Birds | Our Natural Places

Ridge Redux: Birds

Driving along a dirt road in the dim light of pre-dawn is invigorating. The condition of the road demands slow speed. With the windows down it almost feels chilly, even here...

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: blue jay, blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown thrasher, brown-headed nuthatch, downy woodpecker, eastern towhee, florida scrub jay, lake wales ridge state forest, peregrine falcon, pine warbler, red-headed woodpecker, white-eyed vireo

Nature’s Very Busy Most Excellent Day

(Click images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) The Sun. The Moon. Sky, earth, water. Life. Death. Nature has it all. Spending time away from human-influenced distractions allows us to realize...

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: abbot's bagworm moth, acadian flycatcher, american crow, blue-gray gnatcatcher, carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee, cooper's hawk, eastern pondhawk, four-spotted pennant, gulf frittilary, hyacinth glider, red-shouldered hawk, royal river cruiser, snail, southern skipperling, two-striped forceptail

Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Moments

(Reminder: Click to enlarge images, click again to zoom.) Gini and I tend to develop a routine when it comes to exploring. When we become familiar with a particular area through...

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american redstart, band-winged dragonlet, barn swallow, barred yellow, blue dasher, carolina chickadee, goldern-reined digger wasp, great pondhawk, green anole, green lynx spider, northern parula, northern waterthrush, olive-shaded bird-dropping moth, roseate skimmer, salt marsh moth larva, savannah false pimpernel, tenoroc fish management area, turkey vulture, variegated fritillary, viceroy, white peacock

Finding Nature

Watching a sunrise is special. Sharing it with someone you love – priceless. We have an established routine at this spot. Begin near the boat ramp, walk along the lake shore...

Category: Birds, Fauna, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, american coot, american redstart, anhinga, black-and-white warbler, common gallinule, downy woodpecker, eastern pondhawk, limpkin, little blue heron, sunrise, white ibis, white peacock

Small Pleasures

(Reminder: Click to enlarge images. Click again to zoom.) A cool morning! Okay, perhaps not “cool“, but “not as hot“. It was a few minutes past sunrise and our target area...

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: abbot's bagworm moth, common ground dove, dainty sulphur, fire on the mountain, four-spotted pennant, green anole, horace's duskywing, hoverfly, mason wasp, milkweed assassin bug, needham's skimmer, plains snakecotton, rainbow scarab, rambur's forktail, roseate skimmer, spicebush swallowtail, variegated fritillary, wedge-shaped beetle

Our Natural Places

Exploring - Naturally