24/02/2019
Recorded Temperature: 30 degrees
Location: Lovers Key State Park, FL.
Time of Departure to Location: 8:30 am
Lovers Key State Park is disbursed over 4 islands, Lovers Key which is the main island and three other barrier islands, black island, inner and long key. It covers a total of 712 acres, which also includes tidal lagoons and canals. Lovers key received its unusual name when it was only able to be reached by boat, this remote area was a popular location for courting couples until a road was finally built in 1965, making it a public location with access by vehicles.
Lovers Key State Park holds all three species of mangroves; white (Laguncularia Racemosa), black (Avicennia Germinans) and red (Rhizophora mangle). Mangroves typically inhabit freshwater environments which open up into saltwater seas, such as estuaries (brackish water). White mangroves are also known as grey mangroves, these are the mangroves at the highest elevation, furthest from the water source and do not have a distinctive rooting method, unlike the red and black mangroves.
White mangroves is identified easily for its rounded leaves, which are light green on both sides. Two bumps are found on the base of the leaves, these are the glands which enable the plant to secrete the salt from the water, just like a filter system.
Black mangroves (Avicennia Germinans) can be identified by the pneumatophores, these are the roots which grow up out of the sediment instead of growing into it. The name pneumatophores means ‘air breathing roots’. The leaves of the black mangrove have a shiny dark green appearance on the top half of the leaf, and on the underside a dull green, they are oblong and have a pointed tip. If looked at closely at the leaves salt crystals maybe visible on the surface of the leaf, this is an adaptation they have undergone to live in the saltwater environments, this excretion comes from hair glands on the leaf. The bark is dark and almost looks like elephant skin.
Red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) can be immediately recognised with their elaborate prop and aerial rooting system, this helps the plant stabilises itself, this is the reason behind the local name ‘the walking tree’. The leaves are pointy, green and shiny on both sides, and the plant has a long cigar shaped seed-like saplings, which are viviparous meaning they produce a cutting of them self rather than a seed.
The walk began around Lovers Key State Park at the broadwalk, this is where we stopped first as manatees have been viewed here previous years. About ten minutes into our observation we spotted two adult manatees (Trichechus manatus), they stayed in the same location for about twenty minutes and just seemed to be grazing and coming to the surface of the water (breaching) regularly.
After observing the manatees for about twenty minutes we continued our walk to black island, where we walked for a total of four hours. This is where we observed all three types of mangroves and took photographs of them all. There was a number of species we saw while on black island, Black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) where commonly spotted soaring and circling in the sky. To be able to identify the difference between both the turkey and black vulture we learnt that turkey vultures have white markings along their primary and secondary wing feathers and their tail feathers, they also have a bald, red head. While the black vulture only have white feathers on the primary wig feathers.
Continuing our walk around black island we shortly came across a southern black racer snake (Coluber constrictor priapus). The snake was just basking on a long white pipe just off the path of the trail in the sun, but quickly got disturbed by the numerous amount of university students getting too close to observe.
A number of species where shortly spotted after this such as a orange-barred sulfer butterfly (Phoebis philea) who was in the same location as the black racer. As several of my colleagues and I stopped for lunch at one of the observation posts we observed a eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) as well as several palm warblers (Setophaga palmarum).
Progressing our walk we shortly came across several gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), this is a keystone species due to digging burrows which are able to provide shelter for around 360 different animal species. This sheltering occurs when the other species is threatened by predation or in habitat destruction such as wild fires. These tortoises where out of their burrows and basking in the midday sun. Shortly around the corner we came across a juvenile gopher tortoise, this tortoise was foraging on green sprouting grasses and was not intimidated by the number of university students crowding it.
Further on the walk we where able to observe a spiny-backed orb-weaver (Gasteracantha), this small orb-weaver was just off the centre of the walk where it had created its web just off of white mangrove leaf.
Following the path around black island we came across a common bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) feeding, observing it for around fifteen minutes myself and several other colleagues where able to see that the bottlenosed was very clearly pushing the fish into the mangroves alone side the banks, forcing the fish into shallower and tighter environment where the fish would get trapped in parts of the mangrove.
Finishing our four hour walk around black island with another observation of an individual juvenile gopher tortoise who just like the last was eating the small sprouting plants.
Once back to the car park, we headed to the beach, where we crossed bridges and broad walks which where able to provide us with a chance to observe where the mangroves open out into the ocean and once we finally reached the beach we where also lucky to observe the brown pelicans diving into the ocean for fish.
On our journey back to the vester field station we stopped off to look at plastic pollution in the mangroves, we had a radius of ten metre by ten metre where we collected samples of plastic found on the floor, i collected no plastics, while others in the group collected one or a maximum of two pieces. Our conclusion was that Florida does not have an ocean plastics issue, no where near as bad as other countries, like Asia due to the currents on the west coast, whereas if it was the east coast it would be heavily plastic polluted.
Finally we headed back to vester field station to finish up our day, write up our notes and have a group briefing.
Daily Species List and Acknowledged Behaviours –
- Brown pelican fishing in the ocean.
- Black vulture preforming a locomotive behaviour (circulated flight)
- Turkey vulture preforming the same locomotive behaviour
- Black racer basking in the sun
- Manatee breaching and locomotive (swimming)
- Brown anole preforming territorial behaviours ( displaying duelap)
- Osprey flying catch back to the nest
- Palm warbler sat in the tree
- Common bottlenose dolphin hunting
- Juvenile gopher tortoise foraging
For Further Information Visit: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/lovers-key-state-park
Florida Wetlands 2019 