The Delta News
5 Rivers Delta Resource Center
July / August, 2015
Volume VII, Issue 4
ATURE’S DDITIES Ahoy, ye landlubbers!
The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper
is likely to be the largest grasshopper you’ll ever see. Reaching over 3 inches
long they often give people a start! They are found in the Southeastern US,
and are easily recognized with their distinctive coloration and size. Having
small wings compared to body size limits flight capabilities. They also can’t
hop very far, giving them a large and lumbering appearance as they crawl
clumsily over land.
Females lay eggs in the summer soil, and they hatch out the following spring.
The nymphs are almost completely black with a bit of colorful striping along
the back. They spend most of their time eating a variety of plants, sometimes
traveling long distances en masse to locate tasty treats. As adults, their color
may vary from region to region, with some being mostly yellow and others almost completely black. They can interbreed despite the color variations.
The loggerhead shrike has learned a way to safely eat lubbers. Also known as
the, “butcher” bird, it will skewer the lubber on a sharp twig or barbed wire
fence allowing it to safely eat the head and abdomen leaving the thorax untouched. Talk about bird brain!
Tammy Karr, 2013
BugGuide.net
In Louisiana,
some call
them “chevaldiable”, or
Devil’s horse. A colorful
name for an insect that is
harmless to humans!
The word “lubber” means clumsy and big.
Kathy Hicks
If you know what to look for, Nature will tell you when you shouldn’t mess
with something. Any time you see red and black, yellow and black , or stark,
contrasting colors, that is a pretty good bet that the animal/plant has some
kind of defense mechanism. This is true of adult lubbers. The bright color pattern is a warning to predators that they are toxic. The toxin is produced from
the thorax, or the center part of the insect. They are harmless to humans, but
they have been known to kill small birds that eat them, and to make small
mammals like opossums and raccoons violently ill for several hours.
Alabama’s state reptile is the federally endangered Alabama
Red-Bellied Turtle. The red-bellied turtle has one of the most
restricted ranges of any turtle in the United States, found
primarily in the lower reaches of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
Road surveys of the Causeway (aka Battleship Parkway)
conducted by the University of South Alabama’s Dr. David
Nelson had shown that many turtles as well as other creatures
were getting run over by the fast moving traffic. The Alabama
Department of Transportation took action in 2008 and erected
3.4 miles of a low, chain-link fence. As a result, turtle
mortality has been reduced by over 80%!
Females 6-8 years and older may still find themselves on or
close to the road as they look for a place to lay their eggs.
If you are a
regular on the
Causeway, please
keep your eyes
open for these
turtles. They
sure could use a
break—and a
brake too!
ALABAMA COASTAL BIRDFEST EXPANDING THIS YEAR . . .
BirdFest is coming soon . . . September 30 through October 3, 2015. This year the focus has
expanded and the event is now called a birding and nature festival. Quite a few new trips have
been added, including trips to the Splinter Hill Pitcher Plant Bog, Alligator Alley, a dolphin
viewing trip, and more adventure-oriented kayak and canoe trips. Registration is all online this
year and opens in early August. Watch the website at www.AlabamaCoastalBirdFest.com for
details and register early to secure your place on the trips.
During BirdFest, 5 Rivers will offer several informative workshops. These are open to all and not
just BirdFest registrants. Details about registration for these will be posted on the BirdFest
website as well as our website, www.alabama5rivers.com
Sept. 30: Hummingbirds! Fee: $15. Fred Bassett, certified master bird bander, will present an overview of
hummingbirds’ habitat, food, and migration, and discuss what you can do to attract birds to your yard. He will share
tales from his 20+ years of studying and banding hummingbirds.
Sept. 30: Basics of Birding, Fee: $15. New to birding and want to enhance your experiences during BirdFest and
beyond? This workshop, taught by an experienced educator from Birmingham Audubon, will offer tips on what to
look for and when, how to use binoculars, what you need to know about “birding etiquette,” and more.
Oct. 2: Bird & Nature Photo Workshop Friday, Fee: $20. Jeff Johnston, BirdFest’s outstanding feature
photographer in 2012 and an experienced instructor, leads this workshop that includes classroom instruction and a
short field trip to practice your new skills.
“Brody” Joe Thomassen
“Ewwww! Maggots!“
Kathy Hicks
A typical phrase heard inside our Little Bateau
Learning Center. Why in the world would we
feed, care for, and nurture what many call
“maggots?” That is certainly a good question.
Luna Moth Caterpillar
Luna Moth
Perhaps the answer will CHANGE your mind.
A wonderful process known as metamorphosis
occurs in the animal world on a widespread
basis. Caterpillars transform into beautiful
moths, tadpoles into a chorus of frogs or toads,
and maggots (larva) into colorful beetles!
Kathy Hicks
Todd Dreyer, Bugguide.net
Metamorphosis occurs in two main forms:
complete and incomplete.
“Univ. of Kentucky
Giant Leopard Moth
“Brody” Joe Thomassen
Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar
Hickory Horned Devil
Royal Walnut Moth
Complete metamorphosis is when an
animal’s body structure transforms entirely.
The animal usually looks completely different
than when it hatched, and it often changes in
behavior and/or habitat as well.
Moths and butterflies are perfect examples of
complete metamorphosis. You may have seen
some of our common caterpillars and their adult
moth stages pictured to the left. As
caterpillars, they are voracious feeders. Some
adult moths drink nectar, and some do not eat
at all!
