Jan-Feb 2008
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Lake Region Audubon January/February 2008 EAGLE’S VIEW Volume 18, Issue 3 Street Audubon Center 115 Lameraux Road Winter Haven, FL 33884 Colt Creek State Park Butterfly Survey Linda F. Cooper We did not imagine the treasure-trove of butterflies awaiting us at Polk’s newest state park when we began our one-year butterfly survey in January 2007. Awaiting us not only in species diversity but also in numbers of butterflies – this is an incredible park for butterflies! Most months we fielded two teams but on occasion had three. We were free to roam anywhere in the territories assigned to us by survey leader Buck Cooper. Butterflies are solar-powered. As the months warmed butterflies began to increase. In mid-May the teams totaled over 1200 butterflies and 61 species on a single day. The heat of August and September brought the two highest totals – August 2599 and September 4111 and 58 species both months. Drought conditions allowed us to reach all areas of the park - not possible in wet years. At times the air was saturated with yellow butterflies – large, medium and small sulphurs - as they jostled each other at mud-puddling sites, rising in the air when disturbed. In areas of Senna, one of their host plants, they gathered to court, mate and lay eggs, again filling the air. There were hundreds and hundreds of sulphurs. When the bird teams started mentioning how distracted they were by butterflies while trying to do their bird surveys you know there were LOTS of butterflies. Here are a few of the highlights. Long-tailed Skipper numbers exploded in October with over 300 of these green-backed skippers recorded. Southern Dogface, one of the rarer sulphurs, was found in small numbers in five different months. Question Mark was easily found most months with 22 of them in August. Swallowtails were well represented with 7 species, most common Black and Palamedes; 8 species of sulphurs, with huge numbers of Cloudless and Sleepy Orange; 6 species of hairstreaks with Gray and Red-banded the most common, 2 species of blues; 13 species of brushfoots with White Peacock and Gulf Fritillary the most common; both emperors and 4 species of browns with Carolina Satyr absolutely thick at times (over 500 in September). Skipper species totaled 30 with Fiery, Southern Skipperling, Long-tailed and Tropical Checkered leading the way. An amazing sight in one of the pastures in September was over 100 Southern Skipperlings, our smallest skipper, happily nectaring on a single bush of Dotted Smartweed Polygonum punctatum. This tiny skipper had found a nectar source as tiny as it is. Appalachian Brown see page 2 Linda Cooper ALL FUTURE NEWSLETTERS WILL BE SENT BY E-MAIL Please go to our website, www.lakeregion.net, to signup for all future newsletters. When at the site, go to the upper left corner and click on “Subscribe to newsletters”, then click on the first choice “Subscribe to Lake Region Audubon Newsletter”. Simply enter your address twice, and you are done You will get an automatic e-mail sent to you from our website. You must click on the link in that e-mail to confirm it was you, who entered your e-mail address on our site. Without confirming, you will not get the newsletter. We have really made the process as simple as possible and hope you enjoy receiving all future editions in full vibrant color. By participating, you will help us save over $3,000 per year in publication costs January/February 2008 Eagle’s View Thistles are a big draw for butterflies and moths. If you find a thistle patch, settle back and watch the activity! One huge thistle patch located near the parking area kept the teams very busy for most of several mornings as we struggled to simply record all the activity. Thistle is also the host plant for one of our most beautiful tiny butterflies – Little Metalmark. In an area near the northern boundary of the park is a small pond tucked in the pine flatwoods. We have named it Metalmark Pond. It is an area of limestone outcroppings and lots of Cirsium horridulum. Several sunny afternoons we found over 100 Little Metalmarks in this small area around the pond. It is a fantastic sight to see these tiny coppery sprites nectaring at flowers several times larger than they are or to see them tucked down in thistles laying eggs. Complete surprises were finding 4 Banded Hairstreaks, rarely seen in Polk, in April; Appalachian Browns and Gemmed Satyrs, shade-loving butterflies with specific habitat requirements, found in good numbers for half of the year. This is the only place in Polk we know of to find these species. We found a huge (53.8 inches in diameter) Bald Cypress estimated to be 448 