Our Natural Places

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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

Header Image: Pine Flatwoods Dawn “And far as the eye of God could seeDarkness covered everything,Blacker than a hundred midnightsDown in a cypress swamp. Then God smiled,And the light broke,And the darkness rolled up on one side,And the light stood shining on the other,And God said: That’s good!” (From The Creation by James Weldon Johnson.) We often visit the swamp. Florida has quite a few areas which meet the definition of a… Read More

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