Forest Delights
Header Image: Wood Stork
When it comes to exploring natural places, we are easily pleased. Throughout our incredible life together, Gini has always been one to find exuberance in being outdoors. “Let’s just get out of the house for awhile.” It has been a common refrain. Actually discovering some new bird or bloom or bug puts our joy over the top. Our mutual love of nature is, I think, an extension of our mutual love for each other. (Don’t tell her I got all mushy here.)
Summer in Florida is hot and humid. Much of my memory is fading but I vividly recall dancing in the yard in July as the sprinklers tried to keep the grass from becoming crispy. That was over six decades ago. Summer then was hot. Summer now is hot. My Dad was addicted to fishing, a trait I inherited. During the summer months, he would say “We’ll go early, catch a mess for dinner and get off the water before it starts to boil.”. (For the benefit of anyone who may need a translation, “mess” in this sense would be enough for supper.)
Gini and I use the same strategy in our search for natural places in the summer. We head out into the dark hours of pre-dawn and (much of the time) call it quits by mid-morning. As luck would have it, much of nature’s activity coincides with our schedule.
Today’s ramble took place within the Withlacoochee State Forest, so named because the Withlacoochee and Little Withlacoochee Rivers traverse the area. This part of the state forest is located within the vast Green Swamp. In addition to pine woods, there are many hammocks, slightly drier areas in the swamp where hardwood trees (mostly oaks) thrive. The big trees produce fairly dense canopies and the understory flora and fauna can be different than that found in the relatively open pine woods. Of course, with two rivers and many small creeks there are plenty of wet places to remind us we’re in a swamp.
An old wooden bridge over the Little Withlacoochee River provided quite a bit of entertainment this morning. Large wading birds were feasting on fish and frogs plucked from shallow weed-covered water. Several varieties of flowers were in bloom which attracted myriad nectar-loving insects. Barred Owls called in the distance.
Later, we’ll see what’s beyond the bridge. For now – – –
An Anhinga sings its lovely morning song welcoming us to the forest. Okay, the very last thing one could say about the Anhinga’s voice is that it’s “lovely”. A loud, scratchy “awwwkk” is more like it.
Epiphytes love all the trees here since they can’t exist without a suitable host plant. Although not parasitic, they need the structure of the trees for support. I think this is Bartram’s Airplant (Tillandsia bartramii) who finds a fallen tree just as suitable as one standing.
A Great Blue Heron rests near the river between hunting trips.
Damsels in the grass. It’s easy to overlook these small jewels and that would be a shame. The Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) may be tiny but she sure is bright!
There are about 30 species of Ludwigia in Florida. In that group are a couple of non-native species, such as this Peruvian Primrose-willow (Ludwigia peruviana). While I was snapping a picture of the flower, a Bumblebee (Bombus species) needed a drink. “Photo-Bombus”.
Wood Storks, along with other large wading birds, breed in this area. There are plenty of big trees for their sizeable nests and a bountiful food source is nearby.
Whether open or closed, flowers of the Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) vine are really beautiful!
One of the most common flowers blooming at this time of year in the forest is the lovely Pale Meadowbeauty (Rhexia mariana).
Several Great Egrets, including what appeared to be some immature birds, were very actively feeding this morning. The bridge railing was their favorite spot for enjoying a freshly caught breakfast. Relaxing in the Cypress trees was also popular.
Blooming flowers mean nectar-loving pollinators galore. Another Bumblebee (Bombus species) dove deep into a thistle for its juice fix.
At first glance, it appears some Cypress trees are developing a bloom at the end of their branches. This is actually a gall caused by a very tiny midge. Eggs are contained within the gall and once adults emerge the galls turn brown and drop from the tree. The galls do not harm the tree but can become unsightly if the trees are being used ornamentally. The name of the midge is much larger than the actual fly: Taxodiomyia cupressiananassa.
One of the “King Skimmers”, a male Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta) is very dark overall and has a unique wing pattern to help in identification.
A little extra padding is needed at the nest so a Black-crowned Night Heron hopes the missus will be pleased with his selection of moss with a Spanish accent.
Yes, you already know it doesn’t take much for us to be pleased with our nature outings. When we find so many things at which to marvel, however, ordinary pleasure turns into downright delight! We hope you find some of nature’s simmering summertime surprises of your very own.
Enjoy your search for a natural place and come back for a visit!
Our Natural Places 
What a great day, there is just something about being out in nature that nourishes the soul. Nice wood stork – think I might have mentioned this before, but I was hoping to get one of those checked off when we were in the Florida panhandle back in April – failed miserably. Smarter now, we should have just made the hour or so trek to the eastern coast – as they say, you just need to be in the right spot at the right time. Congrats on all your great finds.
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It really is amazing how much stuff we encounter. The even better news is how much fun we have looking for it all.
We’ll send you some of our storks any time.
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Photobombus! LOL Your love of the natural world is envious in each and every post, Wally. And that you have a life partner in Gini who also shares your passion is an excellent life. Mary Beth does love nature, but she enjoys walking (although having MS has limited that for her) more than standing so her patience with my nature study and photography is stretched more often than not. But she has become an enthusiastic observer of the visitors to our yard that I often photograph. having found and alerted me to more than a couple of photographic subjects.
Meadow Beauty is a flower we have in common although ours is not so pale being a bright red hue. Note to self…go find one to photograph soon.
Happy wandering, Wally.
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We really appreciate your kind observations, Steve. Thank you.
