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Our Favorite Day

Header Image: Red-eyed Vireo “What day is it?” asked Pooh.“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.“My favorite day,” said Pooh.” ― A.A. Milne As we entered the month of September, thoughts turned to fall migration. Even in a region which barely alters appearance during “autumn“, we can sense all sorts of changes. We actually do have some trees which have leaves showing us a golden or reddish hue instead of forest green. Annual bird migration is… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown pelican, brown thrasher, cicada, cypressvine, eastern towhee, gulf fritillary, northern cardinal, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, slaty skimmer, spicebush swallowtail, velvetbean caterpillar moth, zebra longwing

Ups and Downs of Nature

Header Image: Prairie Warbler Autumn. In many parts of the world, seasons are marked by distinct, often visible changes. Green in spring, white in winter, bright warm days of summer and colorful leaves in autumn. In our sub-tropical environment here in central Florida, we had to invent the calendar in order to keep up with what season we were experiencing. It is now (looking over at the wall calendar) “autumn”. Gini and… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: barred yellow, blue-gray gnatcatcher, common ground dove, fiery skipper, hyacinth glider, indigo bunting, northern parula, prairie warbler, red-shouldered hawk, spicebush swallowtail, tenoroc public use area, tufted titmouse, two-striped forceptail green lynx spider

Out-Of-Doors

Header Image: Carolina Wren Once again, that mee-tee-oh-rah-low-gist was absolutely correct. Partly cloudy with temperatures about the same as yesterday. I missed my calling. We pulled into the management area just before the sun was scheduled to make an appearance. Thin fog suggested the actual appearance would be somewhat later than Sol had in the day-planner. Atop the welcome sign, a Red-shouldered Hawk scanned the dew-soaked grass for any sign of movement,… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: band-winged dragonlet, belted kingfisher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, carolina wren, carpenter mimic leaf-cutter bee, common ground-dove, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, flesh fly, hyacinth glider, northern cardinal, northern parula, ovenbird, palm warbler, red-eyed vireo, red-shouldered hawk, regal jumping spider, roseate skimmer, scarlet skimmer, tenoroc fish management area, tufted titmouse, wandering glider, white-eyed vireo, zebra swallowtail

peace in the swamp

(Header image: Peace River swamp.) “The Butcher Bird’s been busy!” This was the third insect Gini had spotted stuck on a fence barb. The Butcher Bird is a nickname for members of the shrike family, in our case it’s the Loggerhead Shrike. They will capture a bug and impale it on a fence barb or thorn to make it easier for them to eat. It is not unusual to find caches of… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american redstart, anhinga, black vulture, black-and-white warbler, black-throated blue warbler, blue-ringed dancer, eastern pondhawk, fungus, mosaic peace river park, northern parula, peace river, phantom darner, ruby-throated hummingbird, wild turkey, worm-eating warbler

“Take Two Warblers And Call Me In The Morning”

Eight minutes. “Would it be okay if I go to the park in the morning?” “You know you don’t have to ask. Of course it would be okay.” “It’s just that I have this headache.” “You? Have a headache? That’s unusual!” “I think it’s a migration headache.” “Oh. C’mon, let’s go to bed.” She loves my witty repartee. Birders know the symptoms of the seasons, though. Each spring and autumn scores of… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american alligator, black-and-white warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, common gallinule, downy woodpecker, eastern bluebird, eastern wood-pewee, green heron, lake parker park, limpkin, little blue heron, mourning dove, northern parula, pileated woodpecker, prairie warbler, red-bellied woodpecker, snowy egret, tricolored heron, white-eyed vireo, white-winged dove, yellow warbler, yellow-throated warbler

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