October 31, 2021

I am known as a Brown Thrasher

East and mid-western US is where I reside

I'm known as a "short distant migrant" but

I've also been seen in Europe (just twice.)

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 30, 2021

I am a Marbled Grasshopper

Shown here from the front, top and both sides

When I fly, you can see my black and yellow tibiae

And when I sit, you can see beauty defined.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/ghopper/band.pdf

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 29, 2021

I am a Psorophora ciliata

In the south some folks call me "Gallinipper"

But most people call me a large mosquito

And fear the painful, itchy bites I deliver.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/AQUATIC/Ps_ciliata.htm

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 28, 2021

We are a colony of Paper Wasps

All of us have jobs in our hive

The queens lays eggs in each cell, and everything's swell

Till winter comes and only mated females survive.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/paper-wasp/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 27, 2021

I am a Delaware Skipper

You can find me from Southern Maine west to the Great Lakes 

You can find me in Montana and Mexico, 

And El Salvador and the US Gulf states. 

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Anatrytone-logan

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 26, 2021

This is a Lance-leaved Coreopsis

In Florida, it's native and in demand

Pollinators love it and it's easy to grow

But it's an "alien invasive species" in Japan.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=cola5

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 25, 2021

We are Common Lovebugs

You find us smooshed on your windshield when you go to get groceries

The females are larger and heavier than males

Due to the size of their ovaries.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/lovebug.HTM

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 24, 2021

I am an exotic Asian Tiger Mosquito

I was introduced in Florida in 1997

I have a mean bite, avoiding dawn and twilight

Wearing long sleeves, and DEET are your best weapons.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/asian_tiger.htm

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 23, 2021

I'm a female fly in the Genus Diachlorus

Probably a Yellow Fly of the Dismal Swamp

My color is right - and so is my bite -

I don't just nibble,  I CHOMP.

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/IN/IN595/IN595-D0klzo8z99.pdf

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 22, 2021

I am a non-breeding European Starling

You can tell by the white speckles on my chest

And my beak is not yellow, I'm a drab fellow

But I'm not breeding now, so why look my best?

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/overview#

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 21, 2021

This is the home of the Organ-pipe Mud-dauber Wasp

These wasps are generally docile unless you bother them

Mama wasps fill each tube with live paralyzed spiders

To provide a warm meal for their larvae, who gobble them. 

(Wasps can be pretty mean to spiders. Maybe I should have saved this one for Halloween!)

Location: My house, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Pipe-Organ-Mud-Dauber-Wasp

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 20, 2021

I am a Nason's Slug Moth

I live in the eastern United States

My wings have dark lines that don't ever meet

It's one of my identifying traits.

Location: My house, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Natada-nasoni

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 19, 2021

I am known as a Blue Dasher

I think because I dash all over the place

But I'd rather believe it's cause I'm dashing

Just look at my crazy-handsome face!

Location: WW Ranch Road, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian 

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/598

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 18, 2021

This is a Fourvalve Mimosa

It's in the Pea family

Like yesterday's plant, they have thorns on their stems

And can stick you, quite handily.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/mimosa-quadrivalvis

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 17, 2021

I think this is is Littleleaf Sensitive-Briar

You can see hooked briars on the stem

And it's leaves are sensitive to the touch

But I forgot to test by touching them.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=mimi22

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 16, 2021

This is a Western Honey Bee

Sitting on a Fourvalve Mimosa

In addition to bees, 

Butterflies will seize

Pollen from the plant like Hector Barbossa.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/mimosa-strigillosa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Barbossa

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 15, 2021

This plant is called Vanillaleaf

It is also known as Deer Tongue

It propagates by adding pups next to the main rosette,

And thus the plant becomes far-flung.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/carphephorus-odoratissimus

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 14, 2021

This is the Whitemouth Dayflower

It's also called "Widow's Tears"

In Spanish, the name's "herb of the chicken"

At least that's what I hear.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 13, 2021

This flower is known as Fringed Star Grass

It's in the Iris family

This family grows from rhizomes, bulbs, or corms, And has pretty flowers with narrow basal leaves.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HYJU
https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/counties/chester/how-to-gardening-brochures/bulbs-corms-rhizomes-and-tubers

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 12, 2021

This is a Florida native plant

That's known as American Sicklepod

In California, it's known as a noxious weed

And it's foliage smells unpleasantly odd.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=369266

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 11, 2021

This is Fourpetal St. Johnswort

It grows well in a moist wildflower garden

It attracts bees and other pollinators

And is well on its way to stardom.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/hypericum-tetrapetalum

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 10, 2021

This is Polygala rugelii

Also known as Yellow Milkwort

It would make a nice boutonnière

On the lapel of a fancy silk shirt.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-polygala-rugelii/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 9, 2021

This is Chapman's Goldenrod

It grows in Florida and some parts of Georgia

It has a fibrous root system that can stabilize soils

And can benefit other fauna and flora.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/assets/pdf/pubs/solidago_odora_chapmansgoldenrod.pdf

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 8, 2021

I am a bug in the Order Heteroptera

I am leaf-footed and I am a "true bug"

I have a hypodermic needle-like mouth

To suck fluids from critters - not to do drugs.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/true-bugs

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/203134-Merocoris

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 7, 2021

I am a Resonant Cicada

I lay eggs in wood or old twigs

My nyphs dig into the dirt

Where they won't get hurt

Eventually they come out in summer for singing gigs.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/72461

http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meridian_cicadas/songs/08.US.GA.BIG.T02.Neotibicen_resonans_fragment_filtered.mp3

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 6, 2021

This is Sesbania vesicaria
Its common name is Bladder Pod

Its a dicotyledon which means

It has two seed leaves

Which isn't particularly odd.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/890511-Sesbania-vesicaria

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 5, 2021

This is known as Bigpod Sesbania

It blooms in the late summer and autumn months

Its toxicity 

Depends on what you read

But everything's edible once.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=2059

https://www.newsherald.com/news/20190624/sesbania-coming-soon-to-yard-pasture-near-you

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 4, 2021

I am a mature male Band-winged Dragonlet

You know I'm male because I'm olivaceous

My wing stripes get darker as I get older

Which I do on a regular basis.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: http://odonata.tacc.utexas.edu/index.php/FieldGuideAction.get/id/47039

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 3, 2021

This is a Rusty Bird Grasshopper

But grasshoppers can be hard to ID

Click on the link below for

A handy grasshopper Identification key.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://bioone.org/journals/florida-entomologist/volume-87/issue-4/0015-4040_2004_087_0537_KTTGOA_2.0.CO_2/KEY-TO-THE-GRASSHOPPERS-ORTHOPTERA-ACRIDIDAE-OF-FLORIDA/10.1653/0015-4040(2004)087[0537:KTTGOA]2.0.CO;2.full?tab=ArticleLink

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 2, 2021

This plant is known as Mohr's Thoroughwort

It's in the Aster family

It is a perennial herb

With a simple leaf complexity.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=EUMO4

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 1, 2021

I am a Hairy Woodpecker,

Note the picture shot from behind -

The thin black line separating the red

Is one way I can be positively defined.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/downy-woodpecker-and-hairy-woodpecker/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson