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Nature Has No Calendar

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) The posted speed limit on this particular road is 60 mph. Traveling at that speed is hazardous to one’s safety. Especially at this hour, just before sunrise. The road is 35 miles in length and connects two major U.S. highways, one of which is a short distance from Interstate 75, a main north-south route through the peninsula. Commercial trucks and commuters use this… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american lady, bluejacket, brown-headed nuthatch, carolina wren, common yellowthroat, coral honeysuckle, coralbean, delaware skipper, florida bellflower, green swamp, large four-spotted scoliid wasp, northern cardinal, northern parula, palamedes swallowtail, pale meadowbeauty, pearl crescent, showy milkwort, southern beeblossom, spicebush swallowtail, swamp rose, white ibis

How Green Was My Swamp

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) Thistles! Thrilling! I know. We’re easily excitable. Following a marathon of medical adventures, we needed to absorb as much fresh air as possible to recharge our souls. Today was a good step toward that goal. A refresher on central Florida’s Green Swamp region. Over 560,000 acres of wetlands, flatlands and low ridges are bounded by prominent sandy ridgelines. The region forms a sort… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown-headed nuthatch, bumble bee, green swamp, highbush blueberry, narrowleaf blue-eyed grass, netted pawpaw, palamedes swallowtail, prairie iris, purple thistle, red-bellied woodpecker, southern needleleaf, tufted titmouse, white bog violet, wood stork

Our Day of Summer – Part Two

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) The red clay road is still damp along the edges from yesterday’s brief rain shower. Pine trees provide that fresh scent only they can manufacture. Blue sky, no breeze, no man-made sounds. We pause and sigh as one. Ancient geological phenomena make the Lake Wales Ridge one of our very favorite places to visit. This unique ecosystem is covered with a mosaic of… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american white waterlily, brown-headed nuthatch, darrow's blueberry, eastern towhee, golden-winged skimmer, grassy arrowhead, halloween pennant, lake godwin, lake wales ridge, pipevine swallowtail, purple bladderwort, tall elephantsfoot, tenangle pipewort, winged sumac, yellow milkwort, zebra swallowtail

Spring Resurrected

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) March was a busy month around here. Several family birthdays, annoying medical appointments, an anniversary road trip. During an overdue cleanup of the OurNaturalPlaces office complex, we discovered an old shoebox filled with dust and cobwebs which also contained images of one of the year’s first significant Spring swamp forays. We have tried to clean the pictures enough so you may enjoy what… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blackeyed susan, brown-headed nuthatch, citrine forktail, common blue violet, floating bladderwort, green swamp, lyreleaf sage, purple thistle, savanna iris, smallfruit beggarticks, white-tailed deer

Shades of Green

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) Spring. According to the calendar, it will be here next week, arriving precisely at 11:06 p.m. on March 19, 2024. Nature. It adheres to it’s very own schedule, every day of the year. I reckon it may be useful (?) to know that on the date and time above there will be an equal amount of day and night. Equinox. Plan accordingly. So,… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Photography Tags: blackeyed susan, blue-gray gnatcatcher, blue-headed vireo, brown-headed nuthatch, carolina chickadee, floating bladderwort, green swamp, northern cardinal, pine savanna, red maple, smallfruit beggartick, turkey-tail, yellow-rumped warbler

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