Cottonmouth

 

Cottonmouths, also called water moccasins, are venomous snakes found in the southeastern United States.

They're called cottonmouths because of the white coloration on the inside of their mouths, which they display when threatened.

Cottonmouths are semiaquatic, so they're comfortable both swimming in water (hence their other common name of water moccasin) and basking on land.

They are the only venomous snake in the U.S. that spends a lot of time in the water.

I observed this Cottonmouth, which I estimated to easily be six feet long, while hiking in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Florida. I watched it swim along the shoreline, it’s whole body visible from shore, hoping it would come my way.

When it finally came ashore it was not bothered by my presence at all and in fact snaked along my path directly towards me forcing me to move out of the way.

Florida Red-bellied Cooter

 

The Florida Red-bellied Cooter is mainly herbivorous and can be found in nearly any type of aquatic habitat. It reaches particularly high densities in spring runs, and occasionally can be found in brackish water.

This species is active year-round and spends a large portion of the day basking on logs. They are noted for sometimes laying their eggs in the nest mounds of alligators.

The Florida Redbelly is closely related to the Peninsula Cooter and can often be found basking on logs together.

Eastern Mud Turtle

 

Mud turtles are fresh water turtles that are found in the southern United States. They live in rivers, lakes and swamps. Mud turtles prefer ponds that have a lot of vegetation.

These animals can generally be found in spring-fed streams, and they prefer clean, oxygenated water. In the wild, they also prefer sandy and muddy areas, as they will hibernate by burrowing into the mud.

We usually find Mud Turtles in fresh water ponds that are close to the gulf area beaches.

Gulf Coast Box Turtle

Native to areas along the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Coast Box Turtles are the largest subspecies of the Common Box Turtle.

They have a large, domed upper shell that’s typically dark brown or black with yellow stripes or blotches.

They’re not aquatic turtles, but they do love to be around water. In the wild, they’re often found in marshes and swamps.

Florida Softshell Turtle

 

Like other Softshells, the Florida Softshell Turtle is a large, flat turtle with skin covering its shell. We observe Florida Softshell Turtles when we bird at St Marks Wilderness Preserve in the Florida Panhandle.

It is the bulkiest of the softshell turtles but inhabits the smallest range. It varies in size with males measuring from 6-12 inches and females measuring double that at 11-24 inches.

Adults are usually colored by a dark brown to brownish-gray with dark spots. Also there are usually small dark bumps on the carapace.

Gopher Tortoise

 

Well, our experience observing Gopher Tortoises in Florida is rather embarrassing. We arrived at a known location in southern Florida specifically to see the tortoises and hiked along a 3km trail carefully searching every fallen log in the lake. 

After finding no tortoises we asked a trail maintenance worker about finding the tortoises. He explained that the tortoises were on the land side of the trail and that they did not venture into the pond because they could not swim well and in fact they actually have a problem with people putting them into the pond where they drown. Hmmm…needless to say we returned along the same trail finding at least a half dozen tortoises all out sunning. Lesson learned.

The gopher tortoise is one of five North American tortoise species and is the only tortoise naturally found east of the Mississippi River. Its range includes the southeastern Coastal Plain from southeastern Louisiana east to southern South Carolina, and south to Florida. Gopher tortoises occur in parts of all 67 Florida counties.

Gopher tortoises can live 40 to 60 years in the wild, though captive tortoises may live 90+ years. Males reach adulthood at approximately 9-12 years of age, whereas a female may take 10-21 years to reach maturity depending on local resource abundance and latitude.

The life of a gopher tortoise revolves around its burrow(s) where gopher tortoises spend up to 80% of their time. Burrows average 15 feet long and 6.5 feet deep, though they have been documented reaching up to 40 feet long and 10 feet deep. They often use multiple burrows throughout their lives, the number of which varies depending on the individual.

Swallow-tailed Kite

Another bird that is a rarity in our area that we observe in the Florida Panhandle every year is the Swallow-tailed Kite. However I have yet to capture a decent image of one as they are always soaring very high overhead.

Swallow-tailed Kites are large but slender and buoyant raptors. They have long, narrow, pointed wings, slim bodies, and a very long, deeply forked tail. The bill is small and sharply hooked.

Swallow-tailed Kites are a sharp contrast of bright-white head and underparts and gleaming black wings, back, and tail. From below, the wing linings are white and the flight feathers are black.

Tomorrow we will start taking a look at some of the wildlife, including snakes that we have observed in Florida.

Royal Tern

 

A sleek seabird of warm saltwater coasts, the Royal Tern lives up to its regal name with a tangerine-colored bill and ragged, ink-black crest against crisp white plumage.

Royal Terns fly gracefully and slowly along coastlines, diving for small fish, which they capture with a swift strike of their daggerlike bills.

They are social birds, gathering between fishing expeditions on undisturbed beaches and nesting in dense, boisterous colonies.

In late summer and fall, Royal Terns lose most of their black crest and sport a white forehead. Cornell All About Birds

Loggerhead Shrike

 

Loggerhead Shrikes inhabit open country with short vegetation and well-spaced shrubs or low trees, particularly those with spines or thorns. They frequent agricultural fields, pastures, old orchards, riparian areas, desert scrublands, savannas, prairies, golf courses, and cemeteries. Loggerhead Shrikes are often seen along mowed roadsides with access to fence lines and utility poles.

Loggerhead Shrikes hunt by scanning the ground from elevated perches, then diving onto prey. They also hover-hunt. Loggerhead Shrikes sometimes hunt from the ground, flashing their wing patches in a manner similar to the Northern Mockingbird, to startle prey out of hiding.

To immobilize large prey items, the Loggerhead Shrike impales them on sharp objects such as thorns and barbed wire, or tucks them into forks between branches. Caches of prey thus lain away, also called “larders” or “pantries,” provide food stores during winter when prey is scarce, or in breeding season when energy demands are high. Cornell All About Birds

Forster's Tern

 

Flashing slender, silvery wings and an elegantly forked tail, Forster's Terns cruise above the shallow waters of marshes and coastlines looking for fish. These medium-sized white terns are often confused with the similar Common Tern, but Forster’s Terns have a longer tail and, in nonbreeding plumage, a distinctive black eye patch.

Where Common breeds on outer beaches and barrier islands, Forster’s nests farther inland, on edges of freshwater marshes and saltmarshes. It is the only medium-sized tern species found in the United States mainland in winter. Cornell All About Birds