Archive for ‘Observations’

Two in the Bush

Yesterday morning I joined the St. Petersburg Audubon Society for a bird walk at Fort DeSoto. It is one of my favorite parks in the county and I’ve been there dozens of times, though I usually beeline for the beach.

We were hoping to spot some migratory birds before that season winds down. The group explored areas of the park that I had not previously visited which yielded some good birds, including two lifers for me.

They were both Anis, one Groove-billed and one Smooth-billed. Interestingly, they were hanging out together (almost literally in the same bush) even though neither one is really supposed to be here.

Roughly the same size as a Common Grackle but with a slightly disheveled appearance and sporting unmistakable bills these members of the cuckoo family spend most of their time on the ground, hunting for lizards and other tasty treats in the shrubbery.

Our group was quite fortunate that the birds flew up into the bushes and gave us great looks right after we arrived at the thicket. The folks who were there before us had been waiting over 30 minutes for them to pop up!

It was another wonderful visit to Fort DeSoto Park. The 1,100+ acre slice of paradise protects the southern end of the Pinellas Peninsula and humans and wildlife alike are so fortunate it exists!

May 6, 2026 0

Cat-astrophe Averted

Westley’s new favorite toy was overloved recently (he literally beat the stuffing out of it). This is one of the toys that I have to put in a drawer at bedtime, otherwise neither of us gets any sleep – him from incessantly playing and me from the noises he makes as he runs into furniture and walls during the chase. 😹

The mouse required minor surgery because of all the roughhousing. As you can see in the first photo, Westley was mightily concerned during the procedure. Thankfully, the patient had a paw-sitive outcome!

My relieved (and slightly impatient) cat grabbed it from me and immediately put it in play. Worth the little bit of effort to make him happy, though I wonder how long it will last this time…

May 1, 2026 0

Stop, Thief!

While checking my bird feeder videos the other day I noticed a couple crows acting suspiciously. After zooming in, I watched one of them carefully select a flattened glass marble from my bee bath. The crow then flew over to a nearby bird bath and dropped it in the water.

I can’t imagine why the crow would do this, other than just goofing around. I thought I had noticed fewer glass marbles and now I’ve identified the culprit. I wonder if my neighbors have been finding random glass marbles in their yards?

April 28, 2026 0

Supervising Me is Exhausting

While painting in my backyard the other day, Westley sauntered over to inspect. He gave it his stamp of approval before crashing out for a hard earned nap.

Apparently, supervising me is exhausting (as most anyone who knows me would probably attest). 😹

April 26, 2026 2

Along Alligator Alley

In Florida, if I say Alligator Alley most people think of the stretch of I-75 that cuts through the Everglades. However, I much prefer another Alligator Alley, a lakeside trail at Circle B Bar Reserve. Last week I was fortunate to attend a special tour of the roughly 1,300 acre former cattle ranch.

I left home before dawn for two reasons, I was hoping to avoid the worst of I-4 traffic and I wanted to walk the loop before joining the tour. Since my last visit two years ago, not much has changed (which is a rare thing here in Florida).

The trail was fairly busy, with quite a few photographers in the mix. As I passed by two young men pointing into the water, I overheard their excitement at seeing their first alligator. They certainly came to the right place, Circle B is loaded with them!

I enjoyed the tram tour, not only was it informative but it took me into an area I had not yet explored (plus we spotted a Barred Owlet).

After the tour I decided to hit the loop one more time before heading home. And I’m so glad I did! Since it was closer to midday, there was hardly anyone else on the trail. I went the opposite way and was rewarded with wonderful wildlife moments: an absolutely massive gator (roughly 15′ long), a raccoon looking for food, a turtle laying eggs, and a squirrel feasting on vegetation.

So thankful that areas like this have been protected!

Florida Softshell, Laying Eggs

Squirrel, Eating Greenery

April 23, 2026 0

Days Like This…

I woke up yesterday morning and decided I really didn’t want to tackle my long list of chores. Instead, I checked my weather apps: sunny, low 80s, light breeze. Then I checked the tide chart: rising tide. In other words, a perfect morning to kayak out to Shell Key.

