In many parts of Florida fire is considered to be the major factor that determines the types of habitats that county, state and federal land managers hope to maintain. While there is some truth to this notion, […]
Author Archives
Spring is of course an astronomical phenomenon but in eastern N America we think of it more as an event announced by the flowering of certain woodland ephemeral plants or the calls of breeding frogs. But of course it is […]
You might think that mid-winter in SW FL would be rather bleak but such is not the case. Although few native flowers are blooming, insect pollinators are scarce, and birds are limited to permanent and winter residents, there are still […]
Sunrises are each different and I never tire of watching the sun come up across Lemon Bay beyond our dock. A complex combination of clouds/weather and atmospheric dust determine the colors and intensity, but do not blink or you […]
In middle January we have had some very cool nights and windy days as weather fronts approach and pass by. This has a significant effect on animals that must be warm to forage such as most butterflies, and on […]
With all the talk about global warming and sea level rise it was interesting to have a very high tide on the morning of Dec. 17, 2023. The photos of our backyard and dock underwater and a flooded […]
Late Fall is a time of minimal wild flowers in bloom perhaps due to the relative lack of pollinators available. But I did recently find a few flowers of considerable beauty enhanced by their scarcity. Yellow buttons […]
Although the first day of Winter is not until Dec. 21, we have had some very warm and some very cool days and nights in November. This must be a shock to our local plants and animals although it […]
Rainbows are ephemeral and rarely seen, especially during the dry season, so this double circular rainbow seen on Nov. 15 to the east from our dock was a special treat. Hurricanes are more of a “trick” than a treat and […]
After we have been away from our Florida property for six months, it with some uncertainty that we return to a place which we have ignored for so long. Although the grass gets cut occasionally, little else has been […]
We are getting ready to migrate to FL along with some of the birds on Oct. 14. Since it is 42F outside at 7 AM as I write this on Oct. 9, I regret not leaving the Piedmont of […]
The end of Summer is a bittersweet time for the naturalist. Most animals have stopped breeding, birds are hardly singing, many plants have finished blooming and are setting seeds, leaves are starting to drop, and the natural world is making […]
July is a peak season for perennial flowers and flowering shrubs and is thus a great time to observe butterflies. I refer to butterflies as “flying flowers” since that is what they most resemble. Indeed many species are totally dependent […]
There is much to see during a nature walk along the Haw River in middle to late June and early July. River flow and depth of course vary with rainfall but the river is highly “flashy” and rapidly […]
The honeybee Apis mellifera is native to Europe and was brought to N America in the 1600’s by colonists. In southern areas this European bee has intergraded with a “killer bee” or Africanized bee which is a hybrid […]
My philosophy of gardening has gradually morphed over the years from selecting plants that primarily please me to instead selecting almost entirely those plants that benefit wildlife, specifically birds and pollinating insects (especially butterflies and bees). I initially try to […]
Spring comes in many guises in the Piedmont lowlands of NC. It may be the passage of migratory birds, or the calling of frogs of different species, or the awakening of many life histories of animals and plants quiescent during […]
In middle to late March weather conditions in SW FL are becoming very dry. There is very little rain (April is the driest month) and the temperatures are rising into the 80’s regularly during the daytime. This […]
We spend most of our winters in SW FL, but this year we were at our new nature preserve along the Haw River in Graham, NC, Feb. 7-16, 2023. We were attending a “white coat ceremony” for our grandson Blake […]
Life in our area of SW Florida changed dramatically on Sept. 28, 2022, when hurricane Ian passed though (slowly). It came from the Gulf into Charlotte Harbor and moved to the interior. It was listed as a category four […]