A wildlife saga of heart-rending proportions has unfolded on Manasota Key, FL, within the past two months. Ospreys have always nested in a tall Norfolk Island pine directly over our house for the 22 years we have owned it. […]
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I am a huge advocate for enjoying and studying nature wherever you find yourself. So when you make trips to visit family, it is a great opportunity to expand your horizons in understanding of natural history. While watching our grandson […]
After a prolonged warm fall and winter, the cold fronts began to arrive in SW Florida and the animals had to cope with much cooler weather and periodic strong winds and heavy rains. Despite these somewhat harsh conditions, a diverse […]
It is now well known that some areas of Lemon Creek within Wildflower Preserve, Charlotte County, FL (owned by the Lemon Bay Conservancy) are filled with juvenile tarpon that thrive in its lowest oxygen waters which provide significant protection […]
Among the many important aspects of habitat selection that define the lives of water birds, salinity can be one of the most crucial. Birds that exploit food resources in saline areas along the coast or in inland salt lakes […]
After the discovery of the head of one of our beloved nesting ospreys on our front walk on Jan. 14, I surmised that a pair of great horned owls had killed it in the process of taking over the osprey […]
I was appalled by a gruesome discovery this morning just outside our front door. The head of one of our magnificent ospreys had been severed and was lying on the ground. A pair of ospreys has been nesting […]
A group of local naturalists from the Peace River and Sarasota Butterfly Societies and some native plant enthusiasts were excited to visit the yard of Englewood, FL, resident Mary Brown who is famous for her skills in raising butterfly caterpillars, […]
Mother Nature has given us some beautiful gifts this holiday season in conjunction with unusually warm weather. The insect world has been especially active. This spectacular mangrove skipper was attracted to a Mexican mallow in our yard. A pair of […]
Although there is still interest in the northern fall and winter landscape for the naturalist, certainly it is more fun to see lots of critters moving around instead of mostly being inactive. Thus I find never-ending joy in observing […]
Although I am generally anxious to leave our VA farm soon after the first frost, this year it has been unexpectedly warm in FL even into November. This is a shock to humans unused to such hot and muggy weather, […]
On Oct. 18, 2015, while walking along the beach on Palm Island, Charlotte County FL, just south of Stump Pass, I noticed one tiny shorebird, a sanderling, that had bands on its legs. This bling was unusual since there were […]
If you are at the beach you might look up and notice that an interesting migration of dragonflies is taking place just over your head. Dragonflies are heading south to escape the frozen north in considerable numbers and I watched […]
As we headed south from our VA mountain farm to our eventual destination in SW FL, we visited family in the Piedmont of NC (Chapel Hill). Early October in the piedmont has some cool nights and warm days so that […]
If you become jaded with the natural wonders of your home turf, a trip is just the thing to add spice to your enjoyment of nature. On an annual family visit to Utah we find the desert and mountain worlds […]
Although signs of the fall season are usually evident enough from changes in the weather, there are many clues from nature that a seismic shift in the seasons is occurring. Even if you did not have a calendar, you should […]
Although there are wide variations in flower color at all seasons, I tend to think as summer as being the time of many yellow flowers of the aster family. Hence the derivation of the term for the many often unidentified […]
If you manage a field, you face a conundrum in deciding your specific goals and if, when, and how often to mow. If you want to retain the field, you must eventually mow it, but preferably no more than once […]
When you think about ways to attract butterflies, this generally involves planting flowers that supply nectar for the adults or leaves for the caterpillars. However an alternative technique is to offer salts, especially sodium, which butterflies crave because their vegetarian […]
Nothing expresses summer time more than the whirl of life around a pond. There is an intensity of competition and predation, but also great beauty among the intricate web of life that revolves around a small body of water. The […]