July 16, 2017 - Florida - Not Birds

Here are a few non-bird photos that I took during January and February while we were in Florida. When the humidity is high during the night, water droplets accumulate on spider webs. The next morning, before the water droplets evaporate, the webs are quite visible and you realize there are lots of them around. This web was photographed right outside the house that we rented. It reveals the beauty and intricacy of the spider’s work.

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The Chapman Botanical Gardens are located in Apalachicola, Florida. At the entrance to the gardens, there is a small pond full of Yellow Water Lilies. This turtle, a Suwanee Cooter, was sunning itself among the lilies.

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I couldn’t pass up this image showing two Suwanee Cooters apparently providing support for each other while they napped.

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When Diana and I visited St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, south of Tallahassee, there were many of these insects flying around. I’m not very good at identifying insects so I posted a photo on one of my favorite websites, BugGuide.net, asking if anyone could tell me what it was. The man who identified it as a Paper Wasp said it was his favorite wasp of all time. He wanted to know where I had seen it so he could go hunt for it.

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This Sea Purslane plant was growing on the St. George Island beach in front of the house where we stay. It has thick, fleshy leaves like a succulent plant and a pretty little pink flower.

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One morning I was out birding early enough to watch the sun rise like a fiery red ball. This photo was taken at a place called Bottoms Road near Panacea, Florida. There is a tree silhouetted against the sun and a bird is sitting at the top of the tree. It’s so far away that I can’t positively identify the bird but when I enlarge the photo it looks like it could be an Osprey.

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