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David, et al: Your observations re marked increases in spring tides along the Atlantic coast is spot-on and has been noted here for the last ten years or more. I fully suspect we are witnessing a manifestation of sea level rise. One would anticipate that someone is monitoring the phenomenon and we will eventually receive "official" documentation/confirmation of these events. Logic suggest that sea level will rise incrementally over time, but reality indicates that it is occurring in the form of increased spring tides year round. For those unfamiliar with the term "spring tide" this has nothing to do with season but rather refers to a normal or predicted tide "springing up" or rising higher than normal due to a variety of circumstances. Such as: wind, moon phase, planetary influence, atmospheric pressure, storm surge, or sea level rise. -----Original Message----- From: Florida Birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Hartgrove Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2013 7:11 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [FLORIDABIRDS-L] Little Blue Heron, Strange Behavior - SALAMANDERS Hi All, Even though I've never heard of salamanders utilizing brackish or salt marsh habitat, I'm sure that's what I saw the Little Blue Heron eating. In my original post I neglected to mention that it was high tide that morning. And I mean really high tide. I've been teaching birds to school kids in this park for the past 19 years. Over the past 2 or 3 years I've noticed that what used to be at best semi-annual events, when we had full moon Spring and Autumn tides, are now becoming regular events. High tides now regularly reach areas almost never inundated before. It could easily be that this salamander (that's certainly what it looked like) was trying to escape the rising brackish water by walking atop the vegetation and was headed in the wrong direction. The heron came along and found what turned out to be a nasty treat that could have killed him. I had posted a slightly expanded version of my post on the Cornell Lab's blog but have not heard any responses. Until someone comes up with a more plausible explanation, I think the mystery is solved. David Hartgrove Daytona Beach, FL On Dec 7, 2013, at 12:43 PM, Renne Leatto wrote: > I received a private reply in response to my other posts about salamander toxicity. Even though it does not relate to birds, Ron Smith gave me permission to re-post it here to anyone who might find it interesting. > "I'm not a member of Birdbrains, plus this is a non-birding story. 2-3 months ago, a friend was doing yard work and injured a salamander pretty badly. She didn't have the heart to kill it, so she picked it up and moved it out of the way. She then wiped the sweat away from around her eyes with her hand, and went inside. She immediately developed agonizing pain in both eyes and couldn't stand to open them. She said the pain was so bad that she was screaming (and she's not a wimp). She managed to speed dial a neighbor who took her to the ER. The diagnosis was severe bilateral corneal abrasions from the toxin. She had copious irrigation until the pain subsided enough for her to go home. She saw the eye MD the next AM and there was no permanent damage. So - good info to know about salamanders. I had no idea." > > Renee Leato > Windermere, Orange, Co. > > > > From: Renne Leatto [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2013 2:55 PM > Subject: Re: Little Blue Heron, Strange Behavior > > I would think that the heron would have more likely died if it was from suffocation, because the bird lost consciousness and was not able to spit up the prey. > > And if it had passed out due to suffocation, the bird would have tried > to regurgitate it before it passed out. As it was, David said that > the bird appeared to be "drunk" before falling over, a common reaction > to certain poisons. (Alcohol is a poison that makes people move a lot > like David described the bird doing.) > > The salamander toxin is not supposed to be strong enough to harm a human, unless you lick it. There is a more toxic salamander species in California but we don't have those here. > > Renee Leato > Windermere, Orange Co. > > > > > > From: Kathie Benson [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2013 2:21 PM > To: Renne Leatto; [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [BRDBRAIN] Little Blue Heron, Strange Behavior > > This is just a thought. Could the heron have been choking and experienced loss of oxygen from which it recovered? The swinging of its neck could have been an effort to dislodge it. If the bird were poisoned, the effect might have lasted longer. Does someone know something about the nature of salamander toxins? > K Benson > > > On Thursday, December 5, 2013 1:43 PM, Renne Leatto <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > David and all, > > Salamanders secrete toxic substances on their skin which discourages birds and other animals from eating them. As you noted, that didn't save this particular salamander, but I'd bet that bird won't pick up another salamander for lunch - ever - thus saving many others of the species to live and