and flaming red crest.

The three I saw were slightly smaller than others I had seen, so I think they are juveniles, and probably siblings as they stayed together and called to each other. Juveniles' red crests are still a bit downy and sharpen into a distinctive triangular crest as adults. These three woodpeckers were males as evidenced by the red cheek stripe which the females do not have.

Pileated woodpeckers typically live in mature forests and seem to like the pine barrens here in SW Florida.  They feed on insects such as carpenter ants and larvae that live in the tree bark. Unlike other woodpeckers, they can be found on the ground, pecking on dead, decaying fallen trees. 

Throughout the preserve around Verandah, you can see old dead trees in the woods that have huge holes pecked in them. The really big holes have likely been left by the pileated woodpeckers which they peck not only to search for insects but to also make their nests.

Snake Head Caterpillars

A couple days ago I was examining the leaves on our potted tangerine tree and noticed a lot of black specks on the cream colored patio surface. Hmmm...looked like frass to me (the scientific word for caterpillar poop!). I looked above the droppings for evidence of caterpillar(s) and found this interesting larvae! On first glance, it looked like the head of one of those tiny tree vipers in Costa Rica. 

I did some Googling and found out that there are several species of snake like headed caterpillars- an amazing morphological adaptation that evolved to protect them from predators. Some even mimic the striking behavior of snakes. This one turned out to be the larva of the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes), the largest butterfly in North America that is quite common in Florida. It must have laid its eggs on the leaves while the tree was outside during our lanai restoration. They are considered a pest in citrus orchards. 

The larvae mimic bird droppings, an example of biological mimicry. The later instars' thorax begins to resemble a snake's head and will adopt a striking pose so the one I found was an older larva, soon to chrysalize. Upon further examining the tree I found one more larva. I took these photos with a regular lens- wish I had used Chris's macro lens to capture the detail. Oh well, I guess this is an excuse to buy myself a macro lens for closeups as I am sure I will find many more interesting species of insects here in SW Florida!

Afternote: I found 2 more late instar stage larvae on the tangerine tree today. Decided to keep them, hoping they will chrysalize and I will have two giant swallowtails fluttering inside my screened lanai!

Tri-Color Herons

Today I took my camera on a biking photoshoot around Verandah to photograph birds. I came across this tri-colored heron in the pickerel weed over near the golf house. Notice the bright red eyes, turquoise beak, and white tuft- a beautiful bird! At one point it dove into the mud, picked up a snail, and flew toward me just in time to capture it in flight as it was just landing with the snail in its beak!

The tri-colored herons (Egretta tricolor) are much smaller than the great blues. I think the white head plume on this one is indicative of mating season. I can distinguish them from other adult herons by the white line along the front of their neck. I've seen quite a few of them around Verandah, especially among the pickerel weed.