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Header Image: Tricolored Heron “Ah-choo!” “Bless you.” Gini and I sneezed our way through the first two weeks of December. Intense testing, analyses and expert medical opinions told the sad tale. “Y’all got a cold.” We are seldom sick and one of us, which we shall not name, acts like a big baby when he has the sniffles. Gini is a kitchen magician and she waved her wand over a huge pot… Read More
Header Image: Black-crowned Night Heron Florida has a unique combination of heat and humidity which can wilt the best of us at times. Late August typically provides us with afternoon thunderstorms which can help cool us down a bit, but at the expense of maintaining very high humidity. Wiping optics lenses for half an hour each morning becomes a reflex. In our area of central Florida, we average 115 days a year… Read More
Header Image: Swallow-tailed Kite “Are you a birder?” The question was simple enough. My answer was quick: “Yes.” Once upon a time, I considered myself a “bird watcher”, but somewhere along the way I discovered that term had become replaced with the more trendy “birder”. Sitting next to Gini that evening, sipping tea and taking comfort in her physical proximity, what’s left of my mind drifted into dangerous territory. Deep thought. Are… 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
Breakfast was delightful and enhanced by the local ambience. Alligators now recognize us on sight and popped up to the lake’s surface every few minutes to be sure we were still there. Wading birds probed the soft mud by the water for their own breakfast. Waves of cicadas sang in unison, volume rising then falling, reminding us how much we love our Sunshine State and all the natural beauty it has to… Read More
Our Natural Places 