Day 1: March 11, 2010... Arrive in Okeefenokee Swamp

Our expedition began on a cloudy Thursday in Sewanee. Four members of the Sewanee Natural History Society, Cyclocosmia, Egretta, Pipilo, and Benzene piled into our little vehicle called Squeaky to begin the adventure of a lifetime. Our first stop was the Okeefenokee Swamp, a 6500 year old (wikipedia) wetland about 120 miles from the Georgia coast. Along the way, Pipilo discovered some really cool granite rocks on the side of the highway. We didn't reach the park gates until after dark, and were lucky that we made it safely to our campground site since we were attacked by several crazed animals on the park roads. First a hawk came out of no where and hit the front of Squeaky. Five minutes after this incident, a deer slammed into us, but luckily it didn't hit us hard because Squeaky had almost come to a complete stop. Once we made it through the maze of suicidal animals and reached our campground location we spotted a group of foraging raccoons. We then worked to set up our tents but while doing so, I stepped on a mound of Formicidae and was immediately covered by these vicious little hymenoptera. My body responded to this attack with a allergic reaction and I soon swelled up like a member of the Solanaceae family. I was fine by the next morning, however. Overall, we had quite an interesting beginning to our naturally historical journey.

SNHS Spring Break Trip 2010

Hello all Natural Historians,

Four intrepid members of the Sewanee Natural History Society embarked on an awesome expedition from March 11 to March 22, 2010. The following accounts are daily diaries of our adventure posted by our fearless explorers. Please read on.

Cyclocosmia, matrician

Tales of the Roving Fellow IV

I've died and gone to a David Attenborough film! I'm here at Finca La Selva, the famous OTS research station at the lower end of the Sarapiqui river. I've been here barely 24hrs and seen (get ready...): Howler monkeys, spider monkeys, pecaries out the wazoo (like St. Cat's pigs), lattice tailed trogon, montezuma oropendula, dozens of other beautiful but unidentified passerines and hummingbirds, iguanas, central american whiptails, bronze backed climbing skinks, a dink frog (common and somewhat boring, but included for sake of comprehensiveness), cane toad (same), numerous small as-of-yet unidentified lizards, a eyelash pit viper (yeah, open y'alls mouths and drool; I'll come back to this...), golden orb weaver spiders (biggest web-weaving spiders around, much larger than those in the states), some ctenid spiders and huge lycosids, grasshoppers the size of my hand, moths the size of my face, fish, flowers, vines and myriapods- in short paradise. Been having trouble with camera batteries so all I've got to put up is one Eyelash pitviper pic, but being an eyelash pit viper I think it's awesome enough by itself. Saw this guy on our orientation walk barely a couple of hours ago; I'm pretty sure my life is now complete (though I would like to see a jaguar before I go). Oh, forgot to mention the beyond awesome members of Formicidae, specifically leaf cutter ants and bullets ants. Leaf cutter ants are all over the place here, busily chopping away at the understory leaves. They form long trails of bare dirt across the forest floor and busily carry leaves along them to feed the fungus in their mounds (see video). Bullet ants are about 2.5cm long, the hugest ants I've ever seen. They can both bite and sting, and get their name from the pain associated with the latter of these two. Anyway, I'm in an awesome rainforest and frankly have better things to do that sit behind a computer, so I'm signing off here.
Your's in bioawe (bio-awe),
Ornithorhynchus, Roving Fellow

Eyelash palm pitviper

Leafcutter ants

Tales of the Roving Fellow III

Tomorrow I bus down to Cuerici for a week, where I will lack internet connection, so I though I'd better update the society before I left. Biodiversity here continues to be awesome, and I have now seen two sp. of Costa Rican primates! The first was shortly after my last post: while heading down to the Las Cruces futbol (soccer) field to throw a frisbee around, we stumbled across a pair of white faced capuchins hanging out on the border of the forest. Fun creatures, didn't seem particularly afraid of humans. Even cooler however, was my second primate spotting. While hiking up a mountain in Las Alturas farm (a killer hike, by the way; 700m elevation, but awesome view from the top) we ran into an entire troop of the critically endangered spider monkeys.

Photo Contest!

We are having three photo contests this year. Our first contest will be due at our Octobor meeting. You need to take five photos of any type of arthropod and identify it at least to its order. All participants will receive a prize, while the winner will receive a larger prize.

Tales of the Roving Fellow II

Veiw of Panama


Inside the Rainforest



Gaestreus mushroom

Aguiti in the garden

Writing from the Las Cruces field station and botanical gardens, Costa Rica. Awesomeness in the tropics! The field station sits at a 1,200m elevation in a premontane tropical wet forest near the Panama border. I'm absolutely sure that I've more than doubled the amount of vertebrate biodiversity I've seen in my life in the span of little more than a week. Currently at the station is none other than great and revered founder Leighton Reid, who took several of the more hard core birders (including myself, of course) out on a birding walk last Monday in which we saw or heard 77 sp. of birds. Mammals have been scarce, but I have seen agoutis, coatis, either a kinkajou, tayra, or small puma (it was dark, only an outline and eyes were visible), and, funny story, a german shepherd that was mistaken for a jaguar. Quick facts: Costa Rica has 4% of terrestrial diversity in 0.03% of land area. As far as birds go, Costa Rica alone, roughly the size of Virginia, has almost as many bird species as the entire North America. Lastly, I'm positive that when I hang out my towel to dry, it actually gets more wet (slightly exaggerating there of course, but the humidity in the rainy season is intense!)
Yours soggily:
Ornithorhyncus; Roving Fellow

Note about Canopus use

For those of you who are new members, the Sewanee Natural History Society possesses a trunk known as The Canopus. This trunk contains many cool items such as kill jars and a bunch of really awesome DVDs. In previous years, The Canopus was left unopened, free of access to all members. However, due to the loss of many of our DVDs we are keeping it locked this year. Access for items in it many only be obtained at meetings. However, if you really want an item you can also contact either myself (x2003) or Microraptor/Tardigrade, matrician ((x2351). Do not be afraid to ask. We encourage the use of The Canopus.

