Seaside Goldenrod hangs in our small dining room.

This spring, we have had the incredible opportunity to have Philip Juras and his wife Beth Gavrilles here at Little St. Simons Island. Philip is a landscape painter whose work has largely been inspired by the journals kept by William Bartram as he traveled through the Southeast in the 1770’s. Bartram, one of the first American-born naturalists, kept detailed notes and drawings, painting a picture in words of a very different landscape than what we see today across the Southeast.

With Philip’s understanding of botany and ecology and his artist’s eye, he went in search of the landscapes Bartram had so eloquently described. Much has changed across the Southeast since the late eighteenth century, so it wasn’t necessarily the case that Bartram’s guidance led Philip directly to his points of interest. In some cases, Bartram’s landscapes had been lost entirely, and Philip had to recreate them from the descriptions in the journals and his own research. In doing so, Philip has reinvented a panorama of the South, before it was divided, cultivated, manipulated by European settlement.

In 2011, a collection of 68 paintings was displayed in The Southern Frontier: Landscapes Inspired by Bartram’s Travels exhibition at the Telfair Museums in Savannah.

Over the past year, Philip has continued his work in oil, painting the vistas of Little St. Simons Island, vistas that Philip claims are “some of the most amazing natural landscapes to be found on any barrier island along the Atlantic seaboard.” Field research has occupied much of the time he has spent on the island, but this spring, we have turned the barn into a gallery, decorating the walls with the familiar, yet brilliant scenes that Philip has captured with his brush, and we have had the opportunity to hear Philip speak more about his work and his passion.

While the paintings in themselves are remarkable, the message behind them is not to be overlooked. “It is my intent in these compositions to give a sense of stepping into the scene, thereby sharing with the viewer my passion for these natural environments and my desire to see more places like Little St. Simons Island preserved for the future.”

Philip’s style resembles that of Hudson River School painters Albert Bierdstat and Thomas Moran, who depicted glorious scenes from the Western Fronteir, work that in Philip’s mind helped to create a sense of wonder and awe regarding these landscapes that led to protection through national parks. If the early colonizers had seen the South through Bartram’s eyes, would we be experiencing a different landscape than those that blanket the South today?

For many, nature inspires art, and for some art inspires conservation. Either way (or both), we are truly glad to have Philip share his work with us!

Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are a delicious resident of our island’s waters. They are members of the Order Decapoda, in which all members have ten legs. The blue crab has two legs modified as pinchers that aid in defense and feeding, six walking/climbing legs, and two legs that have adapted into a paddle shape that allow it to swim. These paddles are an excellent aid in mobility, as other species of crabs are restricted to the bottom or structures on which they can climb. Their common name comes from the bright blue color exhibited on the mature crab’s pinchers and legs, and their Latin name literally means “savory beautiful swimmer.”

Blue crabs are most abundant in our saltmarshes and tidal creeks in the late spring and summer months, and can be caught in traps, or simply by tying some bait to the end of a string, lowering it into the water, and waiting for the tug of a hungry crab. Blue crabs are omnivores, feeding on a variety of things including fish, oysters, snails, other crustaceans, and plant material. They will also scavenge the carcasses of dead marine life. Chicken is a popular bait when fishing for crabs.

As crabs grow, they periodically shed their exoskeleton, or molt. They separate from their shell and scoot out backwards, leaving the intact shell behind. Sometimes crabs will consume their molts for the calcium. The crab’s body expands (grows) while its shell is soft, and then will harden into a new exoskeleton. This process usually takes a few days. While they are in the state of “soft-shell,” the crab is very vulnerable and will take cover until their new shell has hardened.

Female blue crabs will only mate once during their lifetime and this happens after what is called the terminal molt. After the female sheds her shell for the last time and is still in the soft-shell stage, a male will mate with her and then guard her until she her new shell hardens. Later, the female will develop a spongy egg mass under the apron on her abdomen, which she will carry with her until the larvae hatch. Since females can only mate once, it is a common practice to release any females that are caught.

Laura Early grew up in the upstate of South Carolina, exploring and discovering all that was around her. Her family frequently visited the Carolinas’ beautiful coastline, which inevitably lead to her falling in love with the ocean. With a very curious mind, science has always been “way cool!” to her.

While completing her B.S. in Biology at Clemson University, she fed her love of travel by studying in the Rocky Mountains, the Caribbean island of Dominica, and India. She also spent a summer working with the sea turtle program at Cumberland Island National Seashore. Experiencing a female loggerhead sea turtle lay a nest of over 100 eggs was one of those moments where you realize that some pretty amazing things are happening in the ocean. She realized that in order to conserve such wonderful and important things as natural spaces, people need to feel that same awe and inspiration that she felt while watching that sea turtle.

Laura is always looking for an adventure, and since graduating has worked with University of Florida’s Wildlife Ecology team, as an outdoor education instructor for Clemson’s Youth Learning Institute, and most recently with the nonprofit Sanibel Sea School. At Sanibel Sea School, she led children in exploring and learning about all that was around them by snorkeling, seining, canoeing, bird-watching, and beachcombing. She also worked to spread Sanibel Sea School’s reach to a wider audience through social media outlets.

