More fun herps

Our friend Brendan visited from Texas this weekend, and we had a pretty productive time herping. All told, we observed about 15 species of amphibians and reptiles. I've included the two new species for me first, followed by a few other highlights.


This is the first and smaller of two Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) that we found in conveniently clear water. Their size is intimidating, but they are far less "snappy" than their smaller cousin, the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina).




This is a Southern Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber vioscai). We found four under logs in a wet lowland area.



Above is a Florida Bog Frog (Rana okaloosae), and below is a young Banded Watersnake (Nerodia fasciata fasciata). These watersnakes are commonly seen in bog frog habitat, and are a known predator of that species.




I was pleasantly surprised to see some Eastern Spadefoot Toads (Scaphiopus holbrookii holbrookii) on the roads. This species is an explosive breeder that typically remains underground except on nights immediately following or during heavy rains. They get right down to business, and their larvae develop quickly in ephemeral pools of water. Apart from their interesting natural history, I think they just look really unique with that face and those huge eyes.



For those of you that don't know, Sarah has a real knack for seeing cryptic animals, whether it's a Least Bittern hiding in the reeds 150 m away, or this tiny juvenile Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus) whose head could fit in a drinking straw, and whose body is clearly even thinner.

Unto us a neice is born...

...and her name shall be called Rowan Olivia.

We're so excited to welcome this beautiful, talented, smart, and spunky little girl into the Jones family! Congratulations Alex & Megan!

Recent herps

Sarah and I went out to check nests with an endangered species biologist who works on sea turtles. Unfortunately the photo quality is poor, but we had to share with the world that we got to see baby sea turtles.



In total, we got to see nine hatchling Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas), and Sarah got to turtlesit while we were recording data. It might sound easy, but you can't really hold onto nine at a time, and they just got faster and faster.

A couple of days ago, I was happy to see my first Florida Pine Snake (Pituophis melanoleucus mugitus). It was a pretty young one, so its markings were relatively well defined.

In this photo, you can see how the markings go from being clearly defined near the tail, to being very vague and indistinct toward the head. It isn't because of that part of the body being over the tire mark.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Since most of my job here in Florida focuses on Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis), I figured I might as well put up some photos. We band a segment of our population because it allows us to answer some important questions that we could only make assumptions about if we couldn't relocate known individuals. Also, one of our management strategies involves moving young individuals from highly successful groups in densely populated areas to areas that are currently unoccupied by the woodpeckers. All of that said, we have to catch the birds to band them, and that gives me the special privilege of seeing the birds up close and taking some close-up photos.


This is a male showing the red "cockade," which was historically a term that referred to a special type of ornament worn on the side of a fancy hat. With rare exception, only the males have the red patch on their heads, and it's usually covered up by black feathers. They usually reveal it when trying to show off what an impressive male they are... or when they're pissed off because someone is holding them.



This one might be a little hard to see unless you enlarge the photo, but it shows the nets we use to put up to the woodpecker hole to catch them as they fly out. Sometimes getting the net up there before they fly out is the trick; other times getting them to fly out at all is the trick.



If you know the size of my head, then this photo will give you an idea of how large/small the woodpeckers are.

Spear fishing

Spear fishing has been my most recent hobby addition. I dig it. I'm not very good yet, but some fish take less skill to shoot than others, so I don't have to be a pro to eat. So far, I've made fried fish, lots of fish tacos, and Indian fish curry with roasted local chestnuts added. This photo is from last week when I went with a couple guys that I've met that are good at this. I shot two of the spade fish (the silvery, long-finned ones). Tonight, we'll be eating fresh snapper shot in the bay out from our apartment (this statement only applies to the day I'm posting this, and hopefully many other random nights).

Little Metalmark

I recently went out into the field with a neat woman who does a lot of work on butterflies in this area. I got to see some local rarities, along with what is apparently not rare in these parts, Little Metalmarks (Calephelis virginiensis). I love metalmarks, which are really pretty tiny, especially the "little" ones. Click here to see some photos that do better service to the silvery markings on their wings for which they get their name.

