As my last post for the year, it has been a beautiful year for observing nature and tracking conservation efforts here in Florida. Yesterday’s trek to Manatee Island Park located in the Halifax River (a part of the extensive Intracostal Waterway) proved to be quite spectacular.

Ancient yew trees, contrasted by the red-berried ornamental Brazilian pepper trees, a fairly recent (mid-1800’s) invasive plant import, together with near-freezing temperatures was a grand view in the brilliant sunlight of the waning afternoon.  The bright red berries and brilliant green foliage in the forefront are frequently used as Christmas decorations in the warmer regions of the Americas with fruits that usually mature by December.

Btw, the Brazilian pepper tree is a shrub or small tree that reaches over 30 feet in height, typically with a short trunk hidden in a thicket of branches producing a dense canopy that shades out all other plants and provides a very poor habitat for native species.  Some trees can live over 30 years and is one of the most aggressive and wide-spread of the invasive non-indigenous exotic pest plants in the State of Florida – infesting over 700,000 acres.

This species invades aquatic as well as terrestrial habitats, greatly reducing the quality of native biotic communities in the state. As a Prohibited Aquatic Plant the law prohibits sale and or movement of this species.

Have a happy, healthy, and joyous New Year 2010!

Pictured above are Ibises in flight… other-wise known as “Florida Chickens”. They were most bountiful here, but because of loss of habitat their numbers have dwindled considerably. They can be found where ever there is water. Even if there is just a puddle of water, you will usually see a beautiful white bird.

Other Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their long wings have black markings, as does the head. There are three species world wide, three North American species, and two Florida species.

Here in Florida we have many coastal seabirds include Gulls, Terns, Kittiwakes and Skimmers as well as others that plunge-dive for fish like Gannets, Boobies, Pelicans, Cormorants and Darters.

The most spectacular of large sea-birds usually found over the Florida tropical ocean are the Frigatebirds that do not swim or walk, and cannot take off from a flat surface but having the largest wingspan to body weight ratio of any bird; they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week. There are five Frigatebird species worldwide, three North American species, and one Florida species.

As well, wading birds are a favorite of photographers like the Flamingoes, Bitterns, Herons, Egrets, Storks, Spoonbills, Cranes, Stilts and Avocets which abound although many are considered on the endangered species list.

Many butterflies are found in Florida all year in diverse habitats. This tatered Eastern Tiger Swallowtail flies March to November in all of Florida, except the Keys, and is rare in Dade County. This one was seen near the edge of a deciduous broadleaf wood near a woody swamp, where it flew low and fast through shaded areas or the forest edge feeding on the nectar of various bright colored flowers including wild cherry and lilac; drinking on mud.

Btw, the larvae feed on wide variety of trees and sometimes shrubs such as wild cherry, yellow poplar and ash.

This species does not require conservation, unlike the Schaus Swallowtail (in an earlier blog entry) a rare Florida native which is an endangered species that prefers to fly higher, about the tree canopy, whose habitat is found more south of us in more tropical wooded areas like in southern Dade and the Keys.

Foregoing the discussions on greenification and energy independence, in art-speak we know that here in Florida, the color green found in nature can have a multiple of no less than 9,142,857 shades and hues.  This is so evident when you really look at a stand of trees and shrubs set on a mantle of grass.  And, how many grasses grow here in FL!?

There is an abundance of different types of Florida palm trees and shade trees that grow well here, as well as flowering trees, cypress trees and fruit trees. Oak trees, ash trees, tulip poplar trees, and weeping willows found at water’s edge are exquisite shade trees.

The Florida state tree is the Palmetto Palm that grows up to 80 feet tall on a straight trunk with a short rounded crown of palmetto leaves at the top. The official Florida state soil is called Myakka, a native soil of Florida not occurring in any other state. There are more than one and one half million acres of Myakka (an Indian word for Big Waters) soil in Florida. It is the most extensive soil in the state and a great medium for nurishing our extensive varieties of trees, shrubs, palms, and grasses.

Great for naturalists, and certainly a plein air painter’s paradise!

Salt marshes appear as vast dynamic and constantly changing wet lands with fields of grasses; complex ecosystems with various plants like rushes, sedges, and grasses – as well as animals and microbes in various stages of life that all coexist in a fragile balance with their environment and with each other. Salt marshes are important to the estuaries and other coastal waters that surround them as the tides bring sea water into and out of the marsh twice a day. The organisms that live in salt marshes must be able to live in salty water and salty soils. At high tide, the marsh can be completely covered with water. At low tide, it can be completely dry and exposed to the sun. Salt marsh organisms have to be able to live in both wet and dry conditions.