Here at Little St. Simons Island, she is excited to embark on many more adventures of discovery, and share that excitement with everyone she can!

Here at Little St. Simons Island, we take pride in all the organics that our on-site garden produces. Sometimes, we even get excited about the pests!

This Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) hatched out of a chrysalis found in our garden. The pale green chrysalis hung by a thread on a stem. We relocated it to a mesh enclosure in the lodge to wait for the adult to emerge. Sure enough, a few days later, the black butterfly clung to the mesh with wet folded wings. Within a few hours, the wings had dried out and were fully extended to about 3 inches across, and he flew freely back out into the wild.

The Black Swallowtail has black wings parallel bands of yellow spots along the margins on its wings. In between the bands of yellow are shorter bands of blue that end at a red eyespot on each wing.

The females will lay their eggs on members of the parsley family (carrots, fennel, dill) and the caterpillars will hatch out, munch on their host plant while they grow and molt. When they are ready to form their chrysalis, they usually wander a bit from their feeding grounds.

We have an abundance of Black Swallowtail larvae, sometimes called parsley worms, on the parsley in our garden right now. As you might imagine, Black Swallowtails are fairly easy to attract by planting some parsley in your garden. And of course, it is always a beautiful surprise to see the adult butterfly emerge from the lifeless-looking chrysalis!

Some other butterflies that have been spotted this spring include the Cabbage Whites, Red Admirals, Monarchs, and many more that are soon to follow!

Male (dark neck) and female (tan neck) Anhingas at Norm's Pond.

For the past couple of years, wading birds have set up a rookery at Norm’s Pond. This year the usual suspects in their stunning breeding plumage have already shown up.  There are at least four pairs of  Great Egrets who have already nested and are incubating their sky-blue eggs. The Snowy Egrets are in putting on a great show of courtship as they pick their mates. There are also some Tricolored Heron’s hopping about the branches.

The ones that have really gotten everyone talking are the Anhingas! Similar in appearance and ecology to the Double-crested Cormorant that is common here, the Anhinga is a rare visitor to our island. The Anhinga’s range extends from the coast of North Carolina through Texas. They prefer slow-moving freshwater habitats, presumably why we don’t see too many on Little St. Simons Island.

Like the Cormorant, the Anhinga is a dark water bird with a long slender neck. However, the Anhinga has a sharply pointed bill, and whitish/silver feathers on the top of its wings. When in their breeding plumage (like the ones at Norm’s Pond shown in the pictures) they have a brilliant blueish green ring around their eye.

Anhingas nest in small trees or shrubs near the water, and the male begins gathering nesting material before it has a mate. The pair at Norm’s Pond has a nest built, and we eagerly await the eggs, and about a month later, the chicks!

For more information on Anhingas (Anhinga anhinga) check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Image: Lincoln Park Zoo, Wisconsin

The Great Horned Owl is a familiar sight to many people, which should come as no surprise. It is one of the most widespread birds in North America, occurring throughout Mexico, all of the continental United States, and Canada and Alaska as far north as the tree line. They thrive in almost any habitat, from deserts to swamps, and even in urban areas. Perhaps even more familiar than the owl’s physical appearance is its ‘hooting’ call, a constant background noise in the winter skies. 

This bird is easily one of the most impressive species of Little St. Simons Island, with a wingspan of nearly four feet and a massive body. It’s size and fierce nature have led to its being called “the winged tiger of the woods.” Great Horned Owls have been recorded feeding on almost any animal smaller than them, but show a strong preference for small mammals. Mammals as large as skunks fall frequent victim to the sudden nocturnal attacks of this animal.

On Little St. Simons Island, Great Horned Owls are most frequently observed during their winter breeding season. Unlike many other birds, Great Horned Owls do not build their own nests, but instead use the abandoned nests of squirrels or other birds, including hawks, ospreys, crows, and even bald eagles. One to four (usually two) eggs are usually laid by early January, and are incubated for around a month before hatching. The fledglings then remain in the nest for several weeks before learning to fly, although they will stay with their parents throughout the summer in many cases. Listen for their haunting calls in the woods around the lodge during the cooler months, or trek down South End Road to view an active nest in season.

