Diario del proyecto Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

How cool. I had no idea that the Okefenokee had its own moth! And I wasn’t even on the lookout for this little critter when I found it...

Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 47382643 - Fetterbush Lyonia (Lyonia lucida; Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 11, 2020. ©williamwisephoto.com

My daughter and I were paddling north up the Suwannee Middle Fork (red trail) from Billy’s Lake. The run is usually quite wide, but at some points can require some careful steering around Cypress buttresses. On one of those maneuvers around the base of a cypress tree, I grabbed onto a stump to try to swing the canoe a bit so my daughter, sitting in the back, wouldn’t crash into the fetterbushes. As I held the stump, just a few feet from my face I caught a glint of orange, black and white.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 47382643

“Hmmmm. Cool looking caterpillar”, I thought to myself, but didn’t immediately stop the canoe. At the next tree, I saw a couple more and decided to switch to a macro lens and capture a few shots. There were about a dozen, maybe two, munching the leaves and tender vines.

Upon returning home I posted most of my finds on iNaturalist. With some help from iNat users Ryan St Laurent (@rstlaurent) and Giff Beaton(@giffbeaton), I discovered this bright caterpillar was the Okefenokee Zale Moth, Zale perculta. I also discovered there really wasn’t much information published on the internet about. I did learn that they are listed as “imperiled” because of their specialized diet and habitat in which they occur, but not “immediately imperiled” since the Okefenokee is protected as a National Wildlife Refuge. Thankfully, they are also found in a few other swamp habitats outside of the Okefenokee.

Some sources:

• https://www.savannahnow.com/entertainmentlife/20200531/natural-georgia-finding-new-colonies-of-rare-moth
• https://georgiabiodiversity.org/natels/profile?es_id=15342

March 13, 2019 Okefenokee Journal entry... -

Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 21995022 - American Alligtor; Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 13, 2019. ©williamwisephoto.com

With only an occasional, gentle stroke, our canoe glides easily across the smooth surface of Billy’s Lake in the Okefenokee Swamp. The morning air is still, the water smooth, the entire scene quiet and meditative. From a bit further up the lake, echoing across the water, comes a deep rumble. A second time, the rumble breaks the still air, this time followed by another on our left bank. We stiffen in an attentive hush. Hearing the rumble again, I whisper to my daughter, “The bull gators are bellowing.” What a sound! You hear it, not only with your ears, but with your entire body. Never will you forget those intense, guttural moanings. The Dragons of the Deep were roaring. This is swamp!