Razorback Musk Turtles in TX

Razorback Musk Turtle (Sternotheros carinatus)

Pitcher plants in bloom

I love carnivorous plants, and pitcher plants are among the most spectacular of these. They are incredible plants to see, and I feel very fortunate to work in an area that has lots of them. Enjoy!


Whitetop Pitcherplant (Sarracenia leucophylla)












Yellow Pitcherplant (Sarracenia flava)








Gulf Purple Pitcherplant (Sarracenia rosea)






Gulf Coast Redflower Pitcherplant (Sarracenia rubra gulfensis)




Parrot Pitcherplant (Sarracenia psittacina)










Hybrids








I've always thought that the pitcher plant flowers are unique and interesting. Click HERE to see a clearly-labeled diagram showing the pitcher plant flower parts.

Atlantic Ridley Sea Turtle and Moon Jelly

Atlantic Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)






Moon Jelly (Aurelia sp.)

Orchids

Rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides)



Tuberous grasspink (Calopogon tuberosus)



Pale grasspink (Calopogon pallidus)



Upland Spreading Pogonia (Cleistes bifaria)



Yellow Fringed Orchid (Platanthera ciliaris)



White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua)



Waterspider False Reinorchid (Habenaria repens)

Common Snapping Turtle family photo

Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

I jumped into a local stream to grab what I thought was certainly an alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), and only realized after grabbing it that it was a huge common snapping turtle! Elliott was understandably both impressed and intimidated. It was fun and funny to me to take a little family photo with the turtle! I put the turtle down a few meters back from the water just to see how it would do on land. It was a surprisingly strong walker, lifting its plastron completely off the ground rather than sliding, as it made it's way into the water and promptly disappeared in the shadows. (photos by William, a friendly guy at the park who had already been pointing at the turtle when we walked up)

Nesting nocturnal birds

When people think of nocturnal birds, owls are usually the first, and often the only thing that comes to mind. In addition to owls, birds from the family Caprimulgidae add their voices to the already interesting suite of night time sounds. There are two species that breed in the Florida panhandle.




Female Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) and eggs
This video shows the rapid throat movements (gular fluttering) in the nighthawk's throat that help her stay relatively cool in the heat of the day while incubating her eggs. Lesser nighthawks (Chordeiles acutipennis) have apparently been observed sustaining this thermoregulatory behavior for eight hours a day on very hot days!





Female Chuck-will's-widow (Caprimulgus carolinensis) and eggs


Chuck-will's-widow doing broken wing display and gaping when I approached her eggs