Temporarily Homeless, But Relocating

We had four sizable trees taken down recently. There were three water oaks and one huge hickory. It was quite a noisy undertaking.

When the last one was down, we discovered a three and a half foot gray rat snake in our back yard, all but still. It had really good camouflage. It finally slithered into a perennial bed that has plenty of cover.

If you click on the pictures, you can see how emaciated it was. Hope it has found some food since spring has begun.

The Late Bloomer

Late in the fall, a parent at school brought in two chrysalids of giant swallowtails butterflies that she had discovered on her very thorny citrus tree. One hatched within a reasonable time. The other appeared dead for weeks. And then one day in February, we had a butterfly!

The top and the underside are so very different. 

Our patience paid off.

The Boy Visits Our Garden

We took the boy out to see the vegetable garden. He liked pulling up carrots, cutting broccoli and breaking off collard leaves.

Love this picture below of the guys sharing the load of the bounty.

More Training

That same trip to St. Marks, we  hiked down the dike  in front of the lighthouse. At low tide there are always discoveries to be made.

Training Up the Child

There had been a recent prescribed burn down at the lighthouse when we were last there. We took the little hike around the visitors' center.

The new grass was already breaking through the charred ground. 

A nice snake skin was a great find.

But we also came upon a nice, medium-sized gator, that was the king of his very own, tiny sinkhole.

One For the Life List

On a recent trip to St. Marks, B and I added a bird to our life-list. Now to say we have a life-list sounds like we are much more serious birdwatchers than we actually are!

It was B who spotted the bright little vermillion flycatcher as it fed on tiny insects above the wetlands.

Posing Peacocks

One morning on my country drive to school, my eye was drawn to the top of a high oak, where the sun had already begun to warm the frosty morning. There, perched, was a snow-white albino peacock. It is all of six feet in length. 

Since that time, I have seen it and its colorful friends roosting many mornings. One Saturday morning, I made the drive specifically to photograph this unique sight.  This time, they were in a pine. Because this is across the pasture, I brought along the tripod so that I could zoom in with more clarity.

I am not altogether sure if the bird below is a female (peahen) or if it is a guinea. 

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