Tag: brown anole

Riding Out the Storm

March 15, 2020

Osprey on the wing

In the ten days since I last posted, so much has happened here in the states (and all over the world) in terms of the Coronavirus. We are officially in a ‘state of emergency’. Schools, libraries, restaurants and churches have closed all across the country for an indefinite period of time. Broadway has closed, Disney World has closed, New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled and the Boston Marathon has been postponed!  And this is only the beginning!

Anhinga and a Boat-tailed Grackle
Osprey with his ‘catch of the day’
Brown Anole and a Peninsular Cooter

For many people, this emergency presents a severe economic hardship, for others, it is just an inconvenience, and for some, it will be a death sentence.  

Little Blue Heron and a Tri-colored Heron
Common Moorhen

Pine Warbler and a female Boat-tailed Grackle

In order to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, to ‘flatten the curve’ as they say, we are being asked to limit our contacts with other people, to practice ‘social distancing’ as much as possible. For Mel and I, the changes will be minimal. We’re retired. We won’t have lost wages. We won’t have young ones at home who need childcare, and we won’t have elderly parents in our care. In fact, at ages 66 and 73, we ARE the elderly!!  

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and a Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Carolina Wren and a Loggerhead Shrike

For our part, then, we’ve stopped going to the coffee shop, stopped going to restaurants and stopped going to any stores other than an occasional visit to the grocery store. What we haven’t stopped doing is going out for walks.  

Brown Pelicans
Brown Pelican diving for dinner!
Ring-billed Gull and a Ruddy Turnstone at the Venice Beach

I am beyond thankful that we, as a nation, haven’t yet been  restricted from leaving our homes like other countries have had to do. If this becomes necessary, we would readily comply, but home confinement would, no doubt, stress the limits of my ability to stay sane– or even pleasant! 

Purple Gallinule and a Green Heron
Wood Stork
Lesser Yellowlegs and a Great White Egret

My picture walks are an antidote to all the upheaval. They keep me interested, excited and connected to the world around me—they keep me healthy. So, I am hoping I won’t have to give up my walks during this crisis, and that they will continue to do what they have always done, which is to save my sanity during these very troubled times.  

Great Blue Herons about to mate
All done!
Limpkin and a Little Blue Heron

For those of you who are housebound or otherwise unable to spend time with Mother Nature, I hope the pictures here provide joy or, in some way, pique your interest in the wonders of the natural world, and that they will help you ride out this storm!

Hello Sunshine!

February 5, 2020

Great Blue Heron on Ollie’s Pond

After months and months of dreary Michigan skies, it was a welcome relief to finally arrive in Florida for 10-weeks of respite. It’s not that I don’t like winter, I actually love the snow; but in Michigan, it doesn’t come often and it doesn’t stay long. Most of the time it turns to slush. The straw that breaks the camel’s back, though, is the never-ending days of gray. I can live with the slush, but it’s hard to forego sunshine day after day.

Anhinga
I totally missed this alligator at first, thinking it was a rock!
Green Heron and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Osprey (Mel’s shot)

So, for the last four years, we have loaded up our cameras, fishing gear, inflatable kayaks and our two very old dogs to head south, to sunnier skies, to warmer days and never ending picture opportunities.

Blue-winged Teals
Tri-colored Heron and a Wood Stork
Little Blue Heron
Brown Anole and White Peacock Butterfly

We arrived at our rental destination late Monday afternoon and I could barely contain myself. I was so tired of sitting in the car for days on end that I could hardly wait until Tuesday morning to go for a picture walk! As soon as the sun was up, that’s exactly what I did.

Osprey makes a ‘one-handed’ catch in Ollie’s Pond!
Mottled Duck and Common Moorhen
Juvenile White Ibis
Gulf Fritillary and a Monarch Butterfly

My first picture walk on Tuesday morning was around the wonderful little Ollie’s Pond. Later in the day, I went to the Larry Taylor Kiwanis Park not far from our rental. Today, Mel and I went to two more parks. After months of relative blight in Michigan, I felt as if I had won the lottery: Cormorants, Anhingas, Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Mergansers, Little Blue Herons, Tri-colored herons, Blue-winged teals…the list was almost endless.

Female and Male Hooded Mergansers at Kiwanis Park
Muscovy Duck at Kiwanis Park

Cabbage Palmetto and Rosary Pea Plant

I was simultaneously overwhelmed and rejuvenated with all there was to see!