June 5, 2025

I am a female Osprey

I have barbed pads on my feet

To help me grip

Slippery fish

Which I bring home for my chick to eat. 

Thanks to today's special guest photographer, David Simpson!

Location: Cedar Key State Park, Cedar Key, FL

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/overview

Photo © 2025 David Simpson and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

June 4, 2025

I am known as a Red-eyed Vireo

Here's an interesting fact about evolution:

The genetic distance between Red and White-eyed Vireos

Is greater than that of chimps from humans.

Thanks to today's special guest photographer, David Simpson!

Location: Oak Openings, Whitehouse, Ohio

Sources: Diamond, Jared (1992), The Third Chimpanzee, HarperCollins Publishers.

Photo © 2025 David Simpson and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

June 3, 2025

I am known as a Field Sparrow

My numbers are declining due to urban sprawl

I won't nest in suburbs

Prairies are preferred

Over houses and buildings and malls.

Thanks to today's special guest photographer, David Simpson!

Location: Oak Openings, Whitehouse, Ohio

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Field_Sparrow/lifehistory

Photo © 2025 David Simpson and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

June 2, 2025

I'm an adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

My white flanks and rump can incite aggression

In other male Grosbeaks

It's not the red streaks - 

Those are just there for decoration.

Thanks to today's special guest photographer, David Simpson!

Location: Indian River Club, Vero Beach

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rose-breasted_Grosbeak/overview

Photo © 2025 David Simpson and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

June 1, 2025

In the back, I am a female Wood Duck 

As common with birds, the prettier one is the male

I like nest boxes, but if placed too close together

I'll leave my eggs with another female.

Thanks to today's special guest photographer, David Simpson!

Location: Indian River Club, Vero Beach

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/overview

Photo © 2025 David Simpson and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

May 31, 2025

I am known as an Atlantic Blue Crab

I can live in water up to 120 feet deep

I am a bottom feeder

That's not a personal insult, it's just where I eat.

Location: Jones' Pier Conservation Area, Vero Beach

Sources: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Callinectes_sapidus/

Photo and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

May 30, 2025

I am a Blackchin Tilapia

I was introduced to Florida in 1963

I can live and breed in areas of differing salinity

And am invasive and spread rapidly.

Location: Jones' Pier Conservation Area, Vero Beach

Sources: https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Ecological-Risk-Screening-Summary-Blackchin-Tilapia.pdf

Photo and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.