Early Voting in FL Starts TODAY!!!

In Florida, early voting starts today

And goes through the 31st

Get out there and vote and hope for the best

For the environment, peace, and the birds.

Location: The US

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States

Photo and text © 2026 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.

October 18, 2026

I am known as a Green Kingfisher

I have syndactyl toes

I use them like a shovel to push away dirt

When I use my beak to dig my burrow hole.

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

Location: San Benito Wetlands, TX

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

Photo and text © 2026 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.

October 17, 2026

I am known as a Great Shearwater

I am pelagic and stay mostly at sea

I only breed on 4 islands in the Atlantic:

Nightingale, Inaccessible, Gough and Kidney.

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

Location: Off Cape Canaveral

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Shearwater

Photo © 2026 David Simpson and text © 2026 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.

October 16, 2026

We are Blue and Gold Macaws

We aren't yet threatened, but our numbers are declining

Humans are mean and steal our young for the pet trade

Our babies should be with us where the sun is shining

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

Location: Coral Reef Park, Miami

Sources: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/baymac/cur/introduction

Photo and text © 2026 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.

October 14, 2026

I am a female Hooded Merganser

My head is floofy but not as much as my mates

When I'm not breeding I can be seen in Florida
But when breeding, I'm more common near the Great Lakes.

I have been too busy to get out and photograph lately, so David has been combing through his archives for photos of his that I have not used. The funny thing is, he submitted an almost identical photo to this one, and I thought - wait a minute - that is MY photo. But it wasn't - I found this almost identical photo in my own archive that for some reason I never used. So this is actually one of my photos from Biggest Week in May of this year!

Location: Pearson Park Oregon OH

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/maps-range

Photo and text © 2026 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.

October 15, 2026

I am a Botteri’s Sparrow

I live in Arazona in the sacaton grass

In the summertime I like to perch and sing

Otherwise I'm quiet on the ground and you'll walk right past.

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

Location: Portal AZ

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Botteris_Sparrow

Photo and text © 2026 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.

October 13, 2026

I am known as a Barred Hawk

I've white bars on my tummy but the rest of me's black

After heavy rains, I hunt for Caecilians

A subterranean amphibian on which I snack.

Location: Bellavista, Ecuador

Sources: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/barhaw1/cur/introduction

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/caecilian

Photo and text © 2026 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.