Gary
The Beautiful Banded Sphinx Moth
When Anne takes the mail out, she calls me from our front porch. “I know your foot hurts, but you might want to bring your camera,” she tells me. Having just injured my right foot, I hobble over to the love seat, grab my camera and painfully limp over to the front door. To my […]
Cut-leaf Morning Glory
During a recent walk in a park here in Florida, Anne pointed out these beautiful morning glory flowers growing on intertwining vines that climbed on the shrubs of the woodlands. The blossoms were white with a splash of magenta in the center. Its leaves were intricately cut – finger like. Seed capsules hung off the […]
The Venomous Caterpillar
During a recent trip to Prospect Mountain in the foothills of the Adirondacks in New York, my grandchildren found black and white fuzzy caterpillars climbing on the rocks near the top of the mountain. I cautioned them not to touch these hickory tussock moth caterpillars because its hairs can attach to your skin and inject […]
How Sheepshead Got Its Name
When I grew up on New York’s Long Island, I knew of a town called Sheepshead Bay. I incorrectly thought it was because the community raised sheep in colonial times, but the town was named for the abundance of an edible fish in the bay there called Sheepshead. The fish got its name because of […]
Gentle Giants
We have seen them at Sea World and at Disney and even in zoological parks and they are impressive animals, but it is thrilling to see the West Indian manatees in the wild here in Florida. Manatees thrive in freshwater springs, salty bays, and river systems throughout Florida eating plants including sea grasses and freshwater […]
The Terrestrial Duck
Unlike other ducks that keep to the water, the black-bellied whistling duck prefers to roam the edges of lakes and ponds and in fields where it forages for plants and seeds. While vegetation is the main diet of this bird, it will also eat snails, insects and other small life. It often perches on tree […]
The Falcon That Eats Carrion
Though the crested caracara hunts for reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and small mammals, its primary diet is dead animals. You can often find them foraging for food on the ground and can be seen eating carrion with vultures. These raptors live in open savannah areas in northern South America, Central America, Mexico, Cuba and in […]
