As most of you are aware I spend the summer months at my 50 acre Haw River Preserve in NC. But I always make a summer trip to FL to check up on my property and enjoy the summer experience. This year (2026) I was in FL from July 19-31. The rains had started and ameliorated some if not all of the effects of the drought. I really enjoy the almost daily afternoon thunderstorms which provide cooler temperatures. Plant growth was impressive on the barrier island where so much damage was caused by previous hurricanes. Indeed tropical storm Bertha blew in and caused some windy weather, high tides and beach erosion but then moved to the western gulf.
After one of numerous beautiful sunrises over my backyard dock, I walked the Manasota Key beach to observe effects of the recent storm. Very high tides caused some erosion and salt water washed over numerous sea turtle nests (note the stakes and flagging over the nests). This has been a very good year for turtle nesting and it is too early to be certain about the impact of this storm on hatching. I found a ghost crab out in daylight apparently shell shocked by the storm. I did see one loggerhead sea turtle crawl where a female came up to nest but ran up against a bulkhead and returned to the water without nesting.
One of the striking things about barrier island plants this year is that sea grapes have produced a record crop of fruit. Beauty berries and geiger trees have also had a very good fruiting year. A sea hibiscus tree that I planted after previous storms has flourished where an old mango tree died from sea water inundation. It is flowering profusely and the colors of the flowers are interesting. As is the case for many mallows/hibiscus the flowers last only one day. Fresh morning flowers are yellow to attract pollinators whereas late afternoon flowers turn reddish. This change in color is interpreted to provide information to potential pollinators that the flower does not warrant a visit.
Butterflies were not very common in late July despite the presence of many flowers. When visiting the eastern side of Blind Pass park I found a number of native lantana bushes in bloom attracting the rarely seen Statira sulphurs and gulf fritillaries. The fritillaries and zebra longwings require passionvines for their caterpillars and an educated gardener is happy to sacrifice some of his/her vines for this noble cause. All we ask is an occasional spectacular passion flower. White peacocks are more common on the mainland near wetlands where their food plant grows. Monarchs of course require milkweeds which is a problem since there are very few native milkweeds available. The solution is to plant the giant African milkweed (flowers shown here) which is non-invasive since it does not produce seeds. It is moderately tolerant to salt water but is better planted as far away from the shore as possible.
Very few land birds are present on the barrier island in summer. A few yard birds were a rarely seen black bellied whistling duck (a single on my fence whereas it is normally seen in flocks near fresh water lakes), a yellow crowned night heron, white ibis and great egrets. The ibis and egret are flourishing better than most because of their ability to utilize human-modified habitats. The night heron is more shy and specializes in feeding on crustaceans, primarily in salt water.
I was actually reluctant to leave after my summer visit to Florida. Once you adjust to the humidity and heat, life can be very pleasant. Certainly many aspects of ecology are revealed in the summer that are not seen in winter. Given the heat domes and fires that are too common up north, you may want to plan a visit to FL in the summer and enjoy the cooler weather!