30 Days in June: Day 16, San Felasco State Park, North Entrance

It's Hot! Treefrog in San Felasco State Park Bathroom Sink

Photo buddy Maralee and I began our Tuesday adventure by tidying up some loose ends. We stopped at Cellon Creek Blvd. on our way to the North Entrance of San Felasco Hammock State Park to try to see those darned Northern Bobwhites. We rolled down the car windows and heard them calling immediately after turning onto the road. They were there and as infuriatingly impossible to spot as before, calling from either side of the car. I wondered if Mockingbirds have been known to mimic the call, because that would help explain why I can look and hear and look again and not see one. After listening and searching the bushes for a while, finally Maralee took matters into her own hands and walked out into the brambles to flush them out. She is a true friend. 10 minutes later, success! Finally I can check &$%@ Bobwhites off the list. I have to say, though, that it wasn't nearly as satisfying as just finding a happy quail strolling down the road and having a nice long look. But after searching for so long I was not in the mood to be picky.

We also saw Northern Rough-Winged Swallows and watched an adult Eastern Kingbird feed its chick, and got several nice looks at Eastern Meadowlarks and Loggerhead Shrikes. It was a good start to a hot morning.

Rough-winged Swallows

Eastern Kingbirds

The North Entrance at San Felasco State Park has bicycle and horse trails. In the spring and fall it is a wonderful butterfly, bird and wildflower spot. In the summer, it's kind of quiet. We walked for over an hour and saw very few animals, most of them in the cool of the shaded woods. It was just too hot. We surprised a Bluebird coming out of its house and spotted a Yellow Billed Cuckoo in the treetops. Cardinals and Chickadees were hopping around from tree to tree and a Red Shouldered Hawk flew over and landed beyond the pond. The wildflowers, however, were thriving in the heat. This has been a good year for Paw Paw, Milkweed and Showy Milkwort. We walked through fields of Daisy Fleabane and saw Pitted Stripeseed and Ladiestresses Orchids.

Pitted Stripeseed (Piriqueta cistoides) and Bee Fly

Ladiestresses Orchid (Spiranthes sp.)

Grassleaf Lettuce (Lactuca graminifolia)

Pinewoods Milkweed (Asclepias humistrata)

Daisy Fleabane Field (Erigeron annuus)

The find of the day was a Tawny Emperor Butterfly that landed and opened and closed its wings for about 10 minutes while we snapped photos. Neither of us had seen one before and it was exciting. But stopping and concentrating on getting the photos left us both sweating and tired and we realized that it was time to head back. It was nearly 100 degrees.

Tawny Emperor Butterfly

Back in the car and driving out of the park we spotted a Kestrel on the power line and we let out a weak little cheer, but were almost too wiped out to get too excited.

Total count: 90 birds, 20 Natural Areas

Just Be

Today I went to NATL on the University of Florida campus. For those of you who don't know the place, NATL (Natural Area Teaching Lab) is an outdoor environmental education laboratory for "teaching students and the public about ecology and biodiversity" right on the UF campus. It's located behind the Performing Arts Center and the Natural History Museum, and is near campus buildings, sports facilities and busy city roads. NATL is a little gem in the middle of town. There are 4 types of habitat represented in NATL--upland pine, hammock, old-field succession, and wetlands. There is so much diversity in this little parcel, and I try to visit as often as I can. Every time I go to NATL I find something new and exciting. It's an excellent location for wildflowers, butterflies, insects and spiders. I've seen some great birds there, and recently there have been deer reported. I didn't see deer today, but I did see hoof marks!

