Author Archives: birds n' bugs

Unknown's avatar

About birds n' bugs

Retired, living in SW Florida and spending my time at nature photography in my local area. I volunteer with a couple of local organizations to help my adopted home town. Travelling is now by airplane and car instead of a sailboat but happy anyway.

Peace River or Peas River?

Posted on 2013/09/28 by birds n' bugs

An interesting cross cultural homonym (well, almost). Punta Gorda lies on the shores of the Peace River.  That is the English translation of Rio de la Paz as the Spanish named it.  The indians had a name for it too.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Flower | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Close encounter with a Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Posted on 2013/09/24 by birds n' bugs

I started to walk out onto the boardwalk in Ponce de Leon park the other day.  Just as I stepped on it I saw a Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the railing looking intently into the mangroves.  I stopped and got … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, Bird, Park - Ponce de Leon | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dragonflies and a foot with the V1 and 55-200mm combination

Posted on 2013/09/19 by birds n' bugs

This is still one of my favorite shooting combinations for my morning walk.  I generally put the V1 with the FT-1 and Nikkor 55-200mm over my shoulder and carry the SB-N7 flash and a Raynox 150 achromat close-up lens in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bug, Camera Gear, Photography, Shooting closeups | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Magnolia and bedraggled bees

Posted on 2013/09/18 by birds n' bugs

The Magnolias are in seed now.  Just one of the signs of a change of season in Florida.  In the summer we had the magnificent white blossoms which attracted so many bees.  Now, those blossoms have become seed pods.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, Bug, Flower | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

So, I added an avatar

Posted on 2013/09/04 by birds n' bugs

and didn’t realize at the time that if was from a picture from a post in 2007 in regard to our local eagles.  That was in regard to their first nest.  It was destroyed in a windstorm and they moved … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, Bird | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A couple more unknowns

Posted on 2013/08/21 by birds n' bugs

We’ve just spent some time in the north Georgia mountains near the North Carolina border. The weather wasn’t fully cooperative but I did find some interesting things on my walks. I noticed some specks of red in the moss and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fungus | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A small morning fungus

Posted on 2013/07/21 by birds n' bugs

I haven’t identified this small fungus yet. If anyone can tell me what it is, I would appreciate it. EDIT – I found out from fungaljungal.org that this appears to be the mushroom formerly known as Coprinus plicata. I see … Continue reading →

Posted in Bug, Fungus | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Six-spotted Fishing Spider – Dolomedes triton

Posted on 2013/07/17 by birds n' bugs

Just a quick post. I found this nice specimen of a fishing spider at Audubon-Pennington park in Port Charlotte. Apparently this species goes through a brown phase and a black and grey phase. I’ll keep an eye out for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Park, Spider | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Tiny Bee Fly – Bombyliidae

Posted on 2013/07/13 by birds n' bugs

I happened to be making a run to the recycling center yesterday and took the opportunity to stop by the Audubon-Pennington Nature Park in Port Charlotte FL. Since it was midday I didn’t expect to see many birds but the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bug, Park | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Blue Dasher – Pachydiplax longipennis

Posted on 2013/07/10 by birds n' bugs

The Blue Dasher is a very common skimmer dragonfly. It’s found almost everywhere in the US. I ran across this male today in the county Extension Garden on Florida Avenue. He seemed quite happy to pose so I took advantage … Continue reading →

Posted in Bug | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment