What…A…Day!!
Saturday September 2nd will go down in Gatorpalooza history!! My dear friends Lisa and JC McNeill, Founders of Alligator Alliance, finally returned for a visit to our local favorite habitats to spot our Scaley Scuters and to clean up after TS Idalia! Luckily for us, surprisingly after the storm, most environments were pristine. We did our self- appointed job but mostly we simply communed with each other and nature. I'm starting my photographic journey with my old reliable Olive who sported her dragonfly adornment quite stylishly! Oh Happy Day for me as nothing makes me smile more than Dragons and Dragonflies ... Although we didn't see Popeye / Beau, we did finally see Jolene and a second interloper quite a distance off - shore. All told we saw 11 Gators Ya'll!!
Next up I present my little Froggy Gator who greeted us @ a second habitat. I have to admit this baby is probably my favorite gator presently. I don't know what Frog is wearing here but it was adorable. This boldly curious critter hung out with us for quite some time affording me a nice photo shoot!
We finally spotted the elusive Mojo but in my excitement attempting to get a better shot I was greeted with a resounding splash!!
Venus Flytrap Rescue
Yesterday (8/31/23) we finished up phase 1 of our Venus Flytrap Rescue from the ditches of Boiling Spring Lakes threatened by the impending utility construction in the wake of yet another housing development. According to Tyler Gramley (Vice President of the North American Sarracenia Society), a handful of dedicated volunteers including Julie Moore of Venus Flytrap Champions, representatives from The Nature Conservancy, the NC Native Plant Society and Wild Meadow Farm NC, a few locals like me and with support from the city, we saved 1000 plants from destruction!! We actually welcomed the cooling showers raining down upon our backs and shoulders diffusing the high heat and humidity that encompassed us. Plants were relocated to a protected area owned by the city where they can remain undisturbed by the future progress. As we toiled side by side in my beloved ditches, delicately teasing out our quarry from intertangled roots and water, we each shared in that magical camaraderie of knowing we were actually making a difference.
I’m sending out a heartfelt thanks to Julie Moore for reminding me quite a while back how interconnected we all are as human beings, Venus Flytraps and alligators alike in that we all share this wondrous world of ours. Unfortunately we are the only ones who can fight to save this unique habitat and its denizens from extinction. Extinction is forever you all and I vow to protect what I love for the lofty long leaf pines to the terrestrial botanical oddities that line my ditches down to (and especially) the alligators submerged in their aquatic environments, lying in wait and watching, as they have for millions of years. Unlike my gators, we cannot just watch and wait. We have to move, now, in order to preserve and protect this remarkable planet for ourselves and for the future generations to come. Join me in this fight before we all are looking back saying we wish we had done something. This is my call to arms. Our only weapons - our love for what we each consider sacred and our perseverance in the cause. Join us or in whatever endeavor speaks to your heart. Make a difference!
To quote my mid-octogenarian husband Steve “It’ll do you good and help you too”!!
I don't post a lot of pics of myself but my dear friend Stephanie Bodmer got these and I have to say I am quite proud of them! The work is intense and a true labor of love ❤️ Thanks also Stephie for all
your work networking and organizing behind the scenes which helped immensely to make this all possible!!
I’m sending out a heartfelt thanks to Julie Moore for reminding me quite a while back how interconnected we all are as human beings, Venus Flytraps and alligators alike in that we all share this wondrous world of ours. Unfortunately we are the only ones who can fight to save this unique habitat and its denizens from extinction. Extinction is forever you all and I vow to protect what I love for the lofty long leaf pines to the terrestrial botanical oddities that line my ditches down to (and especially) the alligators submerged in their aquatic environments, lying in wait and watching, as they have for millions of years. Unlike my gators, we cannot just watch and wait. We have to move, now, in order to preserve and protect this remarkable planet for ourselves and for the future generations to come. Join me in this fight before we all are looking back saying we wish we had done something. This is my call to arms. Our only weapons - our love for what we each consider sacred and our perseverance in the cause. Join us or in whatever endeavor speaks to your heart. Make a difference!
To quote my mid-octogenarian husband Steve “It’ll do you good and help you too”!!
I don't post a lot of pics of myself but my dear friend Stephanie Bodmer got these and I have to say I am quite proud of them! The work is intense and a true labor of love ❤️ Thanks also Stephie for all
your work networking and organizing behind the scenes which helped immensely to make this all possible!!
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Insectivorous Oddities
Sundrenched Venus Flytraps spread their maws in anticipation of a meal of ants, flies and creepy crawlies to provide the much needed nitrogen to the barren, sandy, loamy soils of Boiling Spring Lakes are incapable of providing. Thus began the evolution of these Insectivorous Oddities that are only found in NC and to a lesser extent in our sister state of SC, that make their home within a 100 mile radius of Wilmington. They and their lesser known cousins, the Pitcher Plants and Sundews are a true natural wonder deserving of Preservation and Protection from the rampant permanent devastation of habitat in the name of Progress.
I am proud of being part of the partial solution to this widespread problem. I am also proud of my city for taking the initiative to save a miniscule number of these unique treasures under the Guidance of Julie Moore and Tyler Gramley, with the proper permits in hand, to transplant these Evolutionary Wonders to a safer environment to ensure their future survival.
I awoke this morning with my thighs, back and knees screaming @ me from squatting, bending over and repeating to extract these otherworldly creations from Sphagnum and Club Moss filled ditches, only to repeat these positions in a suitable protective habitat transplanting them. I will survive and hopefully so will our Precious Charges.
I thank everyone who showed up to fight the flies, fire ants, chiggers and mosquitoes, the heat and humidity and sweat in their eyes in order to make a difference in this world - my world - of the Ditches of Brunswick County.
I am proud of being part of the partial solution to this widespread problem. I am also proud of my city for taking the initiative to save a miniscule number of these unique treasures under the Guidance of Julie Moore and Tyler Gramley, with the proper permits in hand, to transplant these Evolutionary Wonders to a safer environment to ensure their future survival.
I awoke this morning with my thighs, back and knees screaming @ me from squatting, bending over and repeating to extract these otherworldly creations from Sphagnum and Club Moss filled ditches, only to repeat these positions in a suitable protective habitat transplanting them. I will survive and hopefully so will our Precious Charges.
I thank everyone who showed up to fight the flies, fire ants, chiggers and mosquitoes, the heat and humidity and sweat in their eyes in order to make a difference in this world - my world - of the Ditches of Brunswick County.
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Author
My name is Kathy Sykes and I'm a wildlife photographer who spends her time stalking the American Alligator in my beloved Brunswick County. You may see me out and about in my “Gator Up” truck with my shotgun rider Hazel Mae searching for sunrises, gators and all things swampy. Come ride with me and share in the adventures of profiling and protecting this amazing creature and its habitats.
