Tag Archive | Nature Story
Have You Ever Seen a Grackle Fish?
During a recent trip to a restaurant on King’s Bay in Crystal River, Florida, I walked out on the dock where boat-tailed grackles were having their dinner too. I watched them strike the water to snatch small baitfish from the water and perch on the posts and railings of the dock where these birds and […]
The Non-Native Beauty
In my daughter’s Maryland spring backyard, I discovered a dainty blue wildflower growing in the shade cast by trees and in the shadow of a wooden fence that borders her property. With scalloped leaves and four petaled flowers, the slender speedwell thrives in the moist soils here. A non-native, this plant traveled from Europe to […]
The Tick Terminator
Looking out my Florida room window into my backyard, I was pleasantly surprised to see North America’s only marsupial in my garden – the opossum. Normally, nocturnal, it must have been hungry to be out during the daylight scavenging for a bite to eat. There is plenty to munch on – frogs, lizards, snakes, large […]
The Noisy Hawk
Stepping out of my Florida home one morning, I hear the scream-like call of the red-shouldered hawk, a species known for its loud raucous cries and sharp whistles that can be heard from a mile away. I watch it fly over our homes and into a laurel oak tree where it rests briefly then flies […]
British Soldiers
I love finding a bit of color in the drab winter landscape. The eye-catching British soldier lichen pops out in the winter woodlands. It grows on fallen decaying logs and tree stumps. Lichens are two organisms that live together for the benefit of each other. Microscopically, you would see a fungus with algae growing on […]
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