We Visit A Natural Place
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Peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas. Underneath a pine tree. Cicadas sputter and then hum their familiar chorus. We stretch and sigh heavily as the morning is now becoming quite warm. It would be easy to lay back with my Love and remain here holding hands for hours. So much has transpired in the past couple of years. It is history. For now, our focus is to observe what we have been missing.
A couple of hours ago, we were met by Mother Nature’s Official Welcoming Committee. Actually, the little Marsh Rabbit didn’t stop chewing the tender grass and barely noticed us. We meandered along and found a few flowers blooming, a few bugs visiting the blooms and a few birds watching a few bugs on a few flowers.
Enough words for today. We hope you are able to get a sense of our very pleasant day by gazing at these images. Pretend the air is pine-scented, the sun is not too hot and the sky is a perfect blue.
Small and lovely, the Cutleaf Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata) only offers a full view of its flowers in the late evening through early morning hours. Our timing was good.
Displaying its namesake, a Great Crested Flycatcher was quick to let the neighborhood know a hawk was cruising above the treetops. How thoughtful.
Truly one of the most beautiful flowers in our area, the Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) bloom is incredibly intricate. Gini still reminisces about using them to decorate mud pies. (And that was just last week……)
Not in Carolina. Not in the desert. Not related to chicory. Other than that – the taxonomists nailed it! Carolina Desert-Chicory (Pyrrhopappus carolinianus).
Speaking of Passionflower. The bright orange Gulf Fritillary (Dione incarnata) uses the Passionflower as a host plant.
One of our favorite members of the morning glory family is Tievine (Ipomoea cordatotriloba). It’s interesting to examine the leaves of this plant as they can take a few different forms.
Checking us out. Gray Squirrel.
Lots of really bright yellow flowers makes the Butterweed (Packera glabella) a very happy plant for us to encounter.
Always looking so serious, a Red-shouldered Hawk gave us that look that translates to “move along, I’m trying to hunt here“. We did.
Often growing to over six feet tall, the Nuttall’s Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii) is one of the most popular plants among nectar seekers. For humans, attempting to pick a blossom is not recommended. Ouch.
Among the nectar-lovers mentioned above, we found two species of Hairstreak butterflies exploring the thistles. They obviously don’t mind all those sharp pointy things on the leaves and stems.
Uncomfortable memories from playing in the pasture behind the house when I was a kid. Officially it’s called Tread-softly (Cnidoscolus stimulosus). I knew it as Stinging Nettle and no amount of washing or alcohol would ease the pain of that rash!
Yet another fan of the spiny plant. Twin-spot Skipper (Oligoria maculata) on Nuttall’s Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii).
It’s pretty hard to find a more pleasing combination of colors than exhibited by an adult Eastern Bluebird.
Not as colorful as his metallic-colored cousins, this little sweat bee is one of the most abundant in Florida. We like it just fine the way it is. Poey’s Furrow Bee (Halictus poeyi) on Oakleaf Fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius).
Despite its name, the Mexican Pricklypoppy (Argemone mexicana) is a native of Florida. It’s beautiful, but just in case you see all those spiny leaves and think to yourself “you know, that might really taste delicious” – don’t do it! It’s toxic.
One of the lovely orange grass skipper butterflies, a Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) led me on a short chase before holding still. Thank you!
Mother Nature asked us to provide the following Public Service Announcement: “Before stepping into the hot tub, please check first to be sure another visitor is not already present. Thank you for your consideration.“
Our thoughts of blood tests, imaging machines, new medications — erased for a few hours as we totally immersed ourselves in a unique Natural Place. We intend to do it again. Soon.
We hope you enjoy your search for your own natural place and come back for a visit!
Our Natural Places 
Dear Gini and Wally,
I’m so glad you are still able to get out to your favorite places, see beautiful blooms and birds and butterflies (and alligators too), sit under a pine tree eating pb&j sandwiches and holding hands.
Wishing you much for of the same.
All the best,
Tanja
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What a beautiful morning! Thanks for sharing. To next one! 😉
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You’re welcome!
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I agree about the Bluebird and the Red-shouldered Hawk. Very impressive creatures. And too the little harmless toy that you keep in your bathroom. I hate finding stinging nettles in the garden and wouldn’t dream of making a cup of nettle tea – i go to the loo enough as it is.
Peanut butter and jelly (jam) sounds dodgy to me. I will stick to chunky orange marmalade if you don’t mind. It’s hot here today, and no, I will not be staying up late to watch the soccer.
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Nettle tea. Doesn’t sound healthy. Or even sane.
You must remember, we attempt to converse in American English. When we say “jelly”, we include jams, jellies, marmelades, preserves, conserves, spreads and pretty much anything sweet that can be spread upon a slice of bread. We may be imprecise, but we know what we like.
What is “soccer”?
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Now I know why that rabbit seemed both familiar and unfamiliar. The ‘rabbit’ part I knew; the ‘marsh’ part was new. Our swamp rabbit is quite large, but my sense that this one was smaller — much smaller — was confirmed by online rabbitologists.
I still haven’t come across a Mexican prickly poppy, but its relationship to our white prickly poppy is obvious. The bloom colors may differ, but that prickliness is the same. The genus of your stinging nettle’s the same as that of our Texas bull nettle; the species may differ, but the effect of contact’s the same!
Three young gray squirrels in my nearest live oak have figured out that the strange tall creature is the source of the shelled peanuts they love. Now that they’ve learned to spot my car, I’ve begun carrying a few with me to move them from underfoot when I get home.
Speaking of variety, I smiled to see your mention of pb&j and bananas: a change from hard-boiled eggs and oranges mentioned in the past!
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It is fascinating to have so many things in nature that are “almost” the same. Evolution can be a curious thing.
Yep, we unhappily discovered living in Texas did not mean escaping the scourge of the nettle. First camping trip, first bull nettle encounter.
Oh, dear. You have trained your pets well. Good luck.
We are nothing if not culinarily diverse.
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I’m completely taken with those Hairstreaks – you got lovely photos, capturing the pearlescent glow of their wings… and the color and pattern are just striking! Those tievine flowers could have been the inspiration for some space-borne expanding solar collectors – their creases are perfectly designed to hold those petals flat.
Thanks for sharing your walk with us… now, how about a bite of that PB&J 🙂
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Thank you, Sam.
It was nice having a few bugs hold still for a change. We love those bright Morning Glory blooms!
Gini is not good about sharing her PB&J on cinnamon-raisin bread, but says she would happily make one for your very own.
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Yum! Florida just popped to the top of my ‘next trips’ list!
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It’s been said that the gulf fritillary, being a butterfly, is inherently a flit-illary. We have that species in Texas, too, as you probably observed in your time here. Likewise for the pearl crescent (and florally for the Mexican prickly poppy; the Carolina dandelion; and the purple bindweed, which is flourishing here now, as it its wont).
That’s a good stare-down with the gray squirrel. Not clear who blinked first.
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Perhaps all the flit-illary relatives could be, inherently, flutter-bys.
We know how vicious those adorable squirrels can be so we averted our eyes and kept moving along.
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