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Happy holidays and I'll see you 2011.

Naturalist notes: Ferruginous Pygmy-owl

 Ferruginous Pygmy-owl - Glaucidium brasilianum

The Ferruginous Pygmy-owl is Trinidad’s smallest owl. It measures merely six inches in length. It can often be heard calling in the early morning or late evening. They feed primarily on birds and lizards.

In this photo you can clearly see the nictitating membrane, which is a transparent third eyelid that can be drawn across the eye for added protection when taking down prey. It also helps to moisten the eye while maintaining visibility.


This is an excellent bird to mimic when birding in the forest, as it can attract a number of other species of birds teaming up to chase this predator away.

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist notes: Trees

I have always had a passion for nature. It brings me a sense of calm, reason and wholeness. For the last fifteen years of my life, I have had the privilege of sharing my knowledge and love for the environment with others, which I believe in my heart of hearts to be one of my vocations.

Today I want to talk on behalf of the trees and plants. Some of you may have an area at home, which you have been trying to clean up for the longest time. You have good reasons why the bushes need to be removed - it is getting to tall, or it is too hard to maintain, or just simply there are too many leaves on the ground. Do you know that the trees and plants are responsible for keeping us alive? They help supply our daily needs.

Stop for a moment and take a deep breath. Where did the oxygen you just breathed come from? Do you think that it exist in the air naturally? Trees and plants make their own food through a process called photosynthesis, during which they take in carbon dioxide from the air, water and nutrients from the soil and release oxygen into the atmosphere. This process is powered by the energy of sunlight, which is trapped by chlorophyll, the green pigment in the leaves.

What did you have for breakfast this morning? What are you planning to have for lunch, or dinner tonight? Think of that juicy hamburger. How about that lovely slice of pizza? Or, as you know, we are a nation that “runs on KFC”! From where does most of our food originate? Have you figured it out as yet? Yes, it all traces right back to our green friends, the plants! For example, the burger patty is made from beef, beef comes from cows and cows eat grass.

You know how we love to look at television, or how we like to entertain our friends and family members in our homes. I know you may be thinking - so what does this have to do with the trees and plants? Well, how do we accommodate people in our homes? We must provide furniture e.g. couches, chair, tables, space savers and beds. As a matter of fact, some of our homes are made from the trees!

These names should ring a bell among some of you, if not, ask someone from the older generation - Vervine, Fever grass, Bois Canot, Shinning bush, Chandelier, Zeb a peak, Wonder of the world, Christmas bush. So what do these bushes all have in common? Each has some bit of medicinal value to it, for example, from healing an ear-ache, to reducing a swelling or a fever, to helping with coughs and colds, or simply making a good tea. I am sure some of you may have heard bush medicine stories from the good old days.

We are still in the rainy season and there are a number of areas that are prone to flooding. Trees can help to prevent flooding since trees help to absorb a lot of the water and their roots help prevent soil erosion.

Trees are the homes to countless species of animals, some of which are becoming extinct as we speak because their habitats are being destroyed.

So the next time you want to chop that tree or cut down the plants, please remember all the great things trees provide for us. Too often we are all guilty of taking things for granted, especially the simplest and most important things around us.  Hopefully one day we will learn to be thankful for everything since they all have special roles to play in the environment.   

Be good!

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist notes: Leafcutter Ants

I love to focus on things that are easily overlooked. One of my favorite creatures of all time is the Leafcutter ant, locally known as Bachac. They are extremely intricate and the more I learn about them, the more I am fascinated!

I have seen some of their pathways on the ground the width of with can vary from five inches to over two feet. They are also known to travel great distances from their nest. To me, they look like they are parading in a carnival band as they busily going about their daily chores. They can climb the tallest of trees. They have a specific way in which they cut their leaves, starting from the outer portion of a leaf and working their way inwards, in the shape of a semi circle.

Indeed, they are fierce little creatures.

Did you know that 99% of the Bachacs that we see doing the hard work of harvesting and transporting vegetative materials are females? That is ‘woman power’ for you! A single ant can carry over fifty times her own body weight, and if you compare yourself to her you will have to carry around a vehicle! Who among you is that strong?

The Leafcutters nest can be found as much as twenty feet or more underground. Nests are known to accommodate as many as five million ants. Each colony usually has one Queen ant, which is about one and a half inches in length and can live for over thirty years.  The other ants in the colony are workers and soldiers and live an average of only three to five years. They are daughters of the Queen ant of that colony. 

Once or twice a year the Queen lays a specific set of eggs, which after maturing would be future winged males and Queens. They have only one nuptial flight where they both leave the colony. The Queen tries to mate with as many males as she can and then she is off to start her own new nest. Unfortunately for the mating males their duties are over and they die after an adult life span of just one day!

I’m sure you have seen ants transporting pieces of leaves, flowers or even fruits. These they take it to the nest where they are chewed up and regurgitated to form compost on which particular type of fungus grows. This fungus is thousands of years old and exists only in the nests of the Leafcutter ant.

The next time you spot a trial of ants, squat down and observe them carefully. You will eventually see a smaller ant riding on the piece of leaf transported by a worker ant.  Her role is to protect the one carrying the leaf from a parasitic wasp, which will attempt to lay an egg in worker. If it is successful a larva can hatch in the nest and eat out the colony of ants.

Leafcutters also have an import role to play in the environment, like everything else that exists in nature. Firstly, they help to prune trees and plants allowing for new growth. You could say they are the large cows or goats of the rainforest! Secondly, by taking pieces of leaves, flowers and fruits underground they are adding nutrients and enriching the quality of the soil. Thirdly, they build their homes underground, therefore creating tunnels to get in and out, and by so doing they aerate the soil. 


© Denise Etienne