An airboat
ride will always give you
photographic opportunities
on the wild side. Here are
some pictures that will
intrigue your senses. This
site works better on a high
speed connections. We did
not compromise quality for
faster up-loads. Even with
slower connections, the wait
will be worth while. Each
of the pictures hold a piece
of the marsh. If you think
these pictures are things
you would like to see, an
airboat ride might just the
ticket and if photography is
what you are into, just tell
Captain Steve before
leaving. He will make
arrangements to stop at
locations were you are bound
to take pictures just like
these:
On a
Stumpknocker Tours airboat
ride, you will always see
alligators, aka “ditch
lizards”. This is their
natural habitat, their
domain, where they live.
The
alligator courtship begins
around mid-April and lasts
for 6 – 8 weeks. The female
builds her nest from mud,
twigs, or anything else that
she can find by late June,
or early July on ditch
banks, or vegetation that is
above any high water line.
She drops between 30 – 100
eggs into the nest,
depending upon her size. The
eggs are incubated in the
nest for 2 – 3 months and
begin hatching out around
the end of September. The
sex of a “ditch lizard” is
determined by the
temperature of the nest
during the first three weeks
of incubation. Males develop
when the nest temperature is
above 91° F. and females are
produced if the nest
temperature is below 85° F.
Any temperature between 85
and 91° F. will produce both
male and female “lizards”.
When they hatch out, they
are about 8 -10 inches long
and as cute as anything that
you have seen. Fear of
danger is instilled in them
from birth. Upon approaching
them in an airboat, they
instinctively run for cover.
But, after a few visits in a
short period of time they
tend to loose some of their
fear and do not run as far.
It is kind of neat to sit
and watch them eat minnows
that get stranded on the
floating mud.
As they
grow, they begin to move out
into the open areas of the
marsh where they learn to
eat bigger fish. They grow
and grow, up to about a foot
a year. It takes a long time
for a “ditch lizard” to
reach eight feet. As they
grow larger, they begin the
same process that we humans
do. They become smarter and
wiser in their actions and
more efficient in obtaining
food. Their lengthening
process slows and their
widening one increases as
they become less athletic
(in their search for food)
and more lethargic (in their
need for more rest because
of their growing body size).
As you
ride through the marsh, you
will learn to spot the
gators. When they are on the
banks, up on the dirt, the
bigger ones are easily seen
from a quarter of a mile
away and then sometimes you
can be right on top of them
and not see ‘em. I took a
picture of one in some
taller grass and all that
you could see was a small
part of his round nose and
four of his teeth.
Gators
and temperature; Ditch
lizards tend to spend most
of their time where the
temperature is most
comfortable to them. For
instance, gators know that
when the water and air
temperatures are really
cold, or exceptionally hot,
there is a thermal cline (a
layer of water that may be
10 – 15° cooler or warmer
than the layer at the
surface) where they can stay
the most comfortable. In the
spring and fall they tend to
lay around on the surface
with only their eyes and
noses out of the water.
However, in the winter, when
the water is cold and it is
sunny outside, they love to
lie around out of the water
and bask in the Florida
sunshine. This is the best
time to get up close to
these magnificent creatures
and get some really good
photos, if you bring your
camera. The pictures that
you take will make for some
great conversations with
family and friends.
If, for
some reason, you feel the
need to reach out and pet
one of these kids, you can
get up on the bow of the
boat and I will make every
attempt to get you close
enough to reach out and
touch something in the eight
foot range. Just remember,
they are a lot faster than
you are, especially when
they have a “head” start.
__________________
Ospreys
are found throughout the
world with the exception of
Antarctica. Fortunately,
Florida is one of only two
places in which they live
year round, the other being
the Yucatan Peninsula in
Mexico. Ninety-nine percent
of their diet is fish caught
swimming near the surface.
Its no wonder that they live
here all year.
Most
ospreys are between 5 – 7
years old before they begin
mating. They generally mate
for life and often use the
same structures year after
year. In Florida, they
usually lay 3 – 4 eggs
during the month of March.
The female tends to the nest
while the male tends to the
female. Incubation lasts
about 5 weeks with one chick
being born up to 5 days
before the rest. The first
born chick dominates the
nest and monopolizes the
food if it is scarce causing
the younger chicks to
starve. After the chicks
hatch out, they will acquire
their flight feathers in
about 10 weeks. Their life
span is around 20 – 25
years.
