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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

“… To Where It Bent In The Undergrowth …”*

A glimple of bright orange. “Is that a milkweed?” No. No it wasn’t. It was just after sunrise and we made a different choice today. This particular tract is a wildlife management area within the Withlacoochee River State Forest and consists of nearly 60,000 acres. We have developed a loose routine for exploring this vast area. There are three access points from the main road cleverly named “North”, “Central” and “South” Grade…. Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: brown-winged striped sweat bee, bumble bee, clustered bushmint, fork-tailed bush katydid, great golden digger wasp, green swamp, pale meadowbeauty, persimmon, skyflower, southern beeblossom, twin-spot skipper, virginia saltmarsh mallow, winged loosestrife, yellow fringed orchid

Roadside Attractions

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) You may be surprised to hear this, but Florida has “tourist attractions“. Beaches, picturesque old towns, prehistoric-looking person-eating hundred-foot-long alligators, cattle(!) drives, Seminole Indian reservations (complete with authentic casinos), fishing opportunities and the ultimate in planetary entertainment – an entire world built by a Mouse! Gini and I are both natives of The Sunshine State so we are quite familiar with these incredible… Read More

Category: Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bandana of the everglades, bar-winged skimmer, blue dasher, bumble bee, fewflower milkweed, Florida, flower chafer, green anole, green swamp, hummingbird clearwing, little blue dragonlet, noyau vine, pearl crescent, purple thistle, showy milkwort, trumpet creeper, yellow fly

Morning In The Wetlands

I gave up wearing hiking boots. For one thing, my days of going on lengthy hikes over rough terrain are in my rear view mirror. Water-resistant linings and treatments for preventing water soaking through footwear can be somewhat helpful, but walking through Florida’s eternally wet grass is pretty much like wading a stream and your feet are just going to get wet. So I now have a pair of very comfortable shoes… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bandanna of the everglades, black-crowned night heron, blue dasher, bumble bee, common buttonbush, eastern gama grass, eastern pondhawk, great blue heron, great egret, itchepackesassa creek wetlands, marsh rabbit, pickerelweed, purple gallinule, queen, rambur's forktail, sachem, scarlet skimmer, seven sisters

Stay Curious

Header Image: Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) “Those are some tall thistles!” My mistress of understatement was right. Soon, I would be threading my way through that sticky forest and would discover most of these plants were two to three feet above head height. Did I mention they were sticky? Our day began later than some as we were heading to one of Florida’s state parks. Apparently, adding the word “state” to a… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bandana of the everglades, bar-winged skimmer, blue dasher, bumble bee, carolina desert-chicory, carolina saddlebags, colt creek state park, cypress tree gall, eastern bluebird, eastern lubber grasshopper, flower beetle, great crested flycatcher, hummingbird clearwing, mexican pricklypoppy, palamedes swallowtail, pickerelweed, red saddlebags, swamp rose, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, zebra heliconian

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