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Morning In The Wetlands

I gave up wearing hiking boots. For one thing, my days of going on lengthy hikes over rough terrain are in my rear view mirror. Water-resistant linings and treatments for preventing water soaking through footwear can be somewhat helpful, but walking through Florida’s eternally wet grass is pretty much like wading a stream and your feet are just going to get wet. So I now have a pair of very comfortable shoes… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bandanna of the everglades, black-crowned night heron, blue dasher, bumble bee, common buttonbush, eastern gama grass, eastern pondhawk, great blue heron, great egret, itchepackesassa creek wetlands, marsh rabbit, pickerelweed, purple gallinule, queen, rambur's forktail, sachem, scarlet skimmer, seven sisters

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

Escape To The Swamp

Header Image: Carolina Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana) Wait. Don’t you mean “Escape FROM The Swamp”?? We review the news from around the corner and around the world. Local roads and businesses are packed with people. Drama inserts itself into our lives unexpectedly. A dirt road leads into welcoming green pine forests where we soon encounter a small stream flowing under an old bridge. Cicadas buzz in a cacophonous wave which washes over our… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bar-winged skimmer, blue dasher, carolina redroot, delta flower scarab beetle, eastern pondhawk, fiery skipper, four-spotted pennant, fungus, green heron, little blue dragonlet, needham's skimmer, obscure grasshopper, roseate skimmer, roundpod st. john's-wort, salt marsh morning glory, scarlet skimmer, slaty skimmer, viceroy, wild turkey, yellow garden spider

Swamp Road

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

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: brown-headed nuthatch, clustered bushmint, eastern lubber grasshopper, familiar bluet, gray-green clubtail, little blue dragonlet, phaon crescent, prince baskettail, pygmy rattlesnake, richloam wildlife management area, rosy camphorweed, scarlet skimmer, swamp, tarflower, yellow milwort

There Are No Ordinary Days

Summer is enveloping us. Walking out the front door is like entering a huge sauna. The humidity turns clothing into a heap of sopping wet rags. Camera and binocular lenses fog over and wiping incessantly doesn’t help. Five steps from the car and perspiration runs down your face and stings your eyes. I. Love. It. Tenoroc Fish Management Area has become our favorite local patch. With over 7,000 acres of land and… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Florida, Photography Tags: american kestrel, eastern bluebird, horace's duskywing, little blue dragonlet, red-shouldered hawk, scarlet skimmer, slaty skimmer, tenoroc fma, water moccasin

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