Some areas with great natural beauty and lots of wildlife are rarely visited because they are in an out of the way location. This is certainly true of South Venice (FL) Lemon Bay Preserve (SVLBP). It is on the mainland […]
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Too often we think that we have to go to a far country to see fantastic animals. However if you extend your gaze towards the insect world you may find a remarkable menagerie right in your own backyard. Here are […]
Most who live in SW Florida will have noticed in their yards a very common small lizard, the brown or Cuban anole. It is an exotic species which has long been established here. The males extend a colorful orange/red dewlap […]
Although Wildflower Preserve in Englewood, FL, has in the past been one of my favorite areas for nature study, it has been in an extended hiatus for visitors during ecological restoration, and is only now in the […]
My wife and I visited Grayson Highlands State Park (GHSP) in VA recently and marveled at the diversity of life at high altitudes and how it differs from that at lower elevations. Conditions are much harsher as one […]
Hundreds of people use the beautiful Boone, NC, Greenway Park daily for recreation and likely do not think about the myriads of small predatory interactions that occur there among the resident animals. Indeed if you were the size […]
Lemon Lake within Amberjack Preserve in Charlotte County, FL, is a most unusual body of water. It is a natural and thus very shallow FL lake with a tenuous tidal connection via Lemon Creek to Lemon Bay through Wildflower […]
In our “golden years” we are fortunate to be able to enjoy two wonderful spring times, one in our winter SW FL home and one in our new summer home in Boone, NC. In the North Carolina mountains the explosion […]
You would normally expect to find wildlife in relatively unspoiled places, but sometimes a city park will reveal unexpected natural wonders. In mid- April I dropped off my wife at Sarasota’s (FL) Pinecraft Park, a place famous for spring […]
A team of volunteers organized by Chuck Idelberger and Stan Plizga recently carried out a seine survey for fish and large invertebrates at four of 13 ponds in the new 168 acre Broadmoor Park (a former golf course) […]
The Cape Haze Pioneer Bike Trail might seem an unlikely place to have a good nature-based experience. But in fact this 8+ mile long rails to trails paved pathway passes through some relatively unspoiled landscapes and crosses two tidal creeks. […]
Some of the most interesting places for a naturalist to visit might not seem the most likely to provide surprising insights into the secrets of nature. One such place is Hathaway Park in Charlotte County, primarily considered a place to […]
In an effort to keep fit I often take an early morning 3 mile walk from our yard on Manasota Key down to the Tom Adams bridge and back along the beach. Although this is not intended to be a […]
– – While attending a Peace River Audubon Society field trip to the campus of State College of Florida- Venice ( http://www.scf.edu/AboutSCF/Locations/SCFVenice/default.asp ), I was delighted to find that the lovely constructed lake just in front of the campus was well managed. […]
The Deer Prairie Creek Preserve is one of many wonderful natural areas owned by Sarasota County and SWFWMD ( .http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/areas/myakka-deerprairie.html ). It is huge (> 10,000 acres) and offers extensive pine flatwoods and aquatic habitats along the Myakka […]
Several days after a winter cold front has passed is a spectacular time to visit Myakka State Park, since it tends to be cool but sunny with little wind. Many of the iconic animals are on display, such as the […]
So far in this new year of 2018 we have had some long stretches of cool weather, including light frost inland, interspersed with warm temperatures. I was surprised to see that some plants such as sea grape had brown leaves […]
As naturalists in SW Florida we are fortunate to be able to enjoy seeing flowers, butterflies and birds active for most of the winter despite occasional cold fronts that can deliver temperatures close to freezing even along the coast. It […]
During some winter cold waves I find myself hunkering down in our house and yard and not venturing out to local natural areas as much as usual. This provides an opportunity to more closely observe natural events in our little […]
Dec. 17 was the designated day for the Venice Audubon Christmas Bird Count in 2017 and my territory was the Myakka State Forest, an 8592 acre piece of old Florida made up of hydric flatwoods, unusually pure freshwater ponds, […]