Archives

Header Image: Pine Flatwoods Dawn “And far as the eye of God could seeDarkness covered everything,Blacker than a hundred midnightsDown in a cypress swamp. Then God smiled,And the light broke,And the darkness rolled up on one side,And the light stood shining on the other,And God said: That’s good!” (From The Creation by James Weldon Johnson.) We often visit the swamp. Florida has quite a few areas which meet the definition of a… Read More

Header Image: Prothonotary Warbler It’s her fault, you know. She said: “Go birding. I have some crafting to catch up on.” I should have known to be wary. For some time now, I’ve wanted to explore part of the “Blue Loop Trail” at Tenoroc Public Use Area. According to the map, about a quarter mile from the trail head is an “overlook”. Along the way are huge oak, bay and hickory trees… Read More

Header Image: Great Egret Our current summer has caused childhood memories to flood my conscience lately. It is hot. I walk barefooted to the mailbox and as I cross the concrete driveway, my pace quickens as it seems I’m walking in a frying pan. As a kid, my feet were tough enough to walk on sandspurs without ill effect. A dish of ice cream last night (yes, I know, apparently verboten at… Read More

Header Image: Golden-winged Skimmer (Libellula auripennis) The sun has barely managed to get out of bed and already the cicadas are buzzing their raspy chorus in glorious surround-sound. Walking into a meadow requires slogging through a small ditch where the weeds hide six inches of water under bright green tangles. No matter. The dew is so heavy my feet were wet before I made it to the ditch. The humidity is thick… Read More

(Header image:  Common Ground Dove.) The conversation usually goes something like: “Is there somewhere you would like to go tomorrow?” Gini responds, “Anywhere is fine with me.” “Anywhere” will typically be within our home county as we like to keep tabs on what’s happening with “our” resident birds. Since we live in west-central Florida, there are many great birding destinations within a couple hours’ drive and we often explore those venues. One… Read More