Author Archives: makielb

Traveling in the South – Apopka Wildlife Drive

The Apopka Wildlife Drive, which is open only on weekends is one of my favorite places to visit when we are in New Smyrna Beach. The birds are rather tame and close to the roads like this Anhinga. Another Anhinga having a lunchtime snack. A Bald Eagle on nest and an Osprey on nest withContinue reading “Traveling in the South – Apopka Wildlife Drive”

Traveling in the South – Time for a Bioblitz

Sunset the other night as Susan and I were settin up moth sheets at the Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The bright object in the sky is Mercury. Perhaps our most interesting moth was a Four-spotted Palpitha Moth.in a flowering shrub near one of our set-ups. During the day we found EchoContinue reading “Traveling in the South – Time for a Bioblitz”

Traveling in the south – Visiting a waterfowl preserve

The ever-present Myrtle Warbler. There’s a big problem in southern wetlands. The non-native invasive Gray-headed Swamphen (right) is displacing the native Purple Gallinule (left). Red-shouldered Hawks are common in Florida. These two birds were perched some 100 m. apart. The one on the left in a non-adult, while the one on the right is anContinue reading “Traveling in the south – Visiting a waterfowl preserve”

Traveling in the south – Sugar Mill Gardens

Live oak covered with Spanish moss (not a real moss but a member of the genus Tillandsia, which makes it a flowering plant. There is also ball moss (another Tillandsia), resurrection fern and some Florida butterfly orchids as well as lichens. This tree is a true ecosystem onto itself. Here is a mix of ballContinue reading “Traveling in the south – Sugar Mill Gardens”

Traveling in the south – A day at the Atlantic shore

We spent the day traveling on the beach at New Smyrna Beach and at the Canaveral National Seashore. we managed to fins a great variety of plants and animals, including this armadillo. Not far from the armadillo we found a gopher tortoise. Brown anoles are much easier to find than green anoles. Amont the interestingContinue reading “Traveling in the south – A day at the Atlantic shore”

Traveling in the south – some sketches

Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers have been our constant companions the past four days. And they will probably be the most numerous warbler for most of our trip. Once we were in southern pines Pine Warblers became quite common. Yellow-throated Warblers are one of the least common warblers that we’ve had so far. But they should beContinue reading “Traveling in the south – some sketches”

Traveling in the South – birds and more

Boat-tailed Grackles are now an everyday sighting. Having seen our first Eurasian Collared Dove of the trip, these are now being seen daily. I wish that we were seeing Loggerhead Shrikes daily, but these are rather sporadic, unlike many years ago. An American Widgen is always a treat. Reddish Egrets are one of my favoriteContinue reading “Traveling in the South – birds and more”

Traveling south – another day

Susan had a sheet set for moths and the moth trap set. In the morning I managed to get a few photos of moths after we had breakfast. This Red-patched emerald was my favorite of the morning. After eating lunch we went back to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge where we had another fun afternoon. ThisContinue reading “Traveling south – another day”

Traveling south

As I am sitting here writing we are on the fourth day of our trip south. The drive through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia were easy and occasionally interesting. We always stop at the Tennessee Welcome Center on I-75 because they have nice bathrooms and a nature trail. It’s always where we find the first warblersContinue reading “Traveling south”