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Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) I saw a pretty red flower. Gini whispered: “That’s an orchid.” We were enjoying the final leg of our anniversary road trip. About 30 minutes north of our hotel in Naples, Florida, is the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Consisting of over 13,000 acres, the sanctuary is a testament to citizen action to preserve an ecological treasure. Logging threatened to completely destroy what remained… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, blue dasher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, bretonica peluda, brown anole, bulltongue arrowhead, buttonbush, cardinal airplant, chapman's arrowhead, corkscrew swamp sanctuary, cypress tree, great crested flycatcher, green magnolia jumping spider, leafy beaked ladiestresses, mexican primrosewillow, nuttall's thistle, orchid, pickerelweed, prairie/savanna iris, purple thistle, rabbitbells, rice button aster, southern dewberry, strangler fig, virginia sweetspire, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

Finding Lost Lake

Header Image: Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) on Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.) One of our birding “patches” which we often mention is the Tenoroc Fish Management Area. We mention it often because we visit it often. A few minutes drive from the house, the area consists of over 7,000 acres (2800+ hectares) and offers a fairly diverse habitat. There are 30 lakes, hardwood and pine forests, open grassy fields, wetlands and well-maintained trails…. Read More

Category: Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator skeleton, apple snail, blue mistflower, brown anole, cloudless sulphur, ferns, four-petal st. johnswort, gulf fritillary, little blue dragonlet, lost lake east, mushroom, orchard orbweaver, rosy camphorweed, southern beeblossom, southern tussock moth, tenoroc fma

Fall’s Flourishes

“Are you sure you feel like going out this morning?” I got one of those looks that needed no words. It was a logical question. Gini and I are emerging from over two weeks’ worth of some sort of flu. Not quite back to 100% yet, I was concerned she might still be a bit too weak to go chasing birds. Her common sense self advised that sunshine and fresh air would… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bald eagle, blue dasher, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, brown anole, brown thrasher, cassius blue, eastern phoebe, gray catbird, hyacinth glider, northern cardinal, palm warble, roseate skimmer, yellow-billed cuckoo

Our Natural Places

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