Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the Roseate Spoonbill as

"A bizzare wading bird of the southern coasts,...

...The Roseate Spoonbill uses it's odd bill to strain small food items out of the water....

It's bright pink coloring leads many Florida tourists to think they have seen a flamingo."

This bird is probably a juvenile or yearling, as the dark pink spot on the shoulder has yet to appear.

                                   

All About Birds link

Nature Works link....great site!

Borrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

Found here in Punta Gorda and Cape Coral, Florida.  This small owl lives in a borrow and is diurnal. 

Burrowing Owl link

Gulf Fritillary: Life Cycle of a Butterfly

The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) is a common butterfly here in Southwest Florida.  

Gulf Fritillary link

Early this spring I planted a Passion Flower vine to attract them to our backyard.  This has been extremely successful and I have watched the entire life cycle of this beautiful member of the Nymphalidae family.

Here is a courting couple.

Soon they were a mating pair.

The Fritillary's preferred larval food plant is the Passion Flower vine (Passiflora incarnata).

Passion Flower link

The female ovipositing eggs on the Passion Flower leaves.

The eggs are quite easy to spot.

The butterfly life cycle

The first instars are quite small but they grow larger quickly.

Butterfly gardening

Butterfly Guidebook

The chrysalis or cocoon.

Finally the emerging butterfly who will start the cycle again.

Butterfly garden really is fun and easy.  You too can have your very own butterfly farm!!!

Dolphins of Tampa Bay

Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are common marine mammals on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  The residents of Tampa Bay can usually be seen around the north fishing pier at Ft Desoto Park.

Bottlenose Dolphin link

The dolphin population population suffered greatly due to BP's oil disaster.....and continue to suffer high rates of morbidity and mortality.

Oceana.org Oceana.org is working hard to save both the dolphins and the Gulf of Mexico.  Please check out their website and sign the petition to Save our Dolphins.

Another great organization working to save Dolphins is

Mote Marine Laboratory.

Mote Marine Lab

Our friends the Dolphins will leap for joy when you assist these wonderful organizations.  We must speak out on their behalf as they cannot speak for themselves.

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Eastern Kingbird link

Spotted a pair on the beach at Fort Desoto Park, Pinellas County, Florida

Ft Desoto Park link

Great Florida Birding Trail

Zebra Longwing: Florida's State Butterfly

Watched a pair of Zebra Longwing Butterflies (Heliconius charitonia) feeding in the butterfly garden at the Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary.

Zebra Longwing

This impressive butterfly is Florida's State Butterfly.

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary link

Audubon of Florida

National Audubon Society

Audubon Field Guide to Florida

Butterfly gardening in Florida

Another fine day in the field!

Landscapes in Color and Black and White

Are you a fan or color or black & white?  Here are some landscapes in both styles.  These were taken on a summer evening at Webb Lake in the Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Webb Lake is a large man-made impoundment created when I-75 was built.  The interstate roadway required a huge amount of fill and the WMA was very smart to have a lake created in conjunction with the roadway. 

All about I-75