Salt marshes are found on shorelines that are sheltered from ocean waves. Some salt marshes are narrow, fringing marshes and other cover vast acres. They are found on steep coasts, between the water and dry land and salt marshes several miles wide are primarily found near the mouths of rivers, in bays, and in protected lagoons. In some warmer climates, mangrove trees take the place of marshes – which are adapted to both a warmer climate and salt water.

In the Americas these transitional areas are found along coastlines in Florida, South Carolina, Mexico, and in Central and South America – and are considered an important a source of nourishment for many species and a unique and important ecosystem that we must preserve as one of our great natural heritages.

Fire is critical to the survival of the pineland and prairie ecosystems of the Everglades. Located on the extreme southern section of the Florida peninsula, the Everglades ecosystem is unique. Fires perpetuate the river of grass and for 10’s of thousands of years lightning strikes have ignited fires in the sawgrass prairies. Sawgrass fires actually improve the passage of water through the slough or shallow river basin, by burning back grass that would otherwise impede the vital flow of water through the Everglades. Fire not only improves habitat for wildlife by creating a mosaic pattern of vegetation, but also helps reduce large accumulation of fuels near hammocks or tree islands, which harbor a wide variety of subtropical plants less tolerant of fire.

This region encompasses sawgrass marshes, hardwood hammocks, mangrove swamps, lakes, and coastal waters and is known for its abundant animal life including alligators, the largest concentration of wading birds on the American continent, and is home to 14 threatened or endangered species. The park preserves one of the world’s truly unique ecosystems. Some of the world’s rarest orchids grow and thrive here, flowering in the wild.

As well, over forty species of mammals inhabit Everglades National Park. Though they often utilize drier habitats, many are also adapted to the semi-aquatic habitats of the Everglades and it is not uncommon to see white-tailed deer wading through the sawgrass prairies.

The “Highwaymen” is a tag given to a loose-knit group of self-taught African American artists painting on the East coast of Florida; scenes of wind-bent palm trees, sand, surf, billowing clouds and vivid sunsets that were the essentials of Florida landscape painting that emerged following World War II.  The name derived from their unique marketing strategy that consisted of traveling the highways and byways of central Florida to sell their paintings out of the back of their cars.

It is thought that they number some 20 artists that are still living, however for the most part many are unknown and have never received credit for their contribution to Florida’s art tradition.  During these decades this group of friends, relatives and neighbors produced and sold an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 landscape paintings for $10 to $35 a piece, so the paintings were readily affordable to the average middle-class white worker.

They created an awareness of and appreciation for Florida regional landscape art and have encouraged what is considered the Indian River school of painting.  They learned to paint by observation and practice; perhaps with a natural, untraditional lifestyle of marginalized and impoverished bent – however, painting for them was perceived a being a way out of the fields and groves.

This somewhat eclectic style of Florida landscape paintings were usually done on Upsom board or Masonite with whatever materials were at hand, including house paint.  These paintings today sell and resell upwards from $1000; and, as these artists developed their talents and skills they gained respectable reputations and some still retain the highway marketing technique of promoting their artwork directly to the art collector.

Featured above is an oil painting by Harold Newton (1934-1994) on Upsom board measuring 30×48 inches executed in the 1960’s.  It was the first highwayman painting to reach $10,000 when it sold in 2001.

Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism. The popularity of painting en plein air increased in the 1870s with the introduction of paints in tubes (resembling modern toothpaste tubes). Previously, each painter made their own paints by grinding and mixing dry pigment powders with linseed oil. The Newlyn School in England is considered another major proponent of the technique in the latter 19th century.

This resurgence of appreciation of en plein air paintings can be found everywhere these days, and helps in the efforts to remind us all that clean fresh outdoors is something we should all seek to preserve; and encourage conservation efforts worldwide… especially in our own surroundings!

The Mallard is a beautiful bird that brings delight to many outdoor people and one of the hardiest and most adaptable of ducks. Arlene Morgan’s Mallard in Flight is a winter scene portraying the true flight of this duck seeking to maneuver landing.  The emphasis is on the vibrant feather colors, and the bird watcher knows of few more thrilling sights than Mallards dropping down with feet out-thrust to find the first spring water, as depicted in this painting.

Painted in 1982, has given emphasis to the plight of the continuing loss of prairie nesting habitat, particularly grassy uplands, which had caused a long-term decline in continental Mallard populations. The continuing loss of prairie nesting habitat, particularly grassy uplands, has caused a long-term decline in continental Mallard populations.

Droughts during the 1980s and 1990s have created unfavorable conditions ducks, and many former wetlands have dried out and are now farmland. Concern for the long-term decline in prairie Mallards resulted in a continent-wide effort to benefit waterfowl and other wetland wildlife. The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) signed in 1986 has specific habitat management goals aimed at restoring Mallard populations on prairie breeding habitat and also in their migration and wintering ranges such as Texas.