Archives

Falling In The Morning

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) (Note: This visit to Colt Creek State Park occurred on September 17, 2024. On October 8, during the night and the following morning, this area received between 15-20 inches of rain and experienced the 100 mph winds of Hurricane Milton. The roads and trails we enjoyed were inundated and completely covered in water for days. Thanks to amazing work by park employees and… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, american beautyberry, colt creek state park, eastern bluebird, forked bluecurls, gator creek, green heron, mac lake, panicled ticktrefoil, pine warbler, pitted stripeseed, prairie warbler, sleepy orange, tall elephantsfoot, viceroy, white ibis

Blooms Among The Pines

(Gini and I have just returned from a week-long road trip to southwest Florida. We wanted a change of venue to celebrate our 56th wedding anniversary. Instead of exploring the familiar swamps near home, where else would a couple of native Floridian nature lovers go for such a momentous celebration than — bigger swamps? More to come. In the meantime, this post will be a description of our visit to a favorite… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: black-and-white warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, coastal plain honeycombhead, deer fly, florida toadflax, lake wales ridge state forest, lupine, netted pawpaw, northern parula, pileated woodpecker, pine warbler, pinebarren frostweed, rabbitbells, sawtooth blackberry, shiny blueberry, shortleaved rosemary, sweetscent

Our Patch Overfloweth

Streaks of light from the sun rising above the cypress trees lit up the opposite shore of the lake where a Great Blue Heron and Great Egret were wading in search of breakfast. Stepping onto the wooden fishing platform caused a splash from below my feet. A young alligator surfaced several feet into the lake and gave me “the look”. An Osprey splashed just to the right and flew away with a… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: barred yellow, blue dasher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, clay-colored sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, loggerhead shrike, pine warbler, red-shouldered hawk, salt marsh moth larva, snail, tropical checkered-skipper, yellow-throated warbler

Ridge Redux: Birds

Driving along a dirt road in the dim light of pre-dawn is invigorating. The condition of the road demands slow speed. With the windows down it almost feels chilly, even here in sub-tropical Florida. Gini confirmed she was the smartest in the group (of two) by bringing a sweatshirt which was now wrapped loosely around her neck for maximum coziness. Suddenly, the day was bright and we were seeing flowers along the… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: blue jay, blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown thrasher, brown-headed nuthatch, downy woodpecker, eastern towhee, florida scrub jay, lake wales ridge state forest, peregrine falcon, pine warbler, red-headed woodpecker, white-eyed vireo

A Return To The Forest

Header Image: Florida Scrub Jay It was a dark and stormy night. The day was bad, too. The last few days of September saw Hurricane Ian gain incredible strength in the Gulf of Mexico before roaring ashore in southwest Florida at nearly a Category 5 level with winds around 150 mph. Five months later, many areas of that beautiful coast are still reeling from the amount of damage the storm caused. Some… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american robin, brown-headed nuthatch, common grackle, eastern bluebird, florida scrub jay, lake wales state forest, pine warbler, red-headed woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker

1 2 3 »

Our Natural Places

Exploring - Naturally