Monthly Archives: October 2022

Balancing Act

Header Image: Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) Early morning sunshine illuminated the forest’s shadowy places and dried the dampness left by last night’s dew. Insects roused from their torpor to start their daily routine of survival. Just above the bugs on the food chain, hungry birds also began their daily routine of survival. Slightly next in line on that food chain thing, a couple of humans raised binoculars in unison to watch the… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: band-winged dragonlet, barred yellow, camphorweed, carolina wren, eastern amberwing, eastern bluebird, eastern pondhawk, giant swallowtail, gophter tortoise, great pondhawk, ovenbird, roseate skimmer, royal river cruiser, showy rattlebox, snowy egret, southern green-striped grasshopper, spicebush swallowtail, spotted beebalm, tenoroc fish management area, wild hogs

A Grand Day Out*

Header Image: American Alligator Pre-dawn gray slowly transformed into stunningly bright blue skies and a glance to the east risked temporary blindness as the sun announced its arrival. Every field was adorned with sparkling jewels of dew held in place by gossamer webs spun during the night. A few scrub oak and sand pine trees were scattered here and there among the weedy fields. As we turned onto the forest road, saw… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, american beautyberry, butterfly milkweed, carolina saddlebags, coastal plain yelloweyed grass, common eastern bumble bee, florida garden spider, fungi, great crested flycatcher, lake wales ridge state forest, little blue dragonlet, narrowleaf primose-willow, pale meadowbeauty, partridge pea, pipevine swallowtail, red-bellied woodpecker, red-femured spotted orbweaver, sensitive brier, spurred butterfly pea, whitemouth dayflower, zebra swallowtail

Our Favorite Day

Header Image: Red-eyed Vireo “What day is it?” asked Pooh.“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.“My favorite day,” said Pooh.” ― A.A. Milne As we entered the month of September, thoughts turned to fall migration. Even in a region which barely alters appearance during “autumn“, we can sense all sorts of changes. We actually do have some trees which have leaves showing us a golden or reddish hue instead of forest green. Annual bird migration is… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown pelican, brown thrasher, cicada, cypressvine, eastern towhee, gulf fritillary, northern cardinal, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, slaty skimmer, spicebush swallowtail, velvetbean caterpillar moth, zebra longwing

Ups and Downs of Nature

Header Image: Prairie Warbler Autumn. In many parts of the world, seasons are marked by distinct, often visible changes. Green in spring, white in winter, bright warm days of summer and colorful leaves in autumn. In our sub-tropical environment here in central Florida, we had to invent the calendar in order to keep up with what season we were experiencing. It is now (looking over at the wall calendar) “autumn”. Gini and… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: barred yellow, blue-gray gnatcatcher, common ground dove, fiery skipper, hyacinth glider, indigo bunting, northern parula, prairie warbler, red-shouldered hawk, spicebush swallowtail, tenoroc public use area, tufted titmouse, two-striped forceptail green lynx spider

Our Natural Places

Exploring - Naturally