NATL has a very special place in my heart because this is where I found my calling and love for natural history and environmental education. Many years ago, I responded to an ad in the Gainesville Sun. The Florida Museum of Natural History was seeking Docent Naturalists to lead children in outdoor nature programs. I didn't have a background in nature education, but somehow this seemed like a perfect description of what I wanted to do. The nature programs were taught in NATL and over time I became very familiar with it. We taught hundreds of school children and summer campers about insects, trees, habitats and other aspects of the natural world. I was a docent naturalist with the Museum for many years and loved it. This morphed into many more years working professionally as an environmental educator at the Museum and at Morningside Nature Center. Along the way, I learned that I am fascinated by the natural world and want to know as much about it as I can. Through work and my time as a volunteer, I learned more about the natural history of Florida.  I took classes and became a Florida Master Naturalist. I began to take photographs to record what I saw and to help me learn. And I found that I love to share what I've learned. So I keep returning to NATL because it fuels my jets. Every time I visit, I come home tired, sweaty, bug bitten (today it was fire ants), and full to the brim with wonder and excitement for what I've seen that day.

I arrived at the boardwalk of SEEP (the Stormwater Ecological Enhancement Project--a retention basin project that represents the wetlands portion of NATL) at about 9am. I didn't know what I'd see today. It was a little too early to see many butterflies, so I kept walking until I was on the boardwalk over the deeper water. We've had a lot of rain in the last 2 months, and the wetlands are full of water and insect life. As I looked around, it became clear that today's theme would be dragonflies! Dragonflies of every size, shape and color whizzed around me. Some stopped and perched on grass stems plants sticking out of the water. Others, like the Common Green Darners, patrolled back and forth. There was a lot of mating going on, too, and pairs of joined dragonflies would zoom by, dip into the water, and fly off again. Often the pairs were chased off by the territorial Darners. It was all moving so fast that I could hardly see it, let alone focus the camera. But I decided that my goal for today would be to get a photo of a dragonfly hovering. I also wanted to catch a photo of one of the mating pairs in mid air or dipping in the water. They were everywhere, how hard could it be?

Roseate Skimmer Perching

As it turns out, it was really hard. I stood for 15-20 minutes, tracking and missing whizzing dragonflies. After a while my head started to hurt. It was hot and sunny. I was so frustrated. Every time I aimed, it was too late. They are so fast! Then I got an idea. I'd sit on the edge of the boardwalk, focus on one spot in the water and just keep the camera aimed there and would snap anything that flew into my frame. I snapped a lot, but nothing was working. The dragonflies were everywhere and I had zero pictures. Just then, after watching my spot through the viewfinder for 10 minutes, I realized that all along there had been smaller dragonflies buzzing and hovering 3 inches from my head and arms. They zoomed all around me. It was almost as if they were teasing. I could feel the wind of their wings on my arms. It was then that I had a revelation. I was never going to capture a photo of a dragonfly by hunting it. Dragonflies move fast. They are the hunters. That's how they work. The little dragonflies were sending me a message. I had to be open to what was around me, and not try to determine ahead of time what I wanted to happen. As hard as I might try, I cannot control nature. If I go out with the intention that I will achieve a certain outcome, in this case, catch dragonflies in mid air, I'm going to be disappointed and will also miss all the wonderful things going on around me. I realized that I would get the best pictures by being open to the opportunities as they arose, not by forcing a situation. After this realization, I felt more relaxed and happy. I looked up and saw a tiny turtle slip into the water. I looked over the pond a saw a Tiger Swallowtail in the Pickerel Weed.  Instead of feeling pressure and disappointment, I saw opportunities. 

Isn't this just the way of life? When we can give up that need to control, and instead just accept what comes, things are always so much better. This is also a good lesson in being present. By focusing so much on where I wanted to end up, I was neglecting what was right in front of me.

Tiger Swallowtail in the Pickerel Weeds

I walked back on the boardwalk with new eyes and passed another arm of the wetland buzzing with dragonflies. And these ones stayed put. I took lots of the pictures I'd been struggling so hard to catch only moments before. I'd just happened on them. I turned my head and saw a hawk sitting in the trees. Butterflies, frogs and bugs in the bushes. Red tailed hawks overhead. And just up the walkway I saw a Florida Mud Turtