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Wail of the Limpkin
Floridians know their cries well. And if you live near water, it’s always a lovely wake-up call, this startling wail. Their wail is the sound of the Everglades and of Florida. The Limpkin (also called...
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Sweet One
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. —Ralph Waldo Emerson An always lovely and vibrant Tricolored Heron (Louisiana Heron) peeks out from amid the vegetation of our...
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A Moment of Zen with a Cattle Egret
Some weeks are easier than others, and this wasn’t one of the easiest — but as the magnet on my fridge dictates, sometimes ya just have to pull on your big-girl panties and move on with it. During such...
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Don’t Mess with the GBH
It’s nesting time now in our protected wetlands, and a really fun time — the biggest and smallest waders are settled into their annual nests (some of them, including the Great Blue Herons, return to...
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Wetland Smarties
Usually our Green herons are very shy and difficult to spot, patient and motionless as they are in our wetlands — their signature kuk or kyow calls are heard more often. [Click here to listen to their...
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The Show
The Great egrets of South Florida’s wetlands have been putting on the most wondrous displays in the rookeries. Appropriate timing for Valentine’s Day…. It’s hard not to think that I should be trying a...
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Night Flight of the Night Heron
To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work. —Mary Oliver Always a welcoming sight in our wetlands, the Black-crowned Night Heron appears at dusk, ready for a night of marauding. I...
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Dusky Beauties, or: Please Don’t Talk Smack About Our Coots
Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius. —Edward O. Wilson I’m easily distracted by critters — no matter how common they may be. It could be an Eastern Harvest...
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Purple Gems
[Many thanks to fellow bloggers for alerting me to a glitch here, which broke readers' feeds; If you're interested in viewing a few posts that didn't make it to your Reader, visit Recent Posts below,...
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The Hummingbirds Are Coming… Early!
Last night at our local wetlands, I ran into a friend who mentioned seeing a ruby-throated hummingbird in his yard — a bit early! And this morning, Michelle from Rambling Woods posted on the topic....
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Warbling in the Wetlands
A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. —Lou Holtz …Which is why I’m constantly running to Nature, and to these wonderful creatures. That reminder to JUST BE (or...
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Monday Morning Hair
A Tricolored (or Louisiana) Heron in breeding plumage shakes it all off, with the start of a new week, in undisguised fabulousness in our protected wetlands. While I say “Monday Morning Hair,” this is...
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Color
There’s so much color in the depths of South Florida, but this little one’s not native to the area. It’s native to a region where I was raised (roundabout, anyways). When I think of COLOR, my brain...
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Happy Birthday, Mr. Audubon!
A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children. As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature. But hopes...
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Happy Trails, Peon
All good things are wild and free. ―Henry David Thoreau At the beginning of what would be a 10-12 mile hike through the SWA system, along the Owahee Trail (near Grassy Waters Preserve) in northern Palm...
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A Cormorant’s Dream
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. —Antoine de Saint-Exupery Our cormorants are some of the...
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Cantankerous Puffs of Adorable
Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way. —John Muir We’re finally getting drenched with some much-needed rains in South Florida —...
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An Everglades Valentine’s Wish
Where there is love there is life. -Mahatma Gandhi Wishing you all a very happy Valentine’s Day from the Everglades critters! Mating Viceroy Butterflies (Limenitis archippus), Fern Forest Nature Center...
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It’s National Wildlife Week: March 17-23
It’s National Wildlife Week! [Click on images for greater clarity] The ridiculously adorable marsh rabbit baby in the Florida wetlands — or as I call them, swamp bunnies Founded by the National...
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