reproduce. > > Renee Leato > Windermere, Orange Co. > > > From: David Hartgrove [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2013 5:45 AM > Subject: Little Blue Heron, Strange Behavior > > Hi, > On Tuesday I was standing on the fishing dock at Spruce Creek Park, in Volusia County with a group of high school kids. About 50 feet out in the marsh there stood an immature Little Blue Heron. Some distance further out there was a Great Egret. This was a good teaching moment since I could point out the difference in leg and bill color and show a picture in the field guide of what the bird would look like this time next year. As we watched, the bird reached out with its bill and snagged what appeared to be a salamander, though I'm unaware of any salamanders that use a brackish habitat. At any rate, through my binoculars I could see that whatever it was had a tail and hind legs that looked salamander like and appeared to be solid black. The bird struggled a bit swallowing the critter and then began to act strange. It was standing on top of the vegetation, which was sea rocket and other kinds of matter I don't know the name of. So it wasn't especially steady on its feet to begin with. Within seconds of swallowing whatever it was the bird began to appear drunk. Its difficulty in walking became even more pronounced, it began to swing its head back and forth and suddenly fell over backwards with its wings splayed out. The bird remained motionless on its back for about 30 to 40 seconds. We all thought it was dead. Then its legs jerked a time or two, its wings seemed to flutter a bit, it slowly got upright and stood there for a few seconds and began trying to walk back away from us. Within a few more seconds it flew off about 75 yards out to the top of a black mangrove where it sat for about 10 minutes. Then it flew off to the west and we didn't see it again. > > In all my years of birding I've never seen a bird have this type of reaction. I had no idea there was any organism in salt marshes that could have such a profound effect on a bird. I hope someone can shed some light on this episode. It sure has me baffled. > > David Hartgrove > Daytona Beach, FL > > > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives of the brdbrain listserv > list, please visit us on the web > at:http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/archives/brdbrain.html To set to no > mail send a message: SET BRDBRAIN NOMAIL to > [log in to unmask] To reinstate mail service after NOMAIL > send a message: SET BRDBRAIN MAIL to [log in to unmask] > Report any problems to the listserv administrator: > [log in to unmask] > _____________________________ To subscribe, unsubscribe or view > archives of the brdbrain listserv list, please visit us on the web > at:http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/archives/brdbrain.html To set to no > mail send a message: SET BRDBRAIN NOMAIL to > [log in to unmask] To reinstate mail service after NOMAIL > send a message: SET BRDBRAIN MAIL to [log in to unmask] > Report any problems to the listserv administrator: > [log in to unmask] > _____________________________ > > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives of the brdbrain listserv > list, please visit us on the web > at:http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/archives/brdbrain.html To set to no > mail send a message: SET BRDBRAIN NOMAIL > [log in to unmask] To reinstate mail service after > NOMAIL send a message: SET BRDBRAIN MAIL to > [log in to unmask] Report any problems to the listserv > administrator:[log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ > ______ To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives of the brdbrain > listserv list, please visit us on the web > at:http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/archives/brdbrain.html To set to no > mail send a message: SET BRDBRAIN NOMAIL > [log in to unmask] To reinstate mail service after > NOMAIL send a message: SET BRDBRAIN MAIL > [log in to unmask] Report any problems to the listserv > administrator: > [log in to unmask] > _____________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ FLORIDABIRDS-L Listserv mailing list information: Member photos I: http://bkpass.tripod.com/floridabirds.htm For archives: http://lists.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=FLORIDABIRDS-L; To set nomail: Send [log in to unmask] Message: set floridabirds-l nomail; To reset mail: [log in to unmask] MESSAGE: set floridabirds-l mail; To unsubscribe: [log in to unmask] MESSAGE: unsub floridabirds-l; To write listowners: [log in to unmask] Jack Dozier memorial: http://tinyurl.com/6adm2m ____________________________________________________________________________ FLORIDABIRDS-L Listserv mailing list information: Member photos I: http://bkpass.tripod.com/floridabirds.htm For archives: http://lists.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=FLORIDABIRDS-L; To set nomail: Send [log in to unmask] Message: set floridabirds-l nomail; To reset mail: [log in to unmask] MESSAGE: set floridabirds-l mail; To unsubscribe: [log in to unmask] MESSAGE: unsub floridabirds-l; To write listowners: [log in to unmask] Jack Dozier memorial: http://tinyurl.com/6adm2m