Journey of the Roving Fellow I

Greetings to the society! I'm jetting out of Charlotte, NC for San Jose Costa Rica in about an hour, where I will be spending the semester steeped in the bioawesomeness of the tropics. As the officialy ellected "Roving Fellow", I will keep ye ol' blog updated as often as possible. In the next few months I will hop around five field research stations, in order Las Cruces, Cuerici, La Selva, Monteverde, y (and) Paloverde, with a stop back in San Jose in between for cultura y lengua. Like I said, I'll keep y'all posted.
Sean McKenzie, Ornythorhynchus and Roving Fellow

Eastern Phoebe heralds the arrival of spring....migrants are coming!!

Yesterday's spring preview brought many birds out of their winter silence and into singing yesterday. Eastern Phoebes have been calling recently, and brown thrashers, mockingbirds, eastern towhees, cardinals and American robins have been making themselves known as well with their spring songs. Keep your ears and eyes peeled for our first migrants. Cruising through Lost Cove yesterday in the back of a truck, I could almost swear I heard a Louisiana waterthrush. It was probably wishful thinking. I did see some of the first wild flowers out yesterday. I didn't ID them, but I think they were spring beauties (Claytonia virginica ). So keep your eyes to the trees and to the ground for spring, because it is coming soon!

(P.S. I didn't take that picture... I stole it from the internets)

Decision '09

To anybody who did not get my email:
A special meeting of the society has been called for Feb. 26 @8:00pm to hold elections for the 2009/2010 year, this is your one week notice, be there!

The spotted salamanders are out in force! Earlier tonight I bummed the bio-truck and hit up the ephemeral pond at the end of breakfield to check on these guys and found them out in droves, it was like catching fish in a barrel! Unfortunately, I forgot to return my SD card to my camera meaning that I only snapped off a couple of photos, none of which are great but I've tossed two up here anyway. Since there just chillin in the pond, they should stay there for a while, we'll discuss a salamandering expedition at tomorrow night's meeting.

Spotted salamander egg mass

.

The clearest picture of a spotted I got

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

November 22nd saw the Natural History Society in Atlanta, GA at the Fernbank Natural History Museum. In the 86ft high atrium is housed a 123ft long Argentinosaurus, among the largest dinosaurs ever found. The society will regress on Feb. 21st to veiw a special exhibit on modern paleontology opening in a week.

The great one.

Fellows veiw a perched Anhanguera

The crew hangs on for dear life

Awsome mask, picture taken just before we read the "no flash photography"sign

Previous meeting

1. Owling this Tuesday. We're thinking about heading out to the end of breakfield to listen for the barred owl, which is absolutely the most awsome sounding creature I've ever heard (two seemed to be fighting last Friday when Dan McCoy and I were out looking for salamanders)

2. Fernbank natural history museum this Saturday. The society will pay gas, meals, and admission. This will be open to the general campus (I'll get a cstudent sent out tomorrow) but I want y'all to have the opportunity to sign-up for the limited van-slots first. I'll post a sign up sheet somewhere is Spencer, probably (with his permission) outside of Dr.Haskell's office bright and early tomorrow morning, look for it or email me if you want a spot.

3. Some time near finals those of us at the meeting thought it would befun, because the tower room of Spencer looks like a war room, to hold agiant game of risk in the tower room of Spencer. Snacks and drinks will beprovided. Tentative event name is "screw finals party" (although more offensive wording was originally proposed)

4. Due to lack of useful facilities such as white boards and computerscreens, a vote was taken and the torian room was rejected for the meeting place next semester in favor of the tower room of Spencer.

5. Meeting dates for next semester will be the third Thursday of eachmonth, except January because we just get back two days before so we will meet the fourth Thursday of that month.

Marbled Salamander watch

It's that time of year again, the marbled salamanders will soon be frolicking in the ephemeral ponds and it is the sworn duty of the society to seek them out. Be on the alert the next couple of weeks for a society excursion following a good rain.

It Lives! The great Dr. Haskell has revived the old and faithfull blog. So time to post what has needed to go here for a while:
1. meetings: we have one more meeting this semester: Nov. 13th in the torian room.

More coming...
Sean McKenzie, Patrician

The BLOG lives again

Bufo says: watch this space

test

DARWIN DAY CELEBRATED!

On February 12th, the Society celebrated the birthday of a Prophet.
A massive celebration was underway late into the night at the Eco-House to celebrate the 199th birthday of Charles Darwin: Naturalist, Statesman, Philanthropist, Revolutionary.
The Society delved into pizza, soda pop, and David Attenborough documentaries to get the party going. The more avid followers of Darwin's life and times brought their personal barnacle collections. Others brought their earthworms. Enthusiasm was brought by all.
The Society can hardly wait for Feb 12, 2009, the big 2-0-0 anniversary of this leviathan of natural history.
Until next time:

D e s c e n d w i t h m o d i f i c a t i o n.

American Woodcock in Sewanee

Last Tuesday, the Society gathered at the airport to watch the peculiar mating habits of the American Woodcock, Scolopax minor. In Sewanee, this bird is most often encountered in late February at dusk in open fields such as the airport and the clear cut off of Breakfield.

The American woodcock has been made popular by writers such as Aldo Leopold who described the display of the male woodcock as the "sky dance" in The Sand County Almanac.

Check out the Cornell website to hear and read about this bird.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Woodcock_dtl.html

Photo from the Cornell website.