I loaded up my gear and 45 minutes later I was paddling on glassy water. Since it was still early I pretty much had the place to myself and it was just glorious! The water in the gulf was incredibly clear and sparkled in so many shades of blue.

I wandered the beach for a couple hours before reluctantly tearing myself away. I snuck into a couple shady mangrove tunnels on the return trip (it’s easier for me to find the openings on the way back than it is on the way out). Talk about timing, right after popping out of the last one I was treated to a dolphin show.

There were four of them, circling in the water (rounding up a school of fish). I was excited to see that one of them had a torn dorsal fin, I first met her three years ago in the same area. How do I know she’s female? Last year, she had a baby dolphin with her! As the pod headed south a couple of the dolphins launched themselves out of the water – I think they were having a good morning, too!

April 18, 2026 4

Feeder News

I check the videos that my bird feeder camera has captured every day. Grackles star in roughly 85% of the videos, but with a bird that colorful, I really don’t mind. It appears grackles are learning to share. Well, technically, the other bird species have finally figured out that they need to bully their way in or they’ll never get to eat.

I’m always excited when the camera catches a new species at the feeder: male and female House Finches, female Northern Cardinal, Eurasian Collared-Doves (including one mated pair with a leucistic female), Mourning Doves, and I was over the moon to even see a Carolina Chickadee drop in a few times (a first for my yard)! As for the Fish Crows – they barely fit on the feeder and they definitely don’t share.

I was much less excited to witness an invasive European Starling at my feeder. As you can see, grackle did not cede territory easily. Thankfully, starlings have remained few and far between.

April 17, 2026 0

Wandering in Parks

On my days off I’ve been taking advantage of our mild Spring weather (knowing full well that heat and humidity are on the way) by toting my camera around various local parks. Our usual Spring blooms have been muted by the ongoing drought but there were still other signs of Spring.

At Booker Creek Preserve, a Wild Turkey tom loudly strutted his stuff in a nearby fallow field. I was impressed, though it didn’t seem like any of lady friends were. In the distance a pair of Sandhill Cranes were feeding, they likely had colts with them but sadly they were too far away for me to see.

At John Chestnut Sr. Park I was captivated by a squirrel exerting great effort to harvest dried fruits from a bush. I still don’t know what kind of a bush it was but apparently, it produced delicious fruit. While strolling along the boardwalk I had to watch where I put my hands as the park was literally crawling with tussock moth caterpillars. They may look cute and fluffy but those fuzzy hairs are defensive. Reactions to touching them range from irritating to downright painful (and I was not interested in finding out).

At Sawgrass Lake Park a noticeably large squirrel on a tree trunk caught my eye and its curious behavior drew me closer. The squirrel was intently gnawing the bark. After watching, I surmised that she was pregnant and was selectively chewing that section of bark for either the sap or insects inside, presumably needing extra nutrition for gestation.

I never know just what I might see in my local parks!

April 16, 2026 0

Alachua Savannah

After leaving Palatka I drove west toward the broad Alachua Savannah, south of Gainesville. I stopped and explored at two connected sites; Sweetwater Preserve and Sweetwater Wetlands. Both are roughly the same size at 125 acres but they are owned by different government entities, protect different kinds of habitats, and are therefore, managed differently.

The Preserve encompasses a stretch of Sweetwater Branch (a small creek) with narrow, dirt trails that wander through an upland forest. In contrast, the adjacent Wetlands are a series of highly engineered water retention basins that serve as a natural filtration system to improve water quality before it flows into Paynes Prairie and the Floridan Aquifer.

I weathered the hottest part of the afternoon next to the quiet creek in the shady Preserve before venturing over to the wide open Wetlands. As is usual with man-made waters- if you build it, wildlife will come. The tall berms between basins afforded not only great views of wildlife but of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park to the south as well.