There are areas where the Meadow Beauty blooms are brighter than others. A difference in soil is my guess. Lovely at any shade!
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Well, once we hit the send key it’s too late to correct something but I meant “obvious” rather than “envious”. Aside from that I stand by my comment.
I shot one of our Meadow Beauties this morning so it’s in the offing.
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Absolutely stunning captures!
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Thank you very much, hena!
We really enjoyed capturing them all.
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Sorry to be a bit late coming to the party, Wally. Lindsay and I spent Friday returning from a week in the New Forest, and yesterday (Saturday) was mostly spent clearing up the aftermath of that stay. I now have just short of four thousand frames to work through!
This post from you was just the (short) break that I needed – thank you. I love that Slaty Skimmer!
Must get back to it now!
Best wishes to you and Gini – – – Richard
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You are forgiven for being tardy.
This time.
A few thousand photos. That brings to mind the days of purchasing rolls of 35mm Kodachrome. Even a few dozen images would have made me check the bank account back then.
Looking forward to a few New Forest photographs. Perhaps not all four thousand at once, though.
Once you’ve finished the cleanup Gini and I hope you and Lindsay are able to take a break and recover from taking a break.
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Good morning Wally and Gini. I’m a little late in responding because I hit a snag with the technical features of my PC. The mouse batteries died and I had to raid the TV remote and borrow those for a while. Why do we need three TVs? It’s interesting that none of the batteries PC (mouse, keyboard) or TV are of the researchable type, just single use. So much for the “save the planet companies”, happy to contribute to batteries going into landfill rather than providing equipment that will last longer. Ebay came to the rescue again, 8 rechargeable for £9 but Sue has no remote for her soaps until Tuesday. Shame.
Those forest pictures tested your choice of ISO and F number. Good to see that you won and that the herons and storks did not mind your intrusion at their breakfast time.
It’s rather cloudy this morning, nothing like Florida and not much like an English summer but Tuesday/Wednesday look better. It must be wonderful to not be obsessed with them weather forecast but simply know that everyday will be sunny. Enjoy your Sunday with each other.
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Good Morning!
Your adventure with batteries brought to mind a game I think we’ll play the next time the grandkids are over. We’ll hide the remote and offer a prize to the first one who can change the tee-vee channel. Should be fun.
You’re right about challenging camera settings. The dark under the dense trees and then swinging to a perched stork against a bright sky kept my fingers busy.
The weather forecasting for Florida in summer is usually fairly straightforward. “50% chance of rain.” The trick is venturing out during the “50% clear” portion of the day. That and avoiding lightning.
Gini and I are already having a wonderful Sunday. Coffee and planning our next foray. We hope you and Sue enjoy the upcoming week. Fingers crossed those new batteries arrive on schedule.
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“Photo-bombus” brought an out-loud laugh! I’ve been watching our local Trumpet Creepers putting on extravagant blooms — in the middle of highway construction. Some old telephone poles that have been shorn of their wires haveen’t been felled, and the Creepers are creeping. As for those galls, I think I would have mistaken them at first (or even at second) for spittle bug leavings.
I’ve come across three Ludwigia species here, and three Rhexia. I’m probably stepping over others without even knowing it.
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That bumbling bee actually hit me in the head on its way to the flower. Either very thirsty or trying to get my attention I reckon.
Jeepers Creepers creep everywhere!
I’ve been trying to develop the habit of turning around every few steps to scan where I just was. Amazing what I missed!
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That’s why I often walk the same path twice. I look on the right side going, and the left side returning, or some such. Trying to take in both sides at once leaves too much to chance!
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Rising and exploring early helps to make these hot summer days tolerable.
And having never seen a Wood Stork, I’m totally fascinated with this bird. How I envy you the ability to simply visit his/her realm and have him/her pose for a portrait.
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Thank you, Tanja.
We are quite fortunate that Wood Storks breed in our area and we are privileged to see them all year.
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Lucky you!
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You’ve brought us another wonderful morning walk. I especially appreciated the face-on header photo of the wood stork, showing the ridged crown of that amazing bill. The BcNH with Spanish moss is also wonderful. Heck, all your photos are wonderful!
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Thank you, Sam.
We had another fun morning!
It’s kinda neat when the birds we’re gawking at start gawking back at us.
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I share the refrain with your Gini: “Let’s get out for a while…” 😉😃 Thanks for the beauties shared in this post!
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You’re very welcome!
Thank you for dropping by.
Gotta go now. Time to get out for a while ……
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Nature is the best artist and her galleries are superb. Thank you so much for sharing some of her exhibitions close to you.
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There’s no way we could keep all this beautiful stuff to ourselves, EC! Sharing is what it’s all about.
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Very nice photos and story Wally. I’m certainly glad all of your subjects held still and posed for you. All but the Black-crowned with the moss trailing behind.
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Gini is –The Bird Whisperer.
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Wow, 30 species of Ludwigia in Florida. Telling them all apart mustn’t be easy.
Yes, it’s good that you two share a passion for nature. The family that natures together matures together.
Botanists went a little crazy with the species name cupressiananassa. That’s too many repetitions of similar syllables.
Trumpet creeper is a plant central Texas shares with. Likewise in the avian world for the herons in your post.
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Fortunately, the majority of Ludwigia in our area have enough differences for fairly easy identification.
Taxonomists must be similar to bureaucrats and feel the need to constantly change rules to perpetuate their own job security.
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