November 30, 2022

I am a non-breeding Red-winged Blackbird

You can tell I'm non-breeding cause my shoulder's not red

Although at the moment I'm hanging out at the water treatment park,

When I'm not breeding, I usually prefer places that are not wet.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 29, 2022

I am a Black-crowned Night-Heron

I like swamps, streams, and lakes overgrown with rushes

You might hear a harsh squawk or a rattling bill

That's just my mate and I having a discussion.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/sounds

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 28, 2022

I am an immature White-crowned Sparrow

You can ID me by the bold stripes on my head

I've got a yellow bill,

And eat my fill

Of seeds, fruits and insects - I am very well fed.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/photo-gallery/297929211

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 27, 2022

I am known as a Pig Frog

A Snowy Egret promised me a ride

But he knows that I'm afraid of heights, 

So he told me that he'd let me ride inside!

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu/frogs/pigfrog.shtml

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 26, 2022

I am known as a Snowy Egret

I'm having a Pig Frog for a light dinner

He doesn't taste like ham, but I know what I am:

An aquatic animal-eating practitioner

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret/lifehistory

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 25, 2022

I am known as an Eastern Phoebe

I'm known to share nests with Barn Swallows

I migrate and come back, and reuse the same nest

And the Swallows use my nest for the season that follows.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 24, 2022

I am known as a Common Gallinule

To see my best feature you have to look close

It's not my beak, my shield, my plumage or legs

But look at my lobed, crazy-cool toes!

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 23, 2022

I am known as a Southern Toad

You can find me near humans,  I am urbanized

You can tell I'm not an invasive Cane Toad

By the ridges that end in bumps behind my eyes.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Sebastian

Sources: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-herps/florida-frog-calls/southern-toad/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 22, 2022

I am an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

I'm so popular I've been on two US postage stamps

I have some black stripes and on the edge of my wings

I'm otherwise bright yellow like a thousand lumen lamp.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

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

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/blog/2018/11/03/led-lighting/wattage-and-brightness-what-to-expect-from-your-lighting-product

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 21, 2022

I am a Turkey Vulture

Sometimes in the morning it's cold

So I spread out my wings to warm myself up

While dreaming of modeling for a totem pole.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Spread-Wing_Postures.html

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 20, 2022

I am known as a Purple Gallinule

You might confuse me with a Grey-headed Swamphen

But my shield is blue,

I wear yellow stockings and shoes,

The Swamphen's shield, legs and feet are cayenne.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/34/26/00001/UW31500.pdf

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 19, 2022

We are young Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

We know that this might sound bad

But despite what our mama tells us

We don't think this Tricolored Heron's our dad.

(My apologies - but when I saw this scene, it just looked so... salacious to me.)

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.audubon.org/news/the-amazing-world-hybrid-birds

https://www.thespruce.com/how-do-birds-mate-386108

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 18, 2022

I am a Black-and-white Warbler

I'm small, but can be quite territorial

I'll sing while chasing other birds away

I sound sweet even when feeling adversarial.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 17, 2022

I am a male Gray Wall Jumping Spider

I'm mostly black in the middle of my abdomen

I eat things you despise

Like mosquitoes and flies

So if you see me, consider it a good omen!

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/jumping_spiders.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 16, 2022

I am an Ornate Bella Moth

I can be found from Nebraska down to the Antilles

When I was a pupae I rested under a layer of silk

Which, although pretty, was not lace from Chantilly. 

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/leps/bella_moth.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 15, 2022

We are non-breeding Western Palm Warblers

One of us is having a bad hair day

Wind is not always kind to birds

And no opposable thumbs means no hairspray!

Locations: Dubois Park, Jupiter, Orlando Wetlands, Christmas FL,

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 14, 2022

I am known as a Blackpoll Warbler

I'm not endangered, but I'm in steep decline

Because I breed in boreal forests where

Logging and mining companies have more say than I.

Location: Sebastian Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blackpoll_Warbler/lifehistory

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 13, 2022

I am a female Red-legged Honeycreeper

I've got a slightly curved beak

I'm uncommon but widespread in Amazonia

And my mate's far more colorful than me.

Location: Sebastian Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.peruaves.org/thraupidae/red-legged-honeycreeper-cyanerpes-cyaneus/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 12, 2022

I an immature female Cape May Warbler

If I was male or adult I would be more yellow

I've got a short bill and tail, 

But I'm built to scale, 

When I grow up, I'll be the same size as my fellow.

Location: Dubois Park, Jupiter

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

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 11, 2022

This is a Shrubby False Buttonweed

It's somewhat of a sticky wicket

On the one hand it's invasive and can grow pretty fast, 

But it looks so pretty you just want to pick it.

And it's nectar attracts the Larra bicolor, 

Which biologically controls non-native mole crickets.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

Sources: https://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/research/weedsbyflowercolor/white/spermacoceverticillata

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 10, 2022

I am a Pachodynerus nasidens

But my friends call me Keyhole Wasp, 

I look a bit like Pachodynerus pulverulentus

But I live in Florida and they do not.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/103943

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 9, 2022

I am a Magnolia Warbler

You can tell by the bold, dark streaks on my tummy

I have a small beak, my call sounds like "zeep"

And I think spiders and caterpillars taste yummy.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Magnolia_Warbler/lifehistory

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 8, 2022

I am a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I've shifted my nesting grounds 200 miles north

This is attributed to climate change

Which needs to stop being ignored.

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-gray_Gnatcatcher/overview

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 7, 2022

I am an Orange-spotted Flower Moth

Some people also call me Red-waisted

I have both orange spots and a red waist

So I'm cool with my names being conflated.

Location: My house, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Syngamia-florella

https://bugguide.net/node/view/8604

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 6, 2022

I am a White-roped Glaphyria Moth, 

My wings have distinctive wavy white lines

I commonly am drawn to porch lights,

And I have ridiculously large, crazy eyes.*

Note: Check out the article below to see photos of their crazy big eyes.

Location: My house, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/view/6643

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 5, 2022

I'm a type of Spur-throated Grasshopper

I'm mostly green with yellowish dabs.

I got my name, for the spur 'tween my legs,

And checkout my 6-pack abs!

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/ghopper/spur1.pdf

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 4, 2022

This plant is Verbesina virginica var. laciniata

Commonly known as Frostweed

It's fruit's called cypsela or (incorrectly) achene

Still, it's the part of the plant that bears a seed

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

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

https://www.scielo.br/j/rbb/a/PbxtxhKmnbTCPGNc8DWgYsL/?lang=en

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 3, 2022

This is Ludwigia peruviana

It's invasive and spreads prolifically

It's hydrophobic and can germinate while floating

And can produce millions of seeds.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/ludwigia-peruviana/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 2, 2022

This is Cephalanthus occidentalis

More commonly known as Buttonbush

It's blossoms are white or pink 1-inch globes

Which, when 2 are together look like a small tush. 

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ceoc2

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 1, 2022

This is Broadleaf Arrowhead

Its arrowhead-shaped leaves have pointed lobes

It has white, three-petaled flowers

That stand much taller than the leaves grow.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/sagittaria-latifolia/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson