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Falling Toward Winter

(Click to enlarge images, click again to zoom.) Winter solstice begins in two days. That may not mean too much, temperature-wise, to us here in central Florida, but in many areas of the northern hemisphere the date usually portends colder conditions with frost, ice and snow. I found a virtual binder in the corner of the digital desk drawer which was not reported on at the time. We apologize for its tardiness,… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american beautyberry, carolina satyr, chapman's blazing star, colt creek state park, eastern bluebird, eastern phoebe, four-petal st. john's-wort, goldenrod, gray wall jumper, gulf fritillary, house wren, narrowleaf sunflower, northern cardinal, prairie warbler, swamp sparrow, tropical checkered-skipper, white ibis, whitetailed deer, wood stork

Our Patch Overfloweth

Streaks of light from the sun rising above the cypress trees lit up the opposite shore of the lake where a Great Blue Heron and Great Egret were wading in search of breakfast. Stepping onto the wooden fishing platform caused a splash from below my feet. A young alligator surfaced several feet into the lake and gave me “the look”. An Osprey splashed just to the right and flew away with a… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: barred yellow, blue dasher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, clay-colored sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, loggerhead shrike, pine warbler, red-shouldered hawk, salt marsh moth larva, snail, tropical checkered-skipper, yellow-throated warbler

Nature’s Timeline

Header Image: Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) A definition of a “timeline” might be: a sequence of related events arranged in chronological order and displayed along a line. Therefore, “Nature’s Timeline” could be as simple as: Spring > Summer > Autumn > Winter Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Seasonal change is caused by the axial tilt of the Earth, which creates climatic differences due to greater or lesser exposure to solar radiation. —-Reference.com, Characteristics of… Read More

Category: Birds, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, barn swallow, black and yellow argiope, cloudless sulphur, colt creek state park, common buckeye, dorantes longtail, eastern kingbird, fiery skipper, fungus, green tree frog, horace's duskywing, little blue dragonlet, puddling, purple martin, sleepy orange, spotted orbweaver, swallow-tailed kite, tropical checkered-skipper, variegated fritillary

Summer Rewind

Florida. The Sunshine State. Our climate is sub-tropical with an average annual rainfall of around 55 inches (140 cm). Mild winters range from the low 50’s F (10 C) in north Florida to the mid 60’s F (18 C) in the south. Throughout the state, average summer temperatures in the hottest month of July are in the low to mid 80’s F (29 C). High humidity levels are due to the fact… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: black and yellow argiope, colt creek state park, great blue skimmer, green lynx spider, gulf fritillary, hummingbird clearwing moth, leaf-footed bug, northern cardinal, phaon crescent, roseate skimmer, sleepy orange, swallow-tailed kite, thread-waisted wasp, tropical checkered-skipper, variegated fritillary, zebra heliconian

Our Natural Places

Exploring - Naturally