Sachem

In late summer and early fall, the Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) becomes more prominent among the active skippers. Last year it was one of the last skippers still flying in October. This one is nectaring in a patch of purple loosestrife near the river. Though the flowers are pretty, it is best not to plant this since it is invasive.

Here is a view of the uppersides of a Sachem's wings. The thick black mark on the forewing is distinctive.

Florida's Everglades Purchase Keeps Shrinking

Florida's Everglades purchase has been scaled back yet again. It turns out that earlier deals of $1.75 billion for 187,000 acres and even $536 million for 72,800 acres were too good to be true. Now the state and U.S. Sugar have agreed on a new deal in which the state will pay $197 million cash for 26,800 acres.

The reductions of the land purchase reflected the changing fortunes of both Florida and U.S. Sugar:

A good solution, a better solution perhaps, according to some current and former state and federal officials with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, would have been smaller, more affordable and more inclusive of other landowners, including competing sugar companies with land better placed for restoration, and maybe even a flow-way.

Some critics of the deal contend that it should have been clear from the start that the original price tag of $1.75 billion, to be paid for with bonds, was simply too high for 2008. The financial crisis had started to unfold, and the recession was already making a mark in Florida.

But even as the collapsing economy began to make its mark on the deal, which shriveled like a dried-out flower — first to 180,000 acres, then to 73,000 and now to 26,790 — the fortunes of United States Sugar began to improve. Judy Sanchez, a company spokeswoman, told me this week that with sugar prices at record highs and a new mill that has worked out its kinks, the company has paid down $200 million of its debt since the first deal was announced.

Basically, the ideal moment when the company was at its weakest passed while Florida tried to figure out what it wanted or could afford. In the end, at Thursday’s meeting where the new $197 million purchase was approved, it was clear that United States Sugar was in the driving seat.

The new land deal consists mostly of citrus groves, which were the least profitable of U.S. Sugar's holdings in the Everglades. The citrus groves also seem the least useful of their assets for environmental projects. They are not large enough or in the right places for the state to restore the Everglades's natural flow of water. The problems with funding were certainly foreseeable in 2008. I wish that the state had used better judgment to forge a more useful purchase.

Swamp Cicada

This Swamp Cicada (Tibicen tibicen) was buzzing on a fence rail outside the butterfly garden at Fairview Farm last weekend. You can hear a sample of its song at the Insect Singers website (scroll down to Tibicen tibicen tibicen).

Loose Feathers #251

Black Guillemot on Metinic Island / Photo by Brette Soucie/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Turkey and Syria are cooperating on conservation efforts for the Northern Bald Ibis. Syria wants to rebuild its breeding colony, which recently reached a low of four birds.
• EBird is using time on a supercomputer to interpret bird sightings data entered by its users. 
• The Great Auk, an extinct seabird, is being memorialized with a pair of two-meter bronze sculptures, one in Newfoundland and the other in Iceland.
• A couple from Wales set a new world big year record in 2008 when they saw 4,341 species in 27 countries. The record is in the news now because the couple is publishing a book on their big year.
• Perched birds will face the same direction (into the wind) if conditions are windy.

Birds in the blogosphere

• eBird News: Improving your eBird reporting skills--Chickadees
• The Drinking Bird: Super eBird
• Notes from soggy bottom: Winter vs. Pacific Wren vocalizations 

Oil Spill

• Even though the flow of oil has stopped, BP's oil spill remains a threat to migratory birds. Since the wellhead was plugged, rescuers have found more oiled birds than ever, partly because they are able to go into some nesting colonies that they had stayed out of during the breeding season.
• Nearly 200 oiled pelicans from Louisiana have been released in Texas after they were cleaned. 
• One question in the aftermath of the spill is what the oil will do to the deep scattering layer, the biodiverse organisms that dwell below the sunlit layer of the ocean. Many cetaceans and commercially important fish depend on this layer for food.
• The lawsuits arising from the BP oil spill have been consolidated in a New Orleans court. The decision to consolidate there (instead of Houston) is generally seen as a boon to plaintiffs.
• Birds oiled during the Michigan oil spill are being cleaned and released. The released birds wear green bands that mark the treated birds for continued monitoring. So far, 44 animals have been cleaned and released, and another 205 are still being treated.
• The Michigan spill is expected to have long-term effects on the Kalamazoo River.

Environment and biodiversity

• Where to locate large-scale solar generation farms is a thorny issue. Generally unusable farmland or former industrial sites make more environmental sense than desert wilderness.
• A giant, island-sized chunk of ice broke off Greenland on August 5.
• Fires in Russia and floods in Pakistan may both be related to an unusual monsoon pattern this summer.
• According to a federal judge, gray wolves in Montana and Idaho must be treated the same way as gray wolves in Wyoming since all three are part of the same biological population. This ruling puts restores Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in those two states.
• So far this year, 17 nations have beaten their all-time heat records.
• The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has stopped the restoration of oysters in Raritan Bay.

Northern Gray Treefrog

Last week I found this Northern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) near Big John's Pond in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. I had stopped to photograph some insects and just happened to lay eyes on it. Otherwise I might have missed the frog due to its excellent camouflage.These treefrogs are plentiful but are more often heard than seen. Their call is a soft trill.

There is a very similar species, Cope's Gray Treefrog (H. chrysoscelis), which is distinguishable from Northern Gray Treefrog only by voice. However, it is a southern species, and as far as I can tell, it does not range into New York. It is present in small numbers in a few counties in southern New Jersey.