July 31, 2021

I am known as a Gull-billed Tern

I eat a little differently than other terns

Instead of just fish, I happily exist

Eating fish, lizards, insects and birds!

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

Location: Bald Point State Park

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gull-billed_Tern/lifehistory

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

July 30, 2021

This plant is known as Stokes' Aster,

It can grow cultivated or wild

To extend the bloom period, you can deadhead the plant

Then later collect seeds to get a Stokes' Aster child.

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

Location: Private residence, Blountston

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/stokesia-laevis

https://www.thespruce.com/why-you-should-be-deadheading-plants-2132406

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

July 29, 2021

This might be Whiteleaf Mountain Mint, 

But I wouldn't definitively swear - 

But I'm at least pretty sure it's in the mint family 

Due to the fact that its stalk is square.

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

Location: Private residence, Blountston, FL

Sources: http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Identification/Patterns_in_Plants.htm

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

July 28, 2021

I am a Northern Bobwhite

I'm usually not up this high, I like the ground

I practice ambisexual polygamy

Which is just as salacious as it sounds.

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

Location: Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area

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

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

July 27, 2021

This is the Purple Coneflower

In Florida, it's an endangered plant

It only grows naturally in Gadsden county

Where bees and butterflies it doth enchant.

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

Location: Private residence, Blountston, FL

Sources: https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-echinacea-purpurea/

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

July 26, 2021

I belong to the family Tabanidae

This includes Deer, Yellow and Horse Flies

You can tell that I am a female

Because of the separation between my eyes. 

Location: My yard, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/deer_fly.htm

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

July 25, 2021

I am known as a Rock Pigeon

I make a cooing sound when I speak

I wear a collar of iridescence around my neck 

And I wear my heart on my beak.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

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

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson