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A Grand Day Out*

Header Image: American Alligator Pre-dawn gray slowly transformed into stunningly bright blue skies and a glance to the east risked temporary blindness as the sun announced its arrival. Every field was adorned with sparkling jewels of dew held in place by gossamer webs spun during the night. A few scrub oak and sand pine trees were scattered here and there among the weedy fields. As we turned onto the forest road, saw… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, american beautyberry, butterfly milkweed, carolina saddlebags, coastal plain yelloweyed grass, common eastern bumble bee, florida garden spider, fungi, great crested flycatcher, lake wales ridge state forest, little blue dragonlet, narrowleaf primose-willow, pale meadowbeauty, partridge pea, pipevine swallowtail, red-bellied woodpecker, red-femured spotted orbweaver, sensitive brier, spurred butterfly pea, whitemouth dayflower, zebra swallowtail

Dog Days of Summer Are Over – Siriusly

Header Image: Prothonotary Warbler It’s her fault, you know. She said: “Go birding. I have some crafting to catch up on.” I should have known to be wary. For some time now, I’ve wanted to explore part of the “Blue Loop Trail” at Tenoroc Public Use Area. According to the map, about a quarter mile from the trail head is an “overlook”. Along the way are huge oak, bay and hickory trees… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: carolina wren, downy woodpecker, golden silk spider, great crested flycatcher, northern cardinal, orchard orbweaver, prairie warbler, prothonotary warbler, raccoon, red-bellied woodpecker, spicebush swallowtail, swallow-tailed kite, tenoroc public use area

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

Spring In Our Step

(Header Image: American Alligator) (NOTE: We apologize for being away the past few weeks. Computers apparently have a limited life span. Ours exceeded that limit. It took longer than expected to get up and running again. We are back. Rejoice.) I married well. Not only is my wife talented, intelligent, compassionate, possessed with an uncommon amount of common sense and the most beautiful woman I have ever seen – she is not… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, blue dasher, colt creek state park, eastern lubber grasshopper, eastern meadowlark, great crested flycatcher, great southern white, green treefrog, halloween pennant, jumping spider, little blue dragonlet, mexican pricklypoppy, narrowleaf blue-eyed grass, ornate bella moth, phaon crescent, rambur's forktail, southern watersnake, swallow-tailed kite

Diversity Training

Once upon a time (stop me if you’ve heard this one), our primary consideration in planning an excursion into the Great Outdoors was limited to researching what birds might be found at a particular location. Was fall or spring migration in progress? Could we hope for wintering birds? Perhaps new bird families would offer an opportunity to observe chicks pestering parents for food or practicing flight lessons. As time progressed, so did… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: black and yellow mud dauber, blue dasher, butterfly, colt creek state park, common buttonbush, dragonfly, great crested flycatcher, leaf-footed bug, leavenworth's tickseed, little blue heron, northern parula, pale meadowbeauty, purple passionflower, red-spotted purple, spurred butterfly pea, squirrel tree frog, wandering glider, wild turkey

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