Bonnetheads (Sphyrna tiburo) are the smallest species of the hammerhead family reaching an average size of 3-5 feet.  This shark can be distinguished from other hammerheads by its rounded, shovel-shaped head.  They are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oceans.  Unlike most sharks, they have molar-like teeth at the back of the jaw for crushing their prey such as hard-shelled invertebrates, crabs, shrimp, mantis shrimp, snails, cephalopods, as well as small bony fishes.  Their feeding behavior involves swimming across the seafloor, moving its head in arc patterns like a metal detector, looking for minute electro-magnetic disturbances produced by prey hiding in the sediment.  Studies of a colony of captive Bonnetheads revealed that this species has surprisingly complex behavior, body language and social organization.  18 Bonnethead body postures and movement patterns were identified including head shakes, back hunching, puffing out the gill pouches, jaw snapping, hitting other Bonnetheads, circling head-to-tail in lines of up to five, and (in males) clasper flexing.  Half of these appeared to regulate social activities.  A subtle, size-related dominance hierarchy was also noted among the sharks, with submissive individuals giving way to dominants as little as 5% longer than themselves.  This suggests they have a keen awareness of their own size relative to that of others sharing their environment.  Bonnetheads give birth to live young with a gestation period of 4 to 5 months, which is the shortest gestation period of all sharks.  Females reach sexual maturity when about 2 1/2 feet long.  They give birth in late summer or early fall to litter sizes of 8 to 16 pups.  During this time, the females lose their desire for food, which prevents them from feeding on their pups.  Males move to a different location, also an adaptation to avoid feeding upon their own young.  Bonnetheads are the only sharks known to exhibit sexual dimorphism, which is where male and female adults look different from one another.  Adult females have a broadly rounded head, whereas males possess a distinct protuberance at the top of the head.  In 2001 at a zoo in Nebraska, a female Bonnethead produced a pup in a tank containing three other females, but no males.  It was concluded after DNA testing that the reproduction was by parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual. This type of asexual reproduction had been seen before in bony fish, but never in cartilaginous fish such as sharks, until this documentation.  The Bonnethead, with its early age at maturity and high litter size and population growth rates are very abundant and therefore considered a species of lesser concern.

Two of the four burrfish in my home aquarium. (photo: B. Morrison)

The striped burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfii) is striking in its appearance, with the body being light tan to yellow-brown above and white to yellowish and sometimes blackish below, and is covered with fixed and erect spines that give the animal the name burrfish.  The spines are sometimes bright orange.  Dark and wavy lines cover the sides of the body and most individuals also have large dark spots. Burrfish are in the diodontid family, along with other pufferfish.  The striped burrfish has a defense system in the form of an organ known as a buccal pump which allows it to inflate its body considerably when threatened to minimize the risk of predation.  These fish can be found as far north as Nova Scotia, although it is uncommon north of North Carolina.  To the south, it occurs throughout the Florida coast, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and further south to Brazil.  Individuals can grow to reach a body length of 25 cm.  As a species, burrfish are hardy and may persist in water with a salt content of less than 7 ppt to as much as 47 ppt and tolerate a broad range of temperatures.  Juveniles and adults have been collected far upstream within rivers and bays.  They can be easily found off docks and floating at the surface of tidal creeks as juveniles in the warmer months.  They are not as common in the pet trade as other puffers, but burrfish are excellent aquarium fish.  Striped burrfish are predators on a variety of benthic invertebrates, including crabs, shrimp, mussels, miscellaneous crustaceans, and even sea whips and amphipods.

(photo by P. Lourenco)

Pied-billed Grebes are a fairly common wintering bird on Little St Simons, and are often seen swimming and diving in the island’s ponds and creeks.  While grebes may superficially resemble loons, DNA evidence suggests they are more closely related to pelicans, petrels and storks, but at a very ancient point in their phylogeny.  Fossils of modern grebes have been found in Chili from as long as 30 million years ago.  Grebes are well adapted to swimming and diving, usually chasing prey underwater.  They have lobed toes rather than webbed feet like ducks, and rarely spend time on dry land. 

(Preening, shows lobed foot, www.aviansources.com)

 Small grebes, like Pied-billed Grebes, eat smaller prey such as aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans and little fish.  Interestingly, many grebes will also ingest their own feathers, although larger fish-eating grebes do this more often than others.  It is thought that the feathers may protect the stomach from damage by fish bones or other hard items that the bird may have consumed.   It is often common for Pied-billed Grebes to submerge themselves when they feel threatened.  They can literally sink themselves from a resting position by contracting their abdominal muscles, compressing their plumage and exhaling.  By adjusting their buoyancy, it is possible for them to remain below the surface with only their heads visible. 

Female grebe with chick, by Joe Kegley

Pied-billed Grebes are much more common in the winter, but some reports of breeding grebes have been documented in the coastal plain.  Nests are built on floating mats of vegetation in the spring, and they usually lay 5-6 eggs.  Both adults incubate the eggs but after hatching the chicks will often ride on the back of their mother, usually concealed by her wings.  The population of this species appears to be stable, but there is a concern of loss of habitats as many wetlands are developed and altered.

Aside from the blooming Muhley grass and the huge swarms of tree swallows we see in the fall, another exciting seasonal indicator is the return of the Northern Harrier.  These hawks are relatively easy to identify as they swoop low over the marshes, with long wings and a long tail.  A white patch just above the tail is often visible.  Male harriers are a pale silver color, while the females are dark brown and significantly larger than the males.  Interestingly, we tend to see many more females than males on Little St. Simons Island. 

Harriers hunt for a variety of animals including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and even eat carrion occasionally.  Unlike many other birds of prey, these hawks have owl-like facial disks which help them use sound to locate prey.  They also have very soft feathers to aid in quiet flight. 

Their breeding range extends throughout the most northern states and into Canada, where they nest on the ground in dense grass or thick vegetation.  Most birds migrate and spend the winter throughout the southern U.S. and into Central America.  While they have experienced some declines in population, the harrier is not considered a species of high conservation concern.