There is no greater summer pleasure than watching the “flying flowers”, the butterflies. It is wonderful just to appreciate their beauty, but is also an intellectual challenge to learn their names and their habits. Of course […]
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Occasionally you have the opportunity to get a new flower for your garden and you wonder if it will provide nectar for your hummingbirds. We discovered a beautiful red tubular flower from S Africa called crocosmia […]
Two years ago with the help of NRCS we planted five acres of native N American wildflowers with the purpose of enhancing the habitat for pollinators. This field is now nearing its peak of flowering and […]
Another example of how the naturalist may find something interesting wherever he/she is. At the post office I noticed this strange moth on the front glass door, obviously attracted by lights the night before. Thanks to Bob Perkins for identifying […]
Modern day families are often widely dispersed so visits involve travel to unfamiliar territory and the opportunity to experience very different flora and fauna, in this case a visit to Utah. The first opportunity to learn about the new […]
We usually choose flowers for our yard that are known to attract birds or butterflies. For example we have in our yard coral honeysuckle, fire pink, cardinal flower, and red buckeye, all native and liked by […]
Here is an interesting moth I found in my yard- a beautiful wood nymph Eudryas grata, a noctuid. This species occurs from Nova Scotia to FL. The peculiar colors are believed to mimic bird droppings and thus escape […]
After spending years unsuccessfully trying to attract barn swallows to various structures placed up under roof overhangs, a swallow recently built a nest on our front porch. In the process it made a big mess of mud everywhere […]
One of the most beautiful birds in North America, which migrates to the neotropics in winter, is the Baltimore oriole. The bright orange and black colors of the male, its habit of living around houses and farms, plus […]
I always advocate going into nature with an open mind to observe everything of interest. A small point and shoot optical zoom (40-60 x) camera is of great assistance in identifying your finds since you will need to examine the […]
After a sweaty morning working in the woods I sat down on the porch to catch a few breezes. I took my soaking wet shirt off and hung it up to dry on the steps. To […]
In late spring some migrant birds continue to amaze and delight those who are carefully observant of the new birds in their trees and shrubs. These neotropical migrants are moving northward to their breeding grounds and are sometimes diverted […]
April is a time of great excitement among birders since migration of a vast army of birds begins from South and Central America to the US. This predominantly occurs northerly from the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula across the Gulf […]
One of the animal groups that people have the most difficulty in appreciating must be spiders. Even snakes seem to have more admirers than these creepy arachnids with their eight hairy legs. Why is this? Could this be […]
Those of us who are snowbirds in Florida generally avoid heading north until the weather is pretty warm in the mid-northern latitudes. However family business took me to NC/VA in mid March and I had a pleasant if somewhat chilly […]
Humans are mainly appreciative of the delicious taste of crabs, and not particularly of their importance as ecological kingpins. But the numerous crabs present in saline habitats are often extremely important in their food webs. Fiddler crabs are often used […]
Various coastal communities and parks may remove, kill or ban the planting of Norfolk Island Pine (NIP). This is due to their being non-native, because of the potential hazard in storm-prone areas, and to results of the hard freeze […]
One of the most rewarding activities that a naturalist can enjoy along the local FL gulf beaches is to observe birds. The avian life is diverse and many species have become familiar with non-threatening human activities and can […]
Occasionally I am fortunate enough to find marked shorebirds on the beach and get photographs clear enough to identify them. Today (Feb. 9, 2014) was one such lucky day when I spent several hours hiking the beach at the northern […]
A popular TV show details the exploits of a Kentucky legend the “Turtleman,” who attempts to save snapping turtles and other animals from troubles with modern society. One of my former students at Penn State sent me an interesting […]