Sawgrass Lake Park the same day as the wood storks and great egrets.

I thought these were female mallards at the time, but it turns out that there is a related species, the mottled duck, which looks very similar.

This one has several male mallard characteristics, and seemed to be doing fine despite the slightly mangled bill.

Several limpkin were out that day.

Probably a palm warbler, in winter plumage they loose their chestnut cap.

There were at least five young alligators loitering together.

While we’re all waiting for my replacement kit lens to arrive after smooshing it last weekend, here are some wood storks and great egrets congregating in a pine tree near our home from early January. We generally see both species alone and on the ground, but the egrets have their flowing breeding plumage, so perhaps they were feeling more social.

Wood storks have such crusty, carved wax looking heads

I believe Mike had the camera for this one.

This here is a mole cricket.

They can dig, swim and fly.

On our first visit to Brooker Creek, we had to turn back due to standing water over the trail, plus a persistent following of mosquitoes. When we returned in the second half of December, the dry season here, the mosquitoes were absent, but the standing water remained. Judging from the aquatic plants, the water is permanent, which is great for habitat restoration, but then makes the trail maps available at the parking lot rather fanciful.

But along the boardwalk and the dry section of trail, the trees were filled with bird song. Most flitted beyond picture taking distance, and don’t stand in one place long enough anyway. But here is a black and white warbler which just caught a spider.

A robin and wood thrush hung a bit closer, though I had a branch in the way of the thrush.

We believe this is a bullfrog tadpole. The pool this one was in was home to at least a dozen of its siblings.

For Thanksgiving, we rented a cottage on Lake Rousseau. Looking west across the lake, the dock was a great place to watch sunsets. (Mike may have taken one or both of these, we were handing the camera back and forth.)

Southern watersnake, sunning itself our last morning:

We think this is a Dorantes Longtail:

Nearby, on the Oxbow trail along the Withlacoochee River:

Taken during the week of Thanksgiving.

Our first sighting of a Queen.

Probably a Phaon Crescent, though the markings don’t match our book exactly.

Carolina Satyr, taken by Mike.

Cloudless Sulphur.

Sleepy Orange

Our second sighting of a Rattlebox moth, taken by Mike

These damselflies may be Variable Dancers, taken by Mike