During incomplete metamorphosis, the
animal’s general body structure remains the
same throughout the process of transformation,
but changes in size.
The Praying Mantis exhibits this incomplete
metamorphosis spectacularly. Emerging from
the ootheca ( the scientific term for their eggsac) a young praying mantis looks exactly like
the adult, except that it is adorably small.
Why do we feed, care for, and nurture maggots?
The answer is simple. We aim to educate and,
dare I say, TRANSFORM your opinion of your
backyard wildlife.
(Pardon our puns!)
5 RIVERS
JULY / AUG. EVENTS
Special Events:
Sunday Matinee Day:
5 Rivers & Community events:
Animal Ambassadors, 1st & 3rd Sundays at
7/5,
2pm: Alabama has one of the highest plant and
7/19,
animal diversities in the United States. Join a
8/2, 8/16
member of our human education staff and meet one
of the local critter inhabitants of the MobileTensaw Delta and beyond.
7/4
July 4 Kid’s Crafts: 10am-4pm, free, all ages
7/18
Special Presentation: “Insectology: Learning
to Love Bugs!” 2-3pm. Love them or hate them,
insects are all around us, on us and even inside us.
Join 5 Rivers Educator Shonda Borden to learn
about your closest neighbors: insects. Free, all ages.
7/22
7/29
8/5
8/15
251.625.0814
5 Rivers on the Road at Bellingrath Gardens
for Kid’s Gulf Discovery Day! Learn all about
the environment of our region from local experts
and organizations. 9am-Noon. Bellingrath fees are
$12.50/adults, $7/kids, and free for Friends of
Bellingrath members.
Growing Up Wild, Grades 1-2pm – “Awesome
Owl Adaptations” Learn about these amazing
nocturnal hunters. Free, but registration is required. To register, call 251-625-0814 or email
Shonda at [email protected]
Growing Up Wild, Grades 1 -2pm – “The Bee’s
Knees” 10-11am. Do honey bees have knees? Why
are honey bees so busy all of the time? Is honey
really bee vomit? All these questions and more will
be answered in this Growing Up Wild class! Free,
but registration is required. To register, call 251625-0814 or email Shonda at
[email protected]
Special Presentation “Tales from the Hive:
Bees” 2-3pm, all ages, free. Honey bee hives
have provided humans with honey and wax for centuries, but it is probably their job as pollinators
that makes them much more important to us.
Come take a peek inside the hive with 5 Rivers
Beekeepers Tim Cooper and Mark Wetzel.
Cypress Gift Shop
in the
Spotlight!
William George NolenSchmidt Framed Prints
This local artist’s etchings, which feature
flowers and animals, are drawn in great
detail from live subjects.
Mr. Nolen-Schmidt uses pressure to
transfer an image to a metal plate, which
can be used to print the image on special
paper. This exactly reproduces the
original drawing over and over.
Find more information at
www.nolenschmidt.com
or search for NolenSchmidt on Facebook
The Nolen-Schmidt Gallery can be found
at 1835 Dauphin Street in Mobile. But
you can find his wonderful work right
here in our own CYPRESS GIFT SHOP!
www.alabama5rivers.com
Every Sunday throughout the day, step inside our
Tensaw Theater and catch a free film that is sure to
please the whole family! So what’s playing?
7/5:
“America: The Story of Us”
7/12:
7/19:
“More Than Honey”
KID’S DAY “Box Trolls”
7/26:
“Life: Insects” (last showing at Noon)
8/2:
“River of Dreams”
8/9:
“Murder of Crows”
8/16:
“America’s Amazon”
8/23:
KID’S DAY Disney’s “The Emperor’s New Groove”
8/30:
“Animal Misfits”
StoryTime:
The first and third Tuesday of each month, you’re
invited to bring your child for StoryTime. Beginning at
10am, the story will be followed by arts and crafts.
7/7:
“Possum Come-a-Knockin” by Nancy Van Laan
7/21:
“Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss
8/4:
“Henry the Pelican” read by author Theresa Lacey!
8/18:
“What Do You Do With a Tail Like This” by S. Jenkins
Outdoor Adventure Night:
Two Tuesdays a month, we host groups that can help
you get outside & explore the delta! It’s free & you don’t
have to be a member to come!
7/7 & 8/4: First Tuesday
 Mobile Bay Canoe & Kayak Club (7pm)
baykayaker.blogspot.com
 Sierra Club (7pm)
alabama.sierraclub.org/mobilebay/
7/14 & 8/11: Second Tuesday
 The Alabama Hiking Trails Society and the
Mobile Bay Audubon Society will not meet in
July and Aug. Both return to 5 Rivers the second
Tuesday in September.
Delta Safaris Eco-tours: Hop aboard the Osprey or
rent a canoe & explore the lower delta!
Delta Safaris offers a variety of tours every day.
Gators After Dark Tours going strong! To make a
reservation call 251-259-8531 or visit www.5RDS.com.
Stay Informed! Subscribe to The Delta News The Delta News is a bimonthly publication of the 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center. To receive this newsletter and other special event announcements by email, please email [email protected] and we will add you to our mailing list. You can also find us on Facebook for updated event news or visit our website at www.alabama5rivers.com. Find us on Facebook!
251-625-0814