Location: Taylor Creek/Nubbins Slough Conservation Area, Okeechobee
I am a Great Egret
I hang out in shallow water to hunt frogs and fish
I strike quickly using my long neck and beak
And eat my prey with panache and relish.
Location: Taylor Creek/Nubbins Slough Conservation Area, Okeechobee
I am a Great Blue Heron
Trying to have lunch but not succeeding
I'm starting to think that catfish
Are better to catch than for eating.
These pictures were taken about 45 minutes apart. The poor bird really didn't seem to have made any progress in getting his lunch down between when we first saw him and when we left him.
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
These are tracks of a canine
A Coyote or possibly a dog
If it were a feline you wouldn't see claw marks,
If it were an ungulate, it would be split like a log.
Deer, bob cats, and coyotes are all common where this photo was taken.
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
I am a Downy Woodpecker,
I like to eat suet and sunflower seeds
My beak is proportionally small to the size of my head
Away from the tree is the way that I lean.
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
I am a Florida Softshell Turtle
I'm a carnivore and can be quite mean
I have sharp claws and powerful jaws
That help me to consume meat
Don't ever mistake me for a tortoise
If you see me crossing a street.
Note: I almost stopped to help one of these cross a street once as I do with Gopher Tortoises. Luckily, I was warned to never pick these guys up as they are large, heavy and will defend themself if you attempt to touch them or pick them up, no matter how good your intentions.
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
I am an immature Eastern Towhee,
I sing the same song as my dad and mum
I look nondescript like a sparrow unless,
I'm flying away, then you'll see white near my bum.
This is Leucocrinum montanum
Called Star Lily due to the star formed by its tepals
Although it appears that this flower has 6 petals,
It is actually 3 pairs of petals and sepals.
Special thanks to guest photographer, Joy Handley.
This is the Pinus flexilis
Also known as the Limber Pine
It is a critical food source for small mammals and birds
And is sometimes used for railroad ties.
Special thanks to guest photographer, Joy Handley.
I am known as a Giant Sphinx,
It's hard to tell from this view
If my wings were spread, and you could see my hindwing,
You'd ID me by a yellow base with a dark "tooth".
Check out the link below to see the specific marks on a specimen with its wings spread. Special thanks to guest photographer, Heather Stapleton.
This is another plant from Wyoming
Penstemon eriantherus is its name.
It is in the Scrophulariaceae family
The Florida plant Verbascum's family is the same.
Today I continue my special series of guest photographers who are sheltering in place. I hope you all enjoy this trip around the world (and some a little closer!) Special thanks to today's guest photographer, Joy Handley.
Location: (Top) Wyoming, Medicine Bow National Forest
(Bottom) Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
At the top here is Oxytropis lambertii from Wyoming
At the bottom, in Florida is a Butterfly Pea
Different states, on the same date, Dee and Joy
Both found plants in the Fabaceae (Pea) family
It’s easy to appreciate and marvel at
Botanical diversity!
Special thanks to guest photographer, Joy Handley.
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
This is someone in the Tabanidae family
Possibly a Striped Horse Fly Tabanids are native and beneficial pollinators But the females have mean, nasty bites.
I am a Leucauge argyra,
Eating lunch? For me it's no issue.
Into my web, my prey climbs,
I inject it with digestive enzymes,
Then drink up my prey's liquified tissue!
Note: Make sure you click to enlarge this one, you can see her spinnerets on her butt!
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
I am a Spotted-winged Grasshopper
Throughout the Americas, you can find my friends and I
We are a type of slant face grasshopper
In the family Acrididae.
This is a Hygroscopic Earthstar
Hygroscopic means "attract moisture from the air"
The rays open and close around the puffball,
Like the Wolf-fart puffball, which is shaped like a pear.
Note: Wolf-fart puffball is my new favorite fungi. And I didn't make it up - check the linked article!
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
I am an immature Florida Scrub-Jay,
You can tell cause I've got a brown head
Also cause I make jokes like:
"I know you are" and "That's what she said."
Location: Orchid Island, Captain Forster Hammock Preserve Conservation Area
This is Broad-leaved Cattail
It grows throughout the US except for Hawaii
It grows in colder places like Canada
And in Florida and other states with high heat.
Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
I am a male Gray Wall Jumping Spider,
Diptera are my favorite snack
I don't build webs to catch my prey
I just jump when I want to attack.
I have excellent vision with my 2 front eyes
And I can see colors, not just white and black.
We are male Zebra longwings
We might be roosting or doing something more nefarious -
Sometimes we hang on a females chrysalis and -
When she hatches, try to play her like a Stradivarius.
Special thanks to guest photographer, Heather Stapleton.