Life in the Sunshine State

Well, it's official. I have a Florida license plate on my car, a FL driver's license in my wallet, and I'm officially registered to vote in the country's most populous swing state!

Don't be fooled, though. I am still a Midwesterner, and it shows. I wear capris when it's 95 degrees and 70% humidity outside, and I bring my zip-up hoodie sweatshirt with me everywhere I go just hoping for an excuse to wear it--which there frequently is, since every building is over air-conditioned to compensate for the boiling temps outside. I have to ask people to repeat themselves--and vice versa--since I'm still not used to the Southern drawl (of course, it's *me* that has the accent and talks too fast, according to the locals), and since I'm not willing to get skin cancer just because I changed my zip code, I'm as fair-skinned as ever, and will probably stay that way.

We have been enjoying the Southern hospitality, though--everyone we've met has been extraordinarily friendly and welcoming. Kelly has already caught fresh fish for dinner off our pier (snapper!), and he's anxious to put his scuba certification to good use as well. We take walks on the beach at night and have a hurricane-preparedness brochure stuck to our fridge. (Okay, not exactly, although during an extreme thunder storm that woke us up in the middle of the night about a week ago, I asked Kelly, "Do they have a hurricane siren here?" Which, of course they don't--another of my Midwestern "lost in translation" moments [I mean, come on, I'm used to hearing the practice tornado siren going off every Friday at 11:00 a.m.]. Since we don't have TV, either, we've asked our over-protective grandmother-ly neighbor to let us know if one is headed our way.)

The best part is strolling around our neighborhood in the evenings...which of course, brings us to scenes such as this:





We seriously feel like we take a mini-vacation whenever we go to the beach. It's easy to forget that we actually *live* here!

Some cool Florida arthropods

I know they get a bad rap, but when you take the time to get a good close look, "bugs" can be pretty awesome. Here are a few of my favorites from the past week or so. The grasshoppers get quite a bit of the attention here, and that's because they've been grabbing my attention lately.


Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes) Almost every time I see this species, there's a male and large (sometimes 4+ inches long including legs) female in the web together. I wonder if it's a seasonal thing. Their silk really is a golden color instead of white or cream.


male rhinoceros beetle (Strategus antaeus) Males of this impressive species use those huge "horns" on their thorax along with their strong legs to fight each other for mating rights.


Handsome Grasshopper (Syrbula admirabilis) A fitting name in my opinion.


female Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea guttata) This is a hulk of a grasshopper, with its width equal to that of my thumb.


unidentified grasshopper - Even if I can't figure out what someone named this thing 100 years ago, it's still an attractive enough animal to include here.


Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) I've seen this species in other states, but I just really like hairstreaks. I mean, look at the black and white striped legs and antennae, along with the obvious cool wing markings when you blow up the photo. What is there not to like? As an interesting natural history note, the caterpillars of this species feed on dead and decaying leaves on the ground rather than living leaves that are still attached to the plant. Definitely not a "garden pest."

Some cool Florida herps

Sarah and I have been pretty busy so far, but I've gotten to see some neat things already without spending much time or effort on it.


Juvenile Southern Black Racer


Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake


Juvenile Eastern Cottonmouth


Southeastern Slimy Salamander


Southern Toad


Florida Bog Frog (one of the species I'll be working with on Eglin Airforce Base)

From Pacific Coast to Gulf Coast

After having a blast moving around a lot last year and experiencing so many new and amazing things, we decided to settle down a bit and get permanent, full-time jobs. Kelly was offered a great position through Virginia Tech coordinating their field research project on endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers at Eglin Air Force Base on Florida's Gulf Coast. We were able to find a great little place in a small town called Shalimar, just minutes from Fort Walton Beach. We're still working on getting moved in, so we'll post pictures of our new place and our beautiful surroundings as soon as we can!