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Around The Lakes

(Click to enlarge images. Click again to zoom.) It was mid-November and plans were in progress for Thanksgiving. Family and food. Not enough of the former and too much of the latter. Such is life. We continue to be thankful for both. For a small break from thinking about all that shopping and planning and shopping, Gini and I made an early morning visit to one of our local patches. The area… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: anhinga, bald eagle, blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown pelican, cloudless sulphur, eastern carpenter bee, eastern phoebe, great egret, green lynx spider, little blue heron, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, red-shouldered hawk, variegated fritillary

Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Moments

(Reminder: Click to enlarge images, click again to zoom.) Gini and I tend to develop a routine when it comes to exploring. When we become familiar with a particular area through repeated visits, a pattern becomes “comfortable“. Today’s visit to one of our favorite “patches” is a perfect example. Tenoroc Fish Management Area is spread out over several geographically separated venues and consists of nearly 8,000 acres. That is a bit more… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american redstart, band-winged dragonlet, barn swallow, barred yellow, blue dasher, carolina chickadee, goldern-reined digger wasp, great pondhawk, green anole, green lynx spider, northern parula, northern waterthrush, olive-shaded bird-dropping moth, roseate skimmer, salt marsh moth larva, savannah false pimpernel, tenoroc fish management area, turkey vulture, variegated fritillary, viceroy, white peacock

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