I spotted dozens of species of birds and quite a few alligators as I strolled the along. It was difficult to tear myself away but I still had a 2.5 hour drive. It turned out to be a good thing that I left when I did as my route home from the Wetlands paralleled Paynes Prairie State Park and there was enough light left to spot a herd of horses from the roadside lookout.

It was my first time seeing some of the wild-roaming Florida Cracker horses and I enjoyed watching the interaction of the band. The mares, and last year’s young (which was still trying to nurse), were carefully watched from the side by their stallion (there was another small band in the distance that he kept a wary eye on). I had surmised he was a stallion by his stance and thick neck but then he relieved himself, letting it all hang out which erased any doubt (see photo above).

Even though much has changed in the Alachua Savannah during the past 250 plus years, William Bartram’s description of the area from 1774 still holds true: it is a vast, fertile savanna surrounded by forests, teeming with cattle, horses, and wildlife.

April 14, 2026 0

Cow Crossing

My destination the next morning was Ravine Gardens State Park near Palatka. The park was on my list of places to explore for two reasons; it was a New Deal era project (one of nine in the state), and it’s one of the few places in Florida that has some natural topography.

The 152-acre park encompasses two ravines that were carved through the soil by Whitewater Branch, a spring-fed creek. In 1933, at the urging of Palatka residents, the Civil Works Administration began a beautification project that turned the ravines into a terraced garden. A year later the Works Progress Administration took over and planted thousands of azaleas on the steep slopes.

In its heyday, the blooms would start in late February and continue through early May. It must’ve been just stunning (see copy of historic postcard above). Sadly, the gardens have fallen victim to the massive funding backlog of the Florida State Park system. The park put up a sign stating they are letting nature take its course, which I can see making sense along most of the steep slopes (though leaving large, downed trees across trails is a bit of stretch – that’s not nature, that’s a safety hazard). However, in the formal garden and picnic area there is no reason not to restore the lush, historic landscaping (especially since there’s plenty of fresh water onsite).

While I was disappointed in the overall state of the place, one item in particular piqued my interest, a sign about William Bartram. His spot in history was earned as the first naturalist to document Florida. In 1763 Great Britain acquired the land from Spain and in 1774 Bartram was hired to provide a detailed report on their purchase.

Since waterways were the easiest way to traverse the land’s dense vegetation, much of Spanish development centered on the St. Johns River and its tributaries. One of Bartram’s stops along the St. Johns was Palatka.

Wanting to learn more about Bartram’s adventures I headed to the town’s waterfront. Though the location was already occupied by a thriving Seminole village, the current town’s name derives from its import as a Spanish cattle ranching hub. Palatka was mangled from the original Seminole, meaning cow’s crossing.

When Bartram arrived in April 1775 he was impressed by the Seminole village’s acres of cultivated crops (including oranges, corn, beans, melons, and tobacco). He established a good relationship with the villagers, enlisting their help in finding new and interesting flora and fauna for his report. His odd requests earned him the Seminole name, Puc-Puggy (Flower Hunter).

From his nearby home base, Bartram ventured upriver to Blue Spring. It’s odd to call a southern location upriver but the St. Johns is distinctive in that it flows from south to north. Though the term flow is generous, over its entire 310 miles the river drops less than 30’. Battling the current is not the issue but wayfinding is, especially in the Upper Basin where the river fans out to include 13 lakes. One of the lakes, Lake Hell ‘n Blazes* the headwater of the river, earned its colorful name because it was so notoriously difficult to navigate.

Bartram wrote about his Blue Spring trip in his Book “Travels”, relating that a wolf stole fish from his campsite and large alligators almost capsized his little boat (the last is not surprising since his trip was during alligator mating season). He also ventured west, out to the Alachua Savannah, which funnily enough was where I was headed next…

*A popular curse from the early 1800s.

April 12, 2026 2

3rin's View…

My Online Cabinet of Curiosities