Archives

We Came To Our Census – Finale

Header Image: Ruby-crowned Kinglet Apparently, we did not exhaust ourselves enough during the Lakeland Christmas Bird Count so we volunteered to participate in the Green Swamp count. Twenty people. Over 500,000 acres of swamp. Challenging! Gini and I were assigned to the East Tract of the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area which consisted of a mere 51,000 acres. The vast majority of this area is inaccessible. The Christmas census is designed to… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american robin, brown-headed nuthatch, carolina chickadee, green swamp, house wren, palm warbler, pine warbler, red-shouldered hawk, ruby-crowned kinglet, wilson's snipe, yellow-rumped warbler

Coming To Our Census – Part The First

Header Image: Burmarigold or Smooth Beggartick (Bidens laevis) Standing by the side of the road in the dark. Hands cupping our ears. Straining for the sounds of the night. “Whip, whip, whip, whip!” The loud call accompanied the sound of flapping wings passing us as an Eastern Whip-poor-will flew along with mouth open wide to inhale insects hovering above the sandy stretch of road. Ten minutes later, the surprisingly soft trill of… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Photography Tags: american kestrel, american robin, audubon christmas bird count, belted kingfisher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, boat-tailed grackle, brown pelican, burmarigold, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, great blue heron, killdeer, palm warbler, red cornsnake, red-bellied woodpecker, red-shouldered hawk, sandhill crane, wilson's snipe

Long Lake

It’s that time of year when we sweep out the old in preparation for the new. In a dusty corner of the archive closet, covered in cobwebs deposited by Halloween goblins, I found a few images which need to be shared. Hope you don’t mind. We gave ourselves a treat on All Hallows’ Eve this year and spent the morning poking around another of the gems which makes up the Tenoroc Fish… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: black-and-white warbler, common yellowthroat, leaucauge, long lake, orbweaver, orchard orbweaver, palm warbler, pine warbler, rambur's forktail, red-shouldered hawk, roseate skimmer, spider web, spiny-backed orbweaver, tenoroc fma, yellow-rumped warbler

Colors of the Spirit

My Dad was a builder of homes. Much like any kid, I valued those days I rode along in the pick-up truck to a job site. The sights, sounds and smells of a new house being built can be pretty heady stuff for an eight-year old. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but by far the most significant part of the experience was time spent with my Father. On… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american kestrel, cloudless sulphur, cypressvine, dotted smartweed, dusky pygmy rattlesnake, eastern tiger swallowtail, great egret, hairy chaffhead, narrow-leaf sunflower, narrowleaf silkgrass, phaon crescent, pinebarren goldenrod, red-shouldered hawk, tufted titmouse, virginia buttonwood

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

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