years old in one of the hardwood swamps. Celestial Lilies Nemastylis floridana were found in good numbers in several areas of the park. These lilies bloom mid to late afternoon. If you pass them early in the day you are unaware of their existence. Many wildflowers enthusiasts have never seen them yet we recorded more than 100 individual plants. Gemmed Satyr Twenty-six volunteers by Linda Cooper came out to survey, donating 843 hours of their time, energy and money to take a yearlong look at butterfly populations at Colt Creek. We wish to thank ALL the volunteers for making this a comprehensive look at what species occur here. Thanks to Scott Spaulding, park manager, and his small staff for their cooperation and to DEP staff from nearby state parks for joining us on two surveys. Thanks also to the bird survey teams for their interest and help with the surveys. We know of no other Little Metalmark place in Polk to see the species by Linda Cooper diversity or the sheer numbers of butterflies as are found at Colt Creek State Park. We ended the survey with 79 species, almost half of the species found in Florida, and more than 18,000 butterflies for 2007! You do not need access to the entire park to find butterflies. Within a few hundred yards of the parking lot you can find enough to keep Little Metalmark you busy most of by Linda Cooper the morning including some rare butterflies. The park has been added to our North American Butterfly Association’s Fourth of July counts so we will be there every July. We welcome participation. Come on out and join the fun! Senator Paula Dockery has been instrumental in shepherding this park into public ownership. All of Polk owes her a debt of gratitude. For more information on the park see the September – October 2007 Eagles View newsletter and page three of this newsletter for the bird survey article by Chuck Geanangel. You can also check out the park’s website at http://www.floridastateparks.org/coltcreek/ Southern Dogface by Linda Cooper Page 2 Eagle’s View January/February 2008 Colt Creek Bird Census Report Charles Geanangel About fifty members and friends of the Lake Region Audubon Society over the course of 2007 counted birds and butterflies on the newly established 5,087 acre Colt Creek State Park located 16 miles north of Lakeland in central Florida’s Polk County. The co- operation of the staff and the dedication of the volunteers made for an extremely comprehensive count. Our purpose was to establish a baseline data report for birds and butterflies living on the property at the Parks inception. The Park was divided into 4 areas of about 1250 acres each. Each month four teams of usually four volunteers per team would spend the day counting birds and butterflies in each of the territories. One additional team of experienced lepidopterists had the responsibility for the butterflies while the other teams went out in the field monthly to census all of the birds seen and heard. These numbers are listed at the end of this report. The butterfly totals are reported separately. Certainly most of the birds present in the area of the Green Swamp were found here in substantial numbers. Although no attempt was made to locate nesting birds, their presence during the appropriate nesting season was proof that breeding did occur. Brown-headed Nuthatches, Eastern Bluebirds, Pine Warblers, Swallow-tailed Kites, Summer Fog in the Pine Woods Tanagers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Yellow-throated by Herman Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Yellow-throated Warblers are among a few of the breeding birds found in the Park. Birdwatchers hoping to add to their Florida bird lists will find the Park a good spot to easily add quality to their lists. In all 155 species of birds were found which is surprisingly high given the scarcity of many habitats. With so few lakes, streams and marshes, the water birds, marsh birds and shorebirds were in short supply. Only 6 duck species of the 18 or so normally found in the County and only 7 of our nearly 20 species of shorebirds were recorded. Raptors were much better represented with all of the locally occurring species located including two very rare sightings of an out of range Crested Caracara and an even rarer Mississippi Kite. Of the wading birds only the Roseate Spoonbill was missing along with the two bitterns. We had a poor fall warbler migration at nearby Saddlecreek Park this season yet at Colt Creek we found 24 of the 32 expected wood warblers including the exceedingly rare Nashville Warbler. The strength of the Park is the birds of fields and woodlands. Birds like the Philadelphia Vireo, Cerulean Warbler and Henslow’s Sparrow were recorded.