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More Ridge Riches

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) A symphony during breakfast is a great way to simultaneously relax and be filled with anticipation at what other treasures Nature will reveal as our quest continues. The musical richness provided by this morning’s performers was simply incredible. Loud and declarative, the White-eyed Vireo kept telling us “I’m a Vireo. I’m a Vireo.”. Clear chirps in sets of two and three notes were… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american white waterlily, bigflower pawpaw, coastal plain hawkweed, florida scrub jay, florida scrub roseling, lake godwin, lake wales ridge, maryland meadowbeauty, northern parula, rolfs' milkweed, scrubland goldenaster, sherman's fox squirrel, smallfruit beggarticks, spatterdock, spicebush swallowtail, white-eyed vireo

Local Color

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) “Sounds like an alley-cat convention.” Gini’s hearing, which is significantly superior to mine, was picking up at least a dozen individual Gray Catbirds calling. During pre-migration, this species forms up into groups of one to a couple of dozen birds as they prepare to return to their northern breeding territory. After some far-flung adventures, it felt good to be in our familiar “patch”… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: blue dasher, bluejacket, canadian toadflax, cucumberleaf sunflower, cutleaf evening primrose, eastern amberwing, eastern phoebe, eastern pondhawk, florida toadflax, gray catbird, long-jawed orbweaver, prairie/savanna iris, river sage, spicebush swallowtail, spider web, woodland false buttonweed, zebra longwing

Small Pleasures

(Reminder: Click to enlarge images. Click again to zoom.) A cool morning! Okay, perhaps not “cool“, but “not as hot“. It was a few minutes past sunrise and our target area for exploration was already buzzing, literally, with activity. Birds were chattering and insects were beginning to move about as the dew evaporated. Today was one of those unplanned excursions and we hoped to find a few subjects willing to pose for… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: abbot's bagworm moth, common ground dove, dainty sulphur, fire on the mountain, four-spotted pennant, green anole, horace's duskywing, hoverfly, mason wasp, milkweed assassin bug, needham's skimmer, plains snakecotton, rainbow scarab, rambur's forktail, roseate skimmer, spicebush swallowtail, variegated fritillary, wedge-shaped beetle

Fresh From Florida!

Heat. Humidity. Hurricanes. Mosquitoes. Traffic. Plus – the most incredibly diverse natural environment you could possibly imagine. Welcome to our home. Gini and I were both born in the Sunshine State. Our childhoods were remarkably similar. Fond memories of trips to the beach, going fishing, picking fresh tomatoes for canning (in Gini’s case, for eating as many as possible before her Mom scolded her), earning respect of our elders, learning the value… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: balsampear, barred yellow, carolina wren, cassius blue, eastern amberwing, gulf fritillary, little blue heron, little yellow, rambur's forktail, red-shouldered hawk, slaty skimmer, southern carpenter bee, spicebush swallowtail, variegated fritillary, water moccasin, western honeybee

Stuck In Summer

We have turned back the clock to mid-July. I guess it is a testament of sorts to how busy we have been that there are several trips which have gone unreported. As we have an opportunity, we shall attempt to catch up. Weather-wise, today in the first week of September, it could just as easily be the middle of July. High temperatures, equally high humidity. Regularly scheduled thunderstorms. We recognize that the… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american kestrel, eastern amberwing, green lynx spider, gulf fritillary, northern cardinal, roseate skimmer, snowy egret, spicebush swallowtail, swallow-tailed kite, variegated fritillary

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Our Natural Places

Exploring - Naturally