This
osprey laid her eggs during
the first part of March,
2006, when they normally do.
The “Mom” would tend to the
eggs and the “Dad” would
tend to the “Mom”, like
ospreys do.
One day
in passing, Dad was out
fishin'; and Mom was on the
nest by herself when 6 – 7
cat birds decided to drop
in. They scattered
themselves around the nest
and began to torment Mom.
When she would chase one of
them away from her nest,
another one would slip in
and peck one of the eggs.
Well, the cat birds pecked
all of the eggs which never
hatched out. For the first
month, Mom and Dad sat
together, in the tree,
wondering what happened to
their chicks. Then, Dad
began to disappear to find
food for Mom. For two and a
half months after laying her
eggs, I have only seen her
out of the tree 4 times.
This is nature and there is
always next year, and I'll
bet that they will be back
in the same nest.
I took
this opportunity to
photograph this Mom and her
three chicks in the nest
with the Dad coming back
from a fishin' trip.
This
story starts in early March
of 2005. This same pair, I
believe, used this same nest
in 2005 to lay their eggs
and raise their offspring.
The Mom sat on her eggs for
a few weeks and had her
picture taken regularly.
Then sometime in early April
they hatched out. In going
past the nest on a daily
basis, we would see her
feeding the chicks and as
the days progressed, we
would see the chicks stick
their heads up and look out
of the nest. There were
three of them to begin with
and all of a sudden they
were all gone. We never saw
them standing on the edge of
the nest. They just
disappeared. I seriously
believe that a Great Horned
Owl came in at night, chased
away the parents, and ate
the chicks. Unfortunately
the osprey is no match for a
horned owl when it comes to
food.
In early
March of 2006 they laid
their eggs in the same nest
and, as you can see, all of
them hatched out. In going
past the nest on a regular
basis, we would see Dad
bringing a fish to Mom and
we would see Mom feeding the
chicks. They grew and as
they grew, we would see more
and more of them above the
top of the nest. As you can
see in this picture, they
were all of pretty good
size. In late April, there
was a bad storm that came
through with high wind,
rain, and lightning. The day
after the storm, there was
only one chick left in the
nest. I believe that a
couple of the chicks may
have opened their wings a
little too much and a gust
of wind carried them out of
the nest. But, as of this
writing, the sole survivor
is up and flying around the
nest in preparation of going
out on his own.
__________________
Here are
three pictures taken by a
couple from Pennsylvania on
a Photographic tour. An
osprey in preparation of
flight, a dragonfly stopped
in flight, and some egret
chicks in the Rookery.
In
booking a Photographic Tour,
let me know what your
preferences are and what you
want to photograph and I'll
work with you to provide the
best angles and light.
__________________
The
Rookery: Starting in
mid-March, the egrets, ibis,
and the smaller herons
congregate to start their
annual ritual of community
nesting. The rookery is a
line of small, bushy trees
about two to three hundred
yards long where several
species of egrets, ibis, and
herons begin to lay their
eggs sometime around the end
of April, or the beginning
of May. As the baby blue
eggs hatch, the Mom's will
protect and feed their
young. The chicks will grow
and start to move around in
the trees, near their nest,
in preparation of learning
to fly. Then, by mid-June,
they will all be on the wing
and the rookery will be
quite until next year.
If you
like to see and photograph
hundreds and hundreds of
baby birds, this is an
excellent opportunity. It is
also a great experience for
the children.
__________________
As you
can see, there is a lot more
to see in the marsh than
just gators and birds. The
marsh abounds with other
wildlife, fish, and flowers.
For instance, when the coots
are here, there are times
when a hawk, or a falcon,
will come in from behind the
airboat and dive bomb a
coot. This is something that
happens very fast. Not only
do you have to be ready for
it, but you have to be good
(lucky) enough to catch it
on film. Sometimes you can
see the bass bedding, or a
red-wing blackbird nest, or
even an anhinga struttin';
his stuff. There might be a
raccoon, or a bobcat that
catches our eye. There may
be a deer strolin' down a
levee, turtles soakin' up
the sunshine, or an otter
crossin' an airboat trail.
Who knows, it is the marsh.
