Gary
Foggy Morning
A dense fog forms overnight along the west coast of Florida. It lingers until late morning giving me an opportunity to snap a few photographs along the edge of Lake Tsala Apopka in Citrus County. It is a surreal landscape, quiet, misty, and subdued. The water laps gently along the shore. I hear the plop […]
Parasitic Birds
Brown-headed cowbirds came to my bird feeder yesterday. I am not a fan of this bird because it is responsible for the decline of many species of warblers. Cow birds were once restricted to the prairies of the mid-west. Although cowbirds eat seeds, insects are a significant part of their diet. These bird followed the […]
Wintering Chipping Sparrows
For me, seeing chipping sparrows in Florida in the middle of the winter is strange. That’s because when I lived in New York, the chipping sparrow was an indication of spring, not a sign of winter. Chipping sparrows returned from their southern wintering grounds in March. The sparrows built flimsy stick nests in the white […]
Looks Like a Duck, Acts Like a Duck, Swims with the Ducks, But It’s Not a Duck!
This small slate gray duck-like bird with a white beak is often mistaken for a duck because it is seen in and around our waterways. But if you look closer at its feet when it walks out of the water you will see this bird lacks the webbed feet that ducks have. It is the […]
The Christmas Wreath Lichen
This is a common lichen here in Florida. It grows on the trunks of oaks, cypress and palm trees. Another common name for it is baton rouge lichen a French term for red stick. Some tree trunks become so covered with this fiery red lichen that they look like large red sticks. This species (Cyptothecia […]
naturechirp 