March 31. 2021

I am an immature White Ibis

Water depth determines where I feed

Since I have to be able to eat

It also determines where my parents breed.

(Special thanks to today's guest photographer and my sweetheart, David Simpson.)

Location: Sebastian Inlet

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

Photo © 2021 David Simpson, text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 30, 2021

This is Asimina reticulata

Also known as Dog Banana or Netted Pawpaw

It is host to a great many butterflies

Including Zebra swallowtail and Pawpaw sphinx moth.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-asimina-reticulata/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 29, 2021

I am known as a Red-legged Thrush, 

I also have a red eye-ring

I'm normally only found in the Carribean

And I'm omnivorous - I'll eat anything.

(Special thanks to guest photographer and my sweetheart David Simpson.)

Location: Miami

Sources: https://www.birdscaribbean.org/2020/06/from-the-nest-day-38/

Photo © 2021 David Simpson, text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 28, 2021

This is Leavenworth's Tickseed

It can be used in cultivated flowerbeds and butterfly gardens

It attracts native butterflies, bees and wasps, 

Go to your native plant store to get one or a carton!

Location: Fellsmere Trailhead Preserve

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/coreopsis-leavenworthii

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 27, 2021

I am an adult Egyptian Goose

Along with my babies, shown here feeding

I am generally a rather quiet, calm bird, 

But I get rather noisy when I am breeding. 

(Special thanks to my guest photographer and sweetheart David Simpson.)

Location: Crandon Park, Miami

Sources: https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ans/erss/highrisk/ERSS-Alopochen-aegyptiaca-FINAL-April2018.pdf

Photo © 2021 David Simpson, text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 26, 2021

This is the work of an Eastern mole

It shows a trail of where it's dug underground

Although they are rarely seen in daylight

This is evidence that they are around.

Editorial: 

I always find interesting facts while researching this blog. Such as, moles dig two kinds of tunnels, deeper ones they live in, and more shallow ones called runways (such as the one shown here) that they use to gather food. 

Sometimes though, I find things I don't want to know.  Eastern moles are beneficial to humans because they eat pest insects and aerate soil for us. Despite that, when you Google Eastern mole runways, almost all of the results are about how to kill moles. It makes me sad that so many people prefer to kill a natural source of pest control over having occasional mounds of dirt on their lawn.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 25, 2021

I am known as a Least Grebe

I'm the smallest in the Grebe family

I've bright golden eyes and white floof on my tail

And my color is darker when I breed.

I swallow small prey and my own feathers

When ever I need a meal

Feathers protect my digestive tract from bones

Which could be a quite painful ordeal.

(Special thanks to guest photographer and my sweetheart, David Simpson.)

Location: Crandon Park, Miami

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

Photo © 2021 David Simpson, text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 24, 2021

This is Oakleaf Fleabane

Its flowers can be white, pink, yellow or blue

The flowers are smaller than the size of a penny

Spring and summer is when they bloom.

Location: Fellsmere Trailhead Preserve

Sources: https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-erigeron-quercifolius/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 23, 2021

I am known as a male Redhead, 

Swimming with my buddy, the American Wigeon, 

I have a grey back, black tail, and red head

Considering my name, that last fact's a given.

(Special thanks to today's guest photographer and my sweetheart, David Simpson.)

Location: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Sources: https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/birds/redhead/

Photo © 2021 David Simpson, text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 22, 2021

This is the poop of the Eastern Cottontail

In polite company - it isn't something we discuss

But if you're in the woods, and think this looks good, 

Trust me, it's NOT Cocoa Puffs!

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/pinellasco/2020/09/29/animal-scat-and-poop/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 21, 2021

I am a plant known as Pink Sundew

I am native to Florida and I am carnivorous

The dew on my leaves is actually mucus

That bugs get stuck on, and I eat them, delicious!

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: http://fnpsblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/look-at-drosera.html

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 20, 2021

This is a Cinnabar Bracket

It grows in the form of a conk that is thin and dry

You might think studying fungus is boring

But I know a mycologist who's a really fun guy.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: http://plants.alaska.gov/pdf/Conks.pdf

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/974664-Trametes-sanguinea

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 19, 2021

I am a Florida Scrub-Jay

I like to live in scrub area populated by oaks

I practice cooperative breeding which means

I live with extended relatives, including my folks.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 18, 2021

I am a Northern Cloudywing

The white dots on my forewings ID me

I can be found from Florida to Canada

Laying eggs on plants in the Pea family.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Thorybes-pylades

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 17, 2021

I am a Halloween Pennant,

My wings are a distinctive orange and black

It's a little known fact* I'm of Irish descent

Specifically, O'lantern, Jack

*Disclaimer: Happy St. Patrick's Day. This "fact" is one that I totally made up cause it made me laugh. As described in the article linked below, Halloween Pennant develop from nymphs that are entirely aquatic until their last molt into the dragonfly you see here. 

