Nature you'll see in October

By: Cleo Robertson

Monarch butterflies: By the time you read this, hopefully we have dried out from the September rains and it is time to greet our returning guests—the Monarch butterflies. This is the month when millions of butterflies across the entire eastern half of North America leave their gathering places and head back across thousands of miles of water and land to their favorite place, Michoacán, Mexico, for the winter. It is up to us to make sure they have enough food to survive the long flight.

Milkweed is the only plant the Monarchs will lay their eggs on, so be sure to plant plenty around your house, away from street traffic. The plants have pretty flowers until the babies start to eat, and then you will see them start to disappear. The babies eat until they are about two to three inches long, then they leave the plant and find a place to go into chrysalis form.

I raise Monarchs in my garden, meaning I plant the milkweed and then watch for the eggs. One year I decided to take any live Monarchs onto my porch where I had a milkweed growing. This was the only way I could ensure the wasps and other bugs didn’t eat them. Because my garden is full of Monarchs twice a year, I decided to put together a slideshow of four birthing in my yard. Two of the photos which show the Monarch emerging were taken from the www.monarch-butterfly.com site which I highly recommend you go visit if you are interested in these wonderful butterflies. You can view the slideshow by clicking here. It is also available on our Photo Albums page.

For a real live experience of butterflies, visit Butterfly World, located at 3600 W. Sample Road, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073 (open 7 days, 9-5 daily, 1-5 Sunday, call 954-077-4400 for admission rates and info). I found this miracle place as I drove south on I95 towards Miami. Just before Ft. Lauderdale I saw a sign for Butterfly World, next exit and I made a note. Several days later a friend joined me as we went to explore what turned out to be an amazing adventure. I can’t recommend this place enough, especially for children.

Gifts from the Gulf: I have spent a lot of time wandering the beach and swimming up and down the shoreline. I am always delighted when I come upon a large conch that grows up in Tampa Bay. We have Lightening Welks and Horse conchs that wander around on the sand in the water about 10 feet off shore. I have no idea if they are still mating and having babies or these are just the leftover singles still hoping… The picture shows one of the 12” Lightening Welks I dug up offshore a few years ago and a 15” Horse conch. They are both close to 60 years old I am guessing.

Unfortunately, few can be found today because renourishing the beach covers up the pits where these shells gather in the Gulf. I found the pit for several years, but haven’t sent it since our last renourishment. I keep looking, however!

Birds to watch for: Osprey are large, elegant birds that have come back to this area after many years of absence. Listen for them. Their call is a very high-pitched tone of chee, chee, chee. They are in the Eagle family and quite regal looking. When I hear their sound I go outside and look at the very top of tall trees, telephone poles, and sailing masts until I see this handsome bird. He is usually calling his mate, and in past years I have had a couple come to my neighbor’s sailing mast often. This year only one seems to be around. I have actually seen more of them this year, overall, than in the past, however, so keep your ears and eyes open.

Food you can eat for free: In October food becomes quite abundant around the beaches. Sea grape trees that were full of green grapes in September are now purple and juicy and just right to pop in your mouth and enjoy (there is a large seed in the middle—just chew around it for a delightful treat). We used to make sea grape jelly in the old days but now I just eat all I pick as I’m walking my dog.

Papayas are growing in my yard and yielding about one 12” fruit per week. You can see the citrus trees making their fruit which will be ready in the winter months. Just keep your eyes open and you’ll be amazed at the variety of fruit that grows in our area.

And for a final taste treat, go to Shaner’s, Publix or any fish store and get some of the delicious local grouper we are so lucky to have. If you don’t want to cook your own, go to spb2day.com, click on Businesses, then restaurants and finally Seafood to find all our local restaurants who know how to cook fresh grouper. All the restaurants have not put up their MENU yet, but lots have so find one that looks good and check it out. Snook is also in season but you have to go catch that yourself or barter with a fishing person for one. One other fish that is around and delicious and you can catch yourself is the Sheepshead. They are black and white striped and really good eating, even if bony.

A Wonderful Adventure: October is the month that our local mullet start coming in large schools. Often you can see them at the top of the water, going around in circles. Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s Kenny Merry used to take old wire box springs and lean them against a palm tree. He would then put wood under it and start a roaring fire. Locals would help clean the hundreds and hundreds of mullet that would have been netted, and after splitting them open and cleaning them, they would be laid upon the wire box springs. They would smoke for hours and we would all be waiting by, talking with our neighbors and watching the fish.

Finally, Kenny would announce it was time to eat. With plate in hand, I remember getting a big piece of fresh smoked mullet placed squarely in the middle, with potato salad and salad placed around it. What a treat.

Manatees are visiting: Recently I was out swimming with my friend, Gediminas, from Lithuania. He had on a snorkel and was diving down in the deep park of the Gulf up near 37th Avenue. All of a sudden he popped out of the water and started swimming at breakneck speed towards our small group of friends. Breathlessly he told us that he had seen and bumped into something BIG, but he didn’t know what it was. After I took him to Mote Marine Labs in Sarasota to see a real manatee, he agreed that’s what he saw.

So…these wonderful animals are around and you can spot them if you watch the water for a brownish, whiskered snout poking up in the air. They take a deep breath and then can disappear for a very long time. The average adult manatee is 10 feet long and weighs 1,200 pounds. They are herbivores and eat a large variety of submerged, emergent and floating plants. So keep your eyes open as you look at the water and see if you can spot one this year.

Have a great month and remember to pick up garbage as you walk around our wonderful Paradise. Yes, I know you didn’t drop any of it, but sometimes it just blows out the window or falls off the car or as with Tiparillos, they just fall out of the mouth of smokers. If you pick it up I assure you that points are noted in your name because our Paradise looks so much better clean and birds won’t die of second-hand smoking (they think the cute white tips are food).

And remember to shuffle with your toe down in the sand. Stingrays are very shy animals…unless you step on them! Hot water and a little time and all is well again.

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