Do not be fooled by the beautiful blue and pink colors of the Portugese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis). Their long tentacles can deliver a venomous sting, even when beached. Contact usually results in red welts but the venom can cause breathing trouble in some people. Surprisingly, it is a favorite food of Loggerhead Sea Turtles. I encountered these down on South Padre Island, thankfully, I have yet to find any on the beaches near me.
The awesome Amos Rehabilitation Keep (ARK), a subsidiary of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, recently released seven sea turtles. The animals were brought in to receive care for various injuries and were finally deemed healthy enough to return to the open water. Of the seven sea turtle species in the world, five of them can be found in the Gulf of Mexico: Loggerhead, Green, Kemp’s Ridley, Leatherback, and Hawksbill. Three species were released that morning: Loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley and Green. As you can see in the video below, they were eager to swim away.
Admittedly, this Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria) is visually stunning in its vivid red winter coloration. As the name implies, a favored host plant for their caterpillars is goatweed and, when closed, their wings resemble leaves. The adults’ tastes are less high brow, preferring bird and animal scat as well as rotting fruit. Ah well, we can’t all be nectar sippers.
If the damp chest is anything to go by I interrupted this Black-crested Titmouse’s (Baeolophus atricristatus) bath time. I believe this to be a female, based on the lighter coloration of the crest. Though long considered a subspecies of the Tufted Titmouse, DNA analysis in 2002 showed that the BCTI lineage diverged 250,000 years ago.
The name titmouse derives from Old English, tit denoting something small, while mase (which later morphed to mose and then mouse) meant bird. Truly, she could care less what I call her just as long as I moved on so she could continue bathing in private.
Spotted on a pier, South Padre Island, Texas March 2019
Yeah, because defacing a public space with graffiti is totally fine. But heavens, no, not gum!
This small odonate is a female Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly (Perithemis tenera). This species measures just under an inch and mimics similarly sized wasps in order to avoid predation. In addition to being tiny and shy, her wiggling made it difficult for me to capture a good photo. Ah well, you get the idea.
We’ve all heard of the natural phenomenon that is the pecking order. For Turkey Vultures along the Texas Gulf Coast, that hierarchy leaves a visible mark. Since the region lacks sizable trees, young, or tardy, or just plain unlucky vultures are forced to roost on lower limbs under the rest of their committee. Which means they often end up painted in feces, like this one I met recently. Poor bugger!
While beautiful and fragile-looking, the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) is not to be trifled with. This species is unique in that it has glands on its abdomen that release a noxious odor when threatened, prompting birds to move on to other, less smelly prey. While the view from above is striking, I find the silvery spots on the underside equally alluring.
The White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) is one aptly named bird! Compared to any of the other vireos that pale eye is incredibly distinctive. Though, to be finicky, I would call that color light gray or ash. A technicality supported by its scientific name as griseus is Latin for gray. It is a handsome little bird that I was very fortunate to get a good look at (they spend most of their time flitting busily through the shrubbery, took me fifteen minutes to even locate this one). Which is where the first part of their binomial comes into play, vireo means lively or full of vigor.
This American Bumblebee is demonstrating the correct entomophily (insect pollination) technique. As it wiggles into the flower to slurp some sweet nectar, pollen grains attach to the bee’s body. At the next flower, some of the pollen (aka plant sperm) will brush off, helping to fertilize that flower’s egg cells. Practicing safe plant sex leaves all parties satisfied!
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