Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Tag: Black

  • Mergansers

    Mergansers

    The past few years we have been fortunate to find several groups of hooded mergansers that picked this area as their winter home. They are small diving ducks that like to feed on little fish, snails, and water insects. When they find a good food source and get into a feeding frenzy, they will dive repeatedly until they are satisfied, or the food source disappears. They will surface only for a moment before diving again. During these periods, they can be a challenge to photograph.

    Male Hooded Merganser Surfaces After Dive
    Male Hooded Merganser Surfaces After Diving for Food

    Male mergansers like to show off. Their bright white crown feathers are striking when fanned. They will often do water dances for the females and chase other males to show dominance. Unfortunately, they don’t stay here for long. They’re among the first group of ducks to leave in the spring, often by the first of March. But while they’re here, they are enjoyable to watch.

    Hooded Merganser Male Rests On Pond In Sunlight
    Hooded Merganser Male Rests on a Pond in the Sun

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Rare Butterfly

    Rare Butterfly

    The area has a new group of guests this year. In fact, these visitors are quite rare. A flock of Atala butterflies has found their way here from southeastern Florida. They were once feared to be extinct in Florida due to the elimination of their host plant. The butterflies only lay their eggs on the coontie plant.

    Atala Butterfly Feeding On Sweet Almond Bush
    Atala Butterfly Feeding on a Sweet Almond Bush

    They are striking little butterflies with black wings highlighted in iridescent dark blue with brilliant teal spots and bright orange bodies. The caterpillars are bright orange with yellow bumps along their backs. Unfortunately, as with many types of caterpillars, they can do a lot of damage to the leaves of the host plant.

    During our visit, we also decided to have a little fun with some honey bees. They were feeding on little purple Florida Pulsey flowers and were covered in pollen. We tested the limits of our camera to see if we could freeze their wings in flight. It took an astonishing 1/16000th of a second to capture details in their wings. Even at that speed, their wings were often still a little blurry.

    Honey Bee Flying Off From Purple Florida Pulsey Flower
    Honey Bee Flying off from a Purple Florida Pulsey Flower

    Attached is a great article for more good reading about the Atala butterflies.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Zebra Longwing Butterfly

    Zebra Longwing Butterfly

    One of my favorite butterflies is a zebra longwing. It is the official state butterfly of Florida. Unlike other butterflies that dart around, the zebra longwing seems to fly slower and is more graceful which may be just an illusion because of their stripe pattern. Zebra longwings are fairly large butterflies which can grow to 4 inches. The are typically not found north of Florida and they can also be seen in south Texas.

    Zebra Longwing Butterfly On White Coreopsis Flower
    Zebra Longwing Butterfly on a White Coreopsis Flower

    An interesting fact about the zebra longwing is that it is the only butterfly that feeds on pollen in addition to flower nectar. This allows them to live longer than other butterflies.

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