Florida Keys

On 22 January 2018, we drove all the way from Naples to Key West. The Keys were variously in states of disrepair after last fall’s hurricane. We stopped at Long Key State Park, but many of the trails and boardwalks remained closed. We did see a pair of Horseshoe crabs. The Natoional Wildlife Federation writes, "Horseshoe crabs have been around for more than 300 million years, making them even older than dinosaurs. They look like prehistoric crabs, but are actually more closely related to scorpions and spiders.” Our Horseshoe crabs are found from the North American Atlantic and Gulf coasts south along Mexico. Other species occur in the Old World. Adults, like these, spawn in shallow water and lay their eggs on beaches. The young inhabit shallow water. Adults feed in deeper water. Many birds, turtles, and fish eat horseshoe crab. As a result, Horseshoe Crabs are a keystone species.The species is vulnerable to pollution and beach development by people.

Great Pondhawks were common on Long Key. We saw them there before, too, during a previous visit to the park. We also encountered this species in Costa Rica during our travels there in July 2017. Notice the green stigma on the end of their forewings. The color of these structures, used for wing reinforcement, is apparently variable. As we travelled down the Keys, Brown Pelicans became common. The last photo is of a pelican hoping for lunch scraps.