The WFSU Ecology Blog
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The WFSU Ecology Blog

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        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
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Notes From the FieldSeagrasses and Sand Flats

Notes From the Field: Horse Conch Honeymoon

by Rob Diaz de Villegas November 28, 2012
by Rob Diaz de Villegas November 28, 2012 0 comment
Rob Diaz de Villegas WFSU-TV

When we started doing Notes From the Field, the intention was for the researchers and their techs and students to write about interesting things they saw or did while conducting their studies.  But I’m sneaking one in.  A couple of weeks ago I went out to Bay Mouth Bar with David Kimbro and his crew for their monthly sampling of gastropods and bivalves.  Horse conchs were plentiful during the summer months, but as the temperature drops they leave for deeper and warmer waters.  WFSU videographer Dan Peeri and I walked around getting shots of dead turtlegrass, a sign of seasonal change.  Oystercatchers were eating sea urchins; how close would they and the other birds let us get?

It was an interesting but quiet day when we heard a shout at the west end of the bar, facing the open Gulf.  Hanna Garland, newly returned from her graduate study on the crown conch problem south of Saint Augustine, seemed to have found something interesting.  Whenever there’s yelling at Bay Mouth Bar, there’s good footage to be found.  Hanna had found a pair of horse conchs mating.  There were several of the football sized orange snails on this side of the bar, including a second coupled pair.  It seems that they hadn’t quite made it to deeper waters, but were perhaps on the way.  And the behavior we observed got my imagination going.  Do they mate before heading on, laying their eggs in deeper waters?  Is that why they leave in the winter, leaving the door open for increased lightning whelk activity?  We can’t say that based on things we saw one day.  But that is one of the wonderful things about visiting wild habitats: seeing animals behave in different ways and getting glimpses into why things happen the way they do (even if careful study ends up providing an alternate narrative).

Horse conchs make an appearance in my EcoAdventures segment on the Leave No Trace principles on tonight’s episode of Dimensions, at 7:30 PM/ ET.  Part of visiting wild places and witnessing interesting behavior is not influencing it with your own behavior. We go over best practices for not disturbing a habitat and its inhabitants.  And for those who haven’t gotten enough Apalachicola River video, our State Parks One Tank Adventure segment tonight is on Torreya State Park.  Also, you can check out our new Apalachicola River and Bay Basin page, under the EcoAdventures North Florida menu.  From there you’ll have access to all of our videos on the basin (beyond the river and the bay) and play with our interactive photo map.

We want to hear from you! Who has seen any interesting animal behavior based on seasonal change? Add your question or comment.

In the Grass, On the Reef is funded by the National Science Foundation.

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Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now in its tenth year, the Ecology Blog recently wrapped its most ambitious endeavor, the EcoCitizen Project. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

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Florida milkvetch

Florida milkvetch (Astragalus obcordatus) in the Munson Sandhills

When I test out a new camera, I usually head to a random spot in the Munson Sandhills and take a series of videos and photos. This small flower caught my eye, as almost nothing was in bloom. I identified it as Florida milkvetch (Astragalus obcordatus) in iNaturalist, and it was confirmed.
I then saw a photo of this plant in a Facebook group for native plant enthusiasts. It turns out this is kind of a rare plant, and one botanist went so far as to classify it as imperiled. It pays to keep your eyes down by your feet when walking in the sandhills.

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Cedar waxwings eating glossy privet berries.

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iNaturalist

iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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