A Pine Woods Morning
(Click to enlarge images, click again to zoom.)
Sunrise. It happens every day. Many of us are still in bed or busy rushing to jobs or getting the kids ready for school and don’t notice our sun coming up right on schedule. Then – there are other days.
Our trip to the forest had already been an adventure. Some of those rushing to that job were so excited about getting there the dense fog didn’t slow them down one bit. Ghost vehicles suddenly appeared behind us only to zoom around, swerving back just in time to avoid becoming a grill decoration for an oncoming 18-wheeler.
Relief. We left the main highway, made a couple of turns on rural roads and just at “official sunrise time” arrived at the welcome red clay road which runs straight for ten miles through the heart of a portion of the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest. Today we could scarcely see a few dozen yards ahead, much less the sun. Perfect!
Longleaf pines on either side of us faded into gray apparitions before disappearing altogether. The air was damp and normal sounds of the forest were absent. No birds or insects at all. Standing still, the silence was ethereal and quite pleasant.
It was the third week of February. Cold weather had taken a break and the day began a bit cool and became comfortably warm by 10:00. The forest understory was littered with small white decorations Gini declared fairies had created during the night. Close. Little sheetweaver spiders could be considered fairies. Right?
Imperceptibly, the low ground-hugging cloud layers disappeared to reveal bright blue skies dotted with a few pure white clouds. Bird calls and songs seemed to be all around us. Insects scattered with each footfall. A fox squirrel scolded loudly at our intrusion into its domain. Flowers. In February.
See for yourself……
Fairies. Worldwide there are nearly 5,000 species of sheetweaver and dwarf spiders (Family Linyphiidae). I don’t think we saw that many webs, but we didn’t actually count them all.
One of the members of this large family is called a Bowl and Doily Weaver Spider (Frontinella communis). Pretty distinctive web.
This looks like there may have been a web-building contest between a sheetweaver and an orbweaver.
The sun began making an effort to burn through the fog at our favorite breakfast spot on the shore of a small lake.
The support structure of a boat dock made a fine spot for an orbweaver to showcase her talents. Morning dew added a few jewels to her creation.
As the fog lifted, the woods and scrub became active and loud. A Northern Mockingbird stopped singing long enough to glance our way just to be sure we were no threat.
Some areas were littered with Florida Pricklypear (Opuntia austrina) and Deer Moss Lichen (Cladonia spp.).
A small female Downy Woodpecker busily probed for breakfast.
Slightly larger than its cousin, the Downy, a Hairy Woodpecker has a noticeably larger bill. This species is not very common throughout Florida.
We did not expect to see much in the way of blooming flora at this time of year, and we didn’t. A nice surprise were several patches of Florida Lupine (Lupinus floridanus). Different from other Lupine species by less intensely-colored blooms, this plant is endemic to Florida and only occurs in a few counties.
Another unexpected pleasure was finding several butterfly species searching for something with nectar. (“Hey – over there – Lupine juice!”) This small Barred Yellow (Eurema daira) is in its winter form and as summer approaches the underside will turn satiny white.
Found only in scrub areas in Florida, the Florida Scrub Jay remains in loose family groups throughout the year. As breeding season kicks in, first-year birds from the previous season will help take care of newly hatched jays this year. Typical of jays, once one spotted us, he raised the alarm and a half-dozen soon surrounded us yelling and pointing.
From thick fog-soaked forest to sunny skies and singing birds, our morning in the pine woods was incredibly enjoyable. We can’t wait to get back. Gini is itching to get her feet in that red clay and dance, dance, dance.
We hope you enjoy your search for a natural place and come back for a visit!
Our Natural Places 
Once again I’ve been reminded of how easy it can be to misinterpret what I see in nature. I once saw what I now believe was one of the bowl and doily spider’s webs. At the time, I assumed that some external force had misshapen it, or the spider responsible wasn’t particularly skilled. I suspect I was wrong on both counts!
The fog photos are wonderful. I love fog, and often think about how much fun it would be to photograph some of my favorite places when the fog rolls in. Unfortunately, most places are at least some miles away, if not more, and my fondness for taking on Houston-area traffic is negligible even in the best of conditions.
The photo of the prickly pear reminded me of the first time I found one of those species at the Sandylands Sanctuary in east Texas. It seemed so incongruous to see those growing in the middle of a longleaf pine forest, but here you are with a variation on that theme! And the lupines are especially pretty, as well as being a reminder that bluebonnets are beginning to appear here, although I’ve not yet seen any.
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Fog. I want to photograph everything from landscapes to flora to bugs. It all looks so different. Then – it’s gone.
We had a slight bit of rain (finally!) and hope to head to the swamp tomorrow to see how it has weathered the drought. Hope to find a few birds, blooms and bugs.
As a selfless show of empathy for your impending spring blooms we shall bring home a gallon of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and think of Lupinus texensis with each bite.
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I like the little spiderwebs, they look like pearls when kissed by morning dew…
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That is a good description!
Thank you.
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I like the dark views, so moody and different from your usual fare. You know what they say: never let a good fog go to waste—and you didn’t.
Your picture of the spiderweb framed by the supports of the boat dock is unique and quite appealing. That one and the others of spiderwebs are all well done.
You’ll forgive me if your first word, sunrise, sent my memory immediately back to the Marx Brothers movie “Horsefeathers,” which includes a scene with a pun on that word. (I hope the linked video clip on Instagram will show up for you.)
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It’s easy for me to get excited about a foggy morning. What to do with it, well, I’m still practicing. So many possibilities, so little time and skill.
What a wonderful movie and that clip is perfect.
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Moving from comedic to serious, there’s a great silent movie called “Sunrise,” which I recommend if you get the chance to see it.
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Thanks for the heads up. Will seek it out.
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Love the foggy shots! My favorite type of weather. I still haven’t seen a scrub jay yet. One of these days I’ll get over to the other side to look for them.
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Thank you, Dina.
The jays are waiting to screech at — I mean, to welcome you.
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I love the foggy start to your red-clay road (though playing in traffic is not recommended!). The ethereal image of the ‘floating’ fairy webs is just lovely.
I was glad you identified the Deer Moss Lichen – I’d seen it in Georgia, I think, on the way to Jekyll Island, but was never able to identify it. At first I thought it was some kind of sea foam!
Great photos of the woodpeckers – did you notice that there is a moth of some kind in the Downy photo, in a hollow in the bark, under the pine needles?
Polish up your dancing shoes, spring’s a’coming!
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Leave it to a sharp-eyed Texan to find a hidden moth. Nice.
She says she will be dancing bare-footed. No polish required.
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Love that Downy Woodpecker shot.
Always nice when the fog burns off, over here just lately the mist is lingering all day yet signs of spring are everywhere.
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Thanks, Brian. I suppose my love of fog is based on the fact I know it won’t last too long. That all-day thing might have me thinking twice about the gray mist.
Signs of spring. Hooray!
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