While waiting for my wife who was at a dental appointment at an office on Clark Rd in Sarasota, I noticed some parrots flying by and making loud calls. At first one and then another settled on a […]
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It has become popular for butterfly gardeners to raise monarchs in protected circumstances on tropical or giant milkweeds and release them into the wild. It is much less common for other local butterflies to be reared in captivity. Gulf fritillaries […]
Allain Hale from the Sierra Club organized an exploratory paddling trip for four of us across the Myakka River from Campbell Rd in North Port to the riverside campground in Myakka State Forest. This was an adventurous loop of […]
One of the most amazing transformations that occurs in nature is the metamorphosis of a monarch caterpillar into a pupal chrysalis and then into an adult butterfly. What makes it even more exceptional is that you can observe this in […]
In our area of Florida signs of Spring often arrive in February and now in early March are very evident with warm or even hot days, and trees such as live oaks in bloom. This warmth along with occasional rainfall […]
We are fortunate in having a lot on Lemon Bay which is both picturesque and attractive to wildlife. However a major aspect of the yard that brings in wildlife is the vegetation. We have about 160 species of plants divided […]
As I was walking quietly along one of the trails at Wildflower Preserve that borders the upper end of Lemon Creek, I was surprised to find a six foot gator in shallow water, that did not move away on my […]
It is heartwarming to see various local examples in SW Florida of people assisting wildlife to survive. Birds that are primarily beach species are in a struggle for existence, yet at Englewood Beach the gulls, terns, and shorebirds are appreciated […]
Although SW Florida has much better winter weather than most places in the US, it still has some windy and cooler days along with occasional bouts of red tide at the coast. But on the whole the climate is […]
If Indian Summer is a warm period during fall season, what should we call a warm period during winter time- Indian Winter? Here in SW Florida it is so unseasonably warm that the willow and mango trees are starting to […]
Winter in SW Florida means sunny warm days with almost weekly cold fronts that deliver chilly nights and strong NE winds. Now flowers are a bit constrained this time of year, especially our beloved native species. Thus I enjoy […]
Although most people are thinking only about Christmas and family in late December, birders are also enthralled by the CBC or Christmas Bird Count. This is a world-wide phenomenon in which birds are identified and counted within circles that […]
One of the true delights of spending the fall in SW Florida is that you can continue to enjoy seeing a wide variety of plants and creatures actively pursuing their lives. There is of course a considerable […]
We had been thinking a bit recently that as our retirement years tick on, we would some day need to downsize by selling our 107 acre Blueridge Mt. Virginia farm. Thus when a VA neighbor who was looking at an […]
We enjoy beautiful plants and animals, whether in southwestern Florida or the mountains of Virginia. But how often do we think about the evolutionary values of the peculiar characteristics they possess? Look for special features in each of the […]
We have just completed our annual “snowbird migration” from our farm in VA to our home on Manasota Key, FL. Of course the purpose of this trip is to escape the frosty clutches of winter up north and continue to […]
We are leaving shortly for our winter home in SW FL and are reluctantly saying goodbye to our beloved Blue Ridge mountain wildlife farm. As you can see from a photo of the house and immediate surroundings (we own 107 […]
Our weather is showing some cool night time temperatures, but frost is still 2-3 weeks away and there is lots of insect activity and still some late bird migration underway. Fall fruits are much in evidence, offering immediate snacks and […]
As summer draws to a close, there is still a great deal of animal activity and a different group of late blooming flowers. I seem to appreciate the sunrises and sunsets more in part because I am tired of working […]
On a recent bike ride along the New River Trail in VA I was more or less in auto-pilot and was paying less attention to my surroundings than I should have. My biking companion Mason suddenly shouted that he had […]