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(Click on images to zoom, click again to enlarge.) An hour past sunrise and lingering fog obscures the bright light we normally encounter. Damp air mutes the calls of Mourning Dove and Northern Cardinals. Along the edge of the lake a Pig Frog grunts a greeting from the cover of lily pads. Gradually, the gray veil lifts to reveal clear blue skies overhead. Today’s venue is a county park, although at over… Read More
Header Image: Pygmy Rattlesnake Hot. Wet. Oppressive. Taking a breath almost requires effort. In the time it takes to walk from the car to the trailhead, your clothes are soaked through from the humidity. There is not even a hint of a breeze. We are in central Florida. The Green Swamp surrounds us. It is summer. Glorious! It is that time of year we simply LOVE to be outside! The stillness of… Read More
A review of last year’s records began as a search for early fall migration arrival dates. It soon devolved into a tragic tale of ancient Babylon, unfulfilled love and blood-soaked — I’m getting ahead of myself. The data indicated a few early American Redstarts might begin arriving as early as the last week of July. Where would be the most likely place to search for them? Several choices presented themselves. Wait. What’s… Read More
“Sausage, grits and cantaloupe okay with you?” Once upon a time, there was a beautiful brown-eyed young woman who blinked those sublime eyes in disbelief when I revealed I did not care for grits. After all, my mother was raised in Mississippi, the virtual center of the “grits belt” of the southern United States. My father was from the panhandle of Florida, which is actually part of Alabama and Georgia, where a… Read More
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