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Our Day of Summer – Part Three

(Finally. This is the last chapter of reporting on our only day this summer we were able to explore nature. It was August 15 and we were in the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest in central Florida.) (Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) It would have been easy to talk ourselves out of this trip. Both recovering from surgeries, horrible curve balls from Life, middle of Florida’s hot and… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: barred yellow, black dancer, carolina yellow-eyed grass, cloudless sulphur, common buckeye, eastern amberwing, florida pricklypear, florida scrub jay, lake wales ridge state forest, loblolly bay, narrowleaf primrose-willow, october flower, roserush, sandhill st. john's-wort, scrubland goldenaster, southern needleleaf

Just Another Ordinary Incredibly Amazing Morning

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) “They look like some sort of ripe golden jewels ready to be picked.” Gini’s description of the Eastern Amberwing was pretty accurate. They flew out to grab a small flying tidbit and returned to the same perch. The morning was warm and they often assumed an “obelisk” postion to help keep cool. Our morning was proceeding at a very leisurely pace and we… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: black-bellied whistling-duck, bulimulus snail, eastern amberwing, eastern lubber grasshopper, elliot's milkpea, fragile forktail, green anole, man-of-the-earth, red-tailed hawk, spanish moss, swallow-tailed kite, tenoroc fma

Local Color

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) “Sounds like an alley-cat convention.” Gini’s hearing, which is significantly superior to mine, was picking up at least a dozen individual Gray Catbirds calling. During pre-migration, this species forms up into groups of one to a couple of dozen birds as they prepare to return to their northern breeding territory. After some far-flung adventures, it felt good to be in our familiar “patch”… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blue dasher, bluejacket, canadian toadflax, cucumberleaf sunflower, cutleaf evening primrose, eastern amberwing, eastern phoebe, eastern pondhawk, florida toadflax, gray catbird, long-jawed orbweaver, prairie/savanna iris, river sage, spicebush swallowtail, spider web, woodland false buttonweed, zebra longwing

Ridge Redux: Bugs

Our excursion to Lake Wales Ridge State Forest had been typical of past visits. We encountered old friends and were treated to surprises which nature has a way of placing in your path. The quiet of sunrise in the pine forest, the raucous wake-up calls of both Blue and Florida Scrub Jays, abundant floral arrangements just for our eyes, white-tailed deer skulking just inside the tree line, tracks of a Bobcat in… Read More

Category: Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: ant lion, band-winged dragonlet, ceraunus blue, citrine forktail, delaware skipper, eastern amberwing, gray hairstreak, lake wales ridge, little blue dragonlet, pine savannah, queen

The Collecting Jar

(Reminder: Click to enlarge, click again to zoom on images.) During the first week of September, Gini and I spent a morning roaming around the Richloam Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The location is part of the Withlacoochee River State Forest and is within a portion of the vast Green Swamp. It’s about a 30 minute drive north of our house so we visit frequently. As we enter the area, we pass by… Read More

Category: Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blue dasher, blue waterhyssop, common eastern bumble bee, crane fly, dorantes longtail, eastern amberwing, great black digger wasp, mole cricket hunter wasp, needham's skimmer, pearl crescent, pinebarren goldenrod, red-femured spotted orbweaver, richloam wma, skyflower, yaupon holly

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