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Colors of the Spirit

My Dad was a builder of homes. Much like any kid, I valued those days I rode along in the pick-up truck to a job site. The sights, sounds and smells of a new house being built can be pretty heady stuff for an eight-year old. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but by far the most significant part of the experience was time spent with my Father. On… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american kestrel, cloudless sulphur, cypressvine, dotted smartweed, dusky pygmy rattlesnake, eastern tiger swallowtail, great egret, hairy chaffhead, narrow-leaf sunflower, narrowleaf silkgrass, phaon crescent, pinebarren goldenrod, red-shouldered hawk, tufted titmouse, virginia buttonwood

Field, Forest, Fun

Header Image: Sandhill Cranes Thank goodness we have venues nearby where we can travel less than ten minutes and enjoy birds, blooms and bugs! If we had to plan for a long drive, we might “accidentally” oversleep. Our unscientific research reveals that sunrise and the early birds wait for no birder. One of our current favorite patches is Tenoroc Public Use Area. It is near the city of Lakeland in central-west Florida… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american kestrel, bald eagle, common ground dove, coyote, northern parula, ornate bella moth, palm warbler, prairie warbler, red-femured spotted orbweaver, sandhill crane, spicebush swallowtail, tenoroc public use area, tufted titmouse, wild bushbean

Ups and Downs of Nature

Header Image: Prairie Warbler Autumn. In many parts of the world, seasons are marked by distinct, often visible changes. Green in spring, white in winter, bright warm days of summer and colorful leaves in autumn. In our sub-tropical environment here in central Florida, we had to invent the calendar in order to keep up with what season we were experiencing. It is now (looking over at the wall calendar) “autumn”. Gini and… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: barred yellow, blue-gray gnatcatcher, common ground dove, fiery skipper, hyacinth glider, indigo bunting, northern parula, prairie warbler, red-shouldered hawk, spicebush swallowtail, tenoroc public use area, tufted titmouse, two-striped forceptail green lynx spider

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

Short And Sweet

Header Image: White-tailed Deer No. The title does not refer to Gini. No matter whether such a description might be true, she may take exception to that “short” thing. And you wouldn’t want me to end up bruised (again), would you? Our days have been interrupted lately with catch-up visits to assorted physicians and lab specialists which were postponed due to the interplanetary plague of recent years. It was becoming serious as… Read More

Category: Birds, Fauna, Photography Tags: carolina chickadee, cattle egret, eastern bluebird, eastern kingbird, tufted titmouse, white-tailed deer

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