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/odonata/Halloween_pennant.htm

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 16, 2021

This is Fetterbush Lyonia

It is in the Heath family

You can find it throughout the US south east

Where it's frequently sought out by bees.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=lylu3

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 15, 2021

This is Shiny Blueberry,

It's thought to be a hybrid species*

Wild turkeys, black bears, quail and humans

Have all been known to eat these. 

* Hybrid between Vacciniums tennelum and Vaccinium darrowii

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/vacmys/all.html

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 14, 2021

This is an apparently failed Bald Eagle nest,

It's been over a month since the baby or adults have been seen

The baby might have been sick or predated

Or the nest was abandoned for reasons unforeseen.

(This is the nest I've been monitoring for a few years now. We do not know what happened to the baby or adults. I saw the adults recently, but there is no sign of the baby, I am pretty sure it has perished.)

Location: Fellsmere

Sources: https://cbop.audubon.org/conservation/human-activity-and-disturbances-near-active-bald-eagle-nests

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 13, 2021

I am known as Red-shouldered Hawk

You can see the red patch here on my shoulder

When I'm younger my feathers are just brown and white

I've got red and black feathers too now that I'm older.

Location: T.M. Goodwin Wildfowl Management Area

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/id

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 12, 2021

I am a Tricolored Heron

Although technically I have more than three hues

There's white, and pink and some yellow, 

And a few different shades of grey-blue.

Location: Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area, Fellsmere

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 11, 2021

I'm known as a Brown Watersnake

I'm large and semi-aquatic

I give live birth to up to 60 babies

That's the price I pay for a night so rhapsodic.

Special thanks to my guest photographer and sweetheart, David Simpson.

Location: Fellsmere Grade Road, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/florida-snake-id/snake/brown-watersnake/

Photo © 2021 David Simpson, text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 10, 2021

I am a Yellow-rumped Warbler

I have very large breeding and non breeding ranges

I am a facultative migrant which means

Based on food and weather my winter home changes.

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 9, 2021

This fish is in the Genus Pterygoplichthys

This means it's a Sailfin Catfish

These fish are quite prolific; they

Hatch 2000 eggs in a shoreline crevice.

Location: Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area, Fellsmere

Sources: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/freshwater/sailfin-catfish/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 8, 2021

I am an Oleander caterpillar

When I grow up I'll be a Polka-Dot Wasp Moth 

But right now I'm orange with tufts of black hair

And my style's a little bit goth.

Location: Veteran's Park, Vero Beach

Sources: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/oleander_caterpillar.htm

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 7, 2021

I am a known as Golden-crowned Sparrow

I live on the west coast of the US and Canada

But I got lost and wound up in Florida

Which required bad directions and a whole lot of stamina.

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 6, 2021

We are Gray-headed Swamphens

Our blue-purple feathers sparkle and gleam

Although we are no longer called "Purple Swamphens"

We still have our deep purple dreams!

(Note: Happy birthday to my sistah Lynn, this birds for you!)

Location: Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBImNrLzwqc

https://ebird.org/species/purswa3

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 5, 2021

I am known as a Great Egret

I stand about one meter tall

Although I'm pretty big as birds go

I'll never fulfill my dream to play basketball.

Location: Stormwater park, Sebastian

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 4, 2021

This is known as a Moonflower

So called because it only blooms at night

This one though, is a scofflaw -

It's blooming right out in broad daylight!

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/ipomoea-alba

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 3, 2021

I am a male Tropical Checkered-Skipper,

If I were female I would appear much darker

I have white hair scales that cover my wings

The female's scales are brown so she looks much sharper.  

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

Sources: https://www.butterfliesofcuba.com/burnsius-oileus---tropical-checkered-skipper.html

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 2, 2021

I am a male Ceraunus Blue butterfly

I fly around when it's warm looking for a mate

She will lay eggs on a flower

And our caterpillars will emerge at a later date.

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hemiargus-ceraunus

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 1, 2021

This is Helianthus debilis

Also known as Cucumberleaf Sunflower

It's also known as Beach Sunflower

It seems like common plant names change on the hour!

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=hede4

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson