South Florida Swamp...

I saw this spider on an orchid in a south Florida swamp...I can't even get close on an ID right now because my home computer has crashed and won't be repaired for another several days



This message was edited Mar 14, 2005 3:25 PM

We spent 2 weekends in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve. It's an incredible place with areas of Florida Prairie (savannah) and deep dark swamp. The swamp is filled with Cypress, Pond Apple and Pop Ash sloughs, orchids and airplants. Most every cypress knee and fallen log has become a plant holder.

This is a False Nettle Boehmeria cylindrica gowing from an old log

That spider pic is awesome! I sure hope you get an ID soon. :-)

-Julie

Thanks Julie, I have more pictures but I find they're mostly not on this (work) computer. Boy I miss my home computer!

WHAT? You have birding pics on your work computer? Gasp! ;-)

I hope you get your home computer fixed soon. I'd be going through withdrawal if mine were in the shop LOL

-Julie

Wonderful start on the pics, isn't it great that nature grows new stuff on old?
Julie, one withdrawal at a time. ~Blooms

That is an odd looking green spider. Never saw one like that before.

And you never will again I fancy. That's the spider of a different color...the one you've heard tell about. There's only one of 'im and he's it. ;-)

I'm one of the lucky folks that have a great boss...I can use my computer and do what I want when I'm not busy. Mind you that's not often but I do manage to pop in and out of DG during the day...

This is one of my favorite swamp shots...it is looking across a series of sloughs (or one large one, I'm not sure how that's figured). In this picture you can see Cypress, Sabal Palm, Fraxinus caroliniana aka pop ash and Annona glabra aka pond apple trees as well as native ferns and airplants.

It's incredible Blooms...every natural thing in the swamp is recycled, over and over. We found very little refuse and what there was, was old...old beer cans and soda bottles, no screw tops or pop tops. We packed out the very few things we found.

I hope to get that odd spider IDed eventually. I've never seen one before...I'd rather have a horse of a different color Ü

Stacey, could you lovely green spider be the Green Lynx Spider Peucetia viridans. There are several picture of it on this web page http://www.rochedalss.eq.edu.au/lynx.htm

On second thoughts, those long jaws just don't fit the lynx spider. I think it must be a member of the Tetragnathidae, known as the four-jawed or long-jawed spiders. I cannot find one with that green colour, but this individual of a Tetragnatha species looks quite like your spider http://bugguide.net/node/view/10428/bgimage
and this one shows the long jaws, much as they appear on your spider:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/4851/bgimage
Here is an Australian Long-jawed Spider Tetragnatha valida that I photographed in Morwell National Park.

Those kinds of spiders freak me out a wee lil` bit.

Thank you Ken. When I have my computer back (this afternoon supposedly) I'll do more digging. So far I have found several species in FL but none are the green of this one. It does look much like the Green Lynx at first glance. I also read that these spiders are often found on foliage near bodies of water...just like our many of our native orchids...

This is an old Cypress stump, intricately eroded. This whole area we were in was filled with fantastic shapes. It's been dry lately and I think many of the stumps and knees we saw are normally in standing water.

...

Like a little Gnome Home...

Floridian, those cypress stumps are magnificiant! Bet there's bunches of critters living in it.
I always enjoy your photography.

Outstanding photos and thread, Stacy! You are keeping me from working outside.

COOL! That first stump is like a critter high-rise! :-) I love the gnome home too ..... very cute :-)

-Julie

Thanks Joc...one thing I noticed there was the sound of the swamp. Seemingly very quiet until you really listened. But it was great to be in a place with no car or other 'city sounds'.

LOL John and thanks!

Julie how's the camera working?? I have lots more pictures, I just have to get them back on my computer here at home. It's tough to pick pictures to share when there are so many!

Back out in the sun again...This is a male American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, and a first for me! He flew up early one morning to pose for us. Hehehe...what a sight we must have been as we tried getting closer and closer for pictures, 'sneaking' between boats and such

Lots of thistles blooming, Cirsium horridulum, and all just covered with bees and skipper butterflies

Thanks for asking, the camera is working just fine. I'm about to post a bunch of pics on the indigenous plants forum. I went for a long hike with the whole family today and got pics of dozens of new flowers :-)

Thanks for that Kestrel pic. It's really lovely :-). I haven't seen "my" Kestrels around for about 2 weeks :-(

-Julie

Ohh a Kestrel!!! I wanted to take up falconry a while back- a kestrel was my first choice of bird. They are amazing little guys. Then maybe a Snowy Owl, buhahaha.
Floridian, you must go up north and take some snowy owl pics for us! LOL

Jocelyn! What are you thinking?? Snow + Floridian does not compute! LOL

Glad you have your camera back Julie...you must be real happy about that!
I'll pop over to that forum a little later and see what you've seen :)

This is a Red Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, taken at quite a distance. The bird was perched way up in a tree top and we watched each other for quite some time.

:-)

Oh WOW great shot, especially given the distance you mention! I have GOT to get a camera with a better zoom! Birds close up are the only ones I can get decent shots of. That's the bad part of having a camera that doesn't take attachment lenses. grrrrrrr I really dunno why DH chose this particular digital camera when he had about a gazillion lenses with all of his previous 35mm cameras. Oh well. Maybe next time he drops this one, he'll smash it to pieces and then we can have a good reason to upgrade to a new camera with all the gadgets I want ;-) ROTFL

-Julie

Julie, I bet Stacy used a photo editor to bring her bird in closer.

John, I do that too and this is what I get when the birds are far off .... ROTFL

Bet he was way further off in the original!

Actually the picture is original but the zoom was so tight it fuzzed out the picture...over 40x on the zoom.

While walking down the road we came upon this lovely rock pool...complete with alligators

The second alligator, both are Alligator mississippiensis, swam up to be in the photo. This rock pool was crystal clear and reflected everything perfectly

Looking towards one end of the pond...

No snakes out yet?

Floridan, this is an outstanding thread. it seems you were where time began. I can tell you have an awe of nature and want to thank you for sharing it with us.

I see so many little spots of beauty around me and would love to be able to photograph it properly some day.

Her photo essays always please me.

Very well said se_eds. :-)

We didn't see any snakes in south Florida but we've been seeing some of our Black Racers basking in the sun around the pool at home

Julie, a good zoom is a very necessary item for a birder. My (elderly but precious) Sony has 10x optical and 2x digital. I've heard a lot of negatives about digital zoom but I love it and use it almost always. When I add a lens doubler I find I start losing a bit of quality on a tight zoom but nearer pictures are still pretty darned good for low megapixels. Most of the later pictures on this thread were taken with the new Panasonic Lumix but...I've just ordered a new Canon SLR that should be delivered by Friday~~ Woohooo!!

Se_eds, you're so right...nature awes me every day and this swamp area is truly amazing. I think about going back all the time. The only other place that holds as big a fascination for me is the Florida scrub. I'm very lucky to live where both places are available in a weekend trip. Plans are that we'll be going back the second week of April.

Hopefully I'll be able to post more pictures later.

Stacey

Wow, a Canon SLR! Which model?

Stacey, do you know of any lens doublers that can be used with a camera that does not accept attachments? I heard of something that I didn't really quite understand, that one just holds up to the lens and that can help zoom in where the camera alone can't get close enough. But without really knowing what it's called (some sort of tube something or other?), I can't exactly expect to go into a store and buy one LOL. Have you heard of and/or used one of these?

-Julie