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Header Image: White-tailed Deer Avian fall migration brings out the worst in me. Years of conditioning to be a better “birder” forces me to peruse local birding reports and to visit locations which have historically proven to be “hotspots” for our annual autumnal visitors. This is not necessarily a bad thing. However, in the past few years I have discovered other interests in the natural world. I blame the inexorable advancement of… 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: Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) “Those are some tall thistles!” My mistress of understatement was right. Soon, I would be threading my way through that sticky forest and would discover most of these plants were two to three feet above head height. Did I mention they were sticky? Our day began later than some as we were heading to one of Florida’s state parks. Apparently, adding the word “state” to a… Read More
Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bandana of the everglades, bar-winged skimmer, blue dasher, bumble bee, carolina desert-chicory, carolina saddlebags, colt creek state park, cypress tree gall, eastern bluebird, eastern lubber grasshopper, flower beetle, great crested flycatcher, hummingbird clearwing, mexican pricklypoppy, palamedes swallowtail, pickerelweed, red saddlebags, swamp rose, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, zebra heliconian
Header Image: Swamp Chaos This is a follow-up to our last post about flowers. There was a tremendous outcry from a massive amount of our followers protesting the fact no bird images were included in the entry. Okay, so there was only one complaint about a post with no birds. Okay, so it wasn’t really a complaint, more of a “note”. Anyhow, our trip to Colt Creek State Park recently did provide… Read More
Category: Birds, Fauna, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: american alligator, bar-winged skimmer, blue dasher, cattle egret, cedar waxwing, colt creek state park, dorantes longtail, eastern bluebird, eastern pondhawk, groundselbush beetle, gulf fritillary, halloween pennant, little blue heron, ornate bella moth, palm warbler, phaon crescent, red-shouldered hawk, red-winged blackbird, white-tailed deer, wild turkey
Header Image: Carolina Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana) Wait. Don’t you mean “Escape FROM The Swamp”?? We review the news from around the corner and around the world. Local roads and businesses are packed with people. Drama inserts itself into our lives unexpectedly. A dirt road leads into welcoming green pine forests where we soon encounter a small stream flowing under an old bridge. Cicadas buzz in a cacophonous wave which washes over our… Read More
Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: bar-winged skimmer, blue dasher, carolina redroot, delta flower scarab beetle, eastern pondhawk, fiery skipper, four-spotted pennant, fungus, green heron, little blue dragonlet, needham's skimmer, obscure grasshopper, roseate skimmer, roundpod st. john's-wort, salt marsh morning glory, scarlet skimmer, slaty skimmer, viceroy, wild turkey, yellow garden spider
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