October 31, 2022

I am a Southern Carpenter Bee

I rarely attack painted wood

I prefer wood that is unfinished

Whatever it takes to make the boring good!

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources:  https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/xylocopa.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 30, 2022

This is a Creeping Oxeye

Being visited by a Metallic Epauletted-Sweat Bee, 

The flower escapes from gardens via runners

It does not reproduce well from seeds.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/sphagneticola-trilobata/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 29, 2022

This plant is Broadleaf Arrowhead

It's also known as Duck Potato

It's tubers are eaten by turtles and ducks

And makes a great snack while watching the Late Show.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=sala2

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 28, 2022

I am known as a Blue Dasher dragonfly

My face is white like a Roman toga

When I mate, we do it wheel style

I'm thinking of taking up yoga...

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 27, 2022

I am known as a Zebra Longwing

In Florida, I'm the state butterfly

I have elongated striped wings with little red spots

It's hard to miss me as I flutter by.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/zebra_longwing.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 26, 2022

I am an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

I can't fly and I don't hop too well either 

But I can damage crops

And secrete foul froth

I've never claimed to be a real people-pleaser.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/lubber.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 25, 2022

I am a young Turkey Vulture

With my mom, see how her face is red

My head is still gray

Excuse the cliche - 

But we now must leave to go find something dead.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://avianreport.com/turkey-vulture-identification/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 24, 2022

I am an immature Common Gallinule,

My beak does not yet look like candy corn

Now my beak's brown, it's odd how things turn around,

My beak looked like candy corn when I was born.

(I've always been fascinated by the way this bird looks quite similar to it's parents when it's a tiny baby, then its beak gets brown, then it goes back to looking like the parents when it is fully grown. I've always assumed that baby birds are more muted so they blend in with their surroundings, but Common Gallinule babies have almost the same coloring as their parents.)

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/2017/03/march-12-2017.html

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 23, 2022

We are a family of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, A mom and a dad and 4 young

We like freshwater swamps and coastal lagoons

And nest in cavities found in tree trunks.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.fws.gov/species/black-bellied-whistling-duck-dendrocygna-autumnalis

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 22, 2022

I am a One-legged Gray-capped Ibis

You won't find me in your Sibley book

(I'm actually a White Ibis with a shadow on me

Dee should put on her glasses and take one more look.)

(I totally thought we had found some rare gray-headed, gray-backed Ibis. Fortunately someone pointed out the branch casting a shadow on the bird! He also had 2 legs.)

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White_Ibis/id

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 21, 2022

I am a female or young Eastern Pondhawk

Superficially, I resemble a Regal Darner

You can tell I am me, although we're both green

The Regal Darner is about two times larger.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Eastern-Pondhawk

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 20, 2022

I am a Regal Darner dragonfly

I am bright green with many brown stripes

You can find me in lakes and slow moving streams

I also like to hang out at tree-top heights.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: Dragonflies through Binoculars by Sidney W. Dunkle https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/dragonflies-through-binoculars-a-field-guide-to-dragonflies-of-north-america-butterflies-and-others-through-binoculars-field-guide-series_sidney-w-dunkle/471716/#edition=4297468&idiq=13582376

Bonus source article: This is a very cool article, printed originally in a 1944 edition of The Florida Entomologist. It describes an influx of dragonflies (including  Regal Darners) after a long drought in New Smyrna Beach ended. You can read this article by signing up for a free JSTOR account, it is absolutely worth it. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3492160

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 19, 2022

We are two Blue-ringed Dancers

Blue means we're male, brown is young or female

We all have rings on our abdomen

Which you might look at and think that's a tail.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2641

Bonus source: More detail than you could ever hope to know regarding how to ID a Damselfly: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Vol-15-No-2.pdf

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 18, 2022

I am an adult male Eastern Pondhawk

Like avian hawks, I'm a fearsome predator

I can take on other bugs as big as myself

And I defend my territory from competitors.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Eastern-Pondhawk

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 17, 2022

This is the shell of an Island Apple Snail

There's nobody home any more

Most likely a Limpkin found and ate the snail

It's easier than hitting a grocery store. 

Location:Goodwin Wildlife Management Area, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/gastro/apple_snails.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 16, 2022

I am known as a Limpkin,

When I see a guy I like I stand by his side

If he likes me back, he'll bring me food or rotten wood -

Wait, how's rotten wood supposed to impress his bride??

Location: Goodwin Wildlife Management Area, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Limpkin/lifehistory#behavior

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 15, 2022

I am an Exoprosopa fasciata

A type of diurnal bee fly

My proboscis is short, my antennae are dwarfed

By my wings which are ridiculously oversized.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://eol.org/pages/54612/articles

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 14, 2022

I am in the Tribe Myrmeleontini

Which means I'm type of Pit-trapping Antlion

I'm an adult now, but when I was a small larvae

I used ants and spiders for snacks, not companions.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/wakullaco/2017/08/03/ant-lions-create-sand-traps-to-catch-prey/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 13, 2022

I don't know exactly what this thing is

I do know it's some kind of a fungi

It might be in the Milkcap genus, but

I don't have the tools to positively identify.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius.html

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 12, 2022

I am a Cloudless Sulphur butterfly

I'm more common in the fall

I migrate south cause I can't take the cold

And I'm too small to wear wool shawl.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/bfly2/cloudless_sulphur.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 11, 2022

I am known as a House Sparrow

I can be found everywhere on earth except the poles

I'm quite partial to living with humans -

I help them with studies of pest control.

Location: North Broadway, Fellsmere

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

The Natural History of Model Organisms: The house sparrow in the service of basic and applied biology

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 10, 2022

I am some type of an Orbweaver

But from this view it's hard to be specific

You need to see the other side of me

I'm not being philosophic, I'm being scientific. 

(This might be a Giant Lichen Orbweaver (Araneus bicentenarius), but for a positive ID we would need to see the arrangement of the spider's eyes and other features.)

Special thanks to guest photographer, Megan Berg.

Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Sources: https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths/myth-you-identify-spiders

Photo © 2022 Megan Berg and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 9, 2022

I am known as a European Starling

Descended from 100 birds released in New York City

Now there are millions of us spread from the west to east coast

I'm a nuisance bird, but at least I'm quite pretty!

Location: North Broadway, Fellsmere

Sources: European Starling: Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 8, 2022

This is some type of a Waxcap,

But with mushrooms, you can't trust your eyes

You cannot positively ID from a photo

There's more to mushroom ID than you realize.

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/identifying_mushrooms_there_is_more_to_it_than_you_might_realize

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 7, 2022

This plant is Euphorbia cyathophora

Also known as Dwarf Poinsettia or Painted Leaf

It's in the same family as rubber and tapioca

Which, when combined, make a terrible aperitif!

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 6, 2022

This plant is Lantana involucrata

It's also called Button Sage

It's native and hurricane wind resistant

And to birds, it's fruit is all the rage!

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/lantana-involucrata

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 5, 2022

Shown here are two life stages of Blue Curls,

At the top, how it looks as a bud. 

With water, sun and little more time

It becomes a bloom that sticks out its tongue!

Location: My house, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-trichostema-dichotomum/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 4, 2022

This plant is Fringed Passionflower

It's kind of hairy and bears red fruit

It was introduced and is spreading in Florida

And (alledgedly) has a narcotic in its roots.

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Passiflora+ciliata

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 3, 2022

This plant is known as Beach Bean

It's commonly used for dune stabilization

Its seeds and seed pods are poisonous

But it is effective ground-cover vegetation. 

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/canavalia-rosea

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 2, 2022

This is a plant called Coinvine,

It is a climbing legume

The yellow flower here's a Cowpea photobomb

The Coinvine has small, but showy white blooms.

(David and I spent a long time trying to figure out this plant. David thought it was Coinvine, but Coinvines have white flowers. I thought it was a Cowpea, which has yellow flowers. It wasn't till I got home and started researching it that I realized we were both correct!)

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://garden.org/plants/view/124650/Coin-Vine-Dalbergia-ecastaphyllum/

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=VILU3

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 1, 2022

I am a Black-and-white Warbler

You usually find me high up in trees

Where I like to hunt bugs and insects

But I breed on the ground amongst fallen leaves.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-and-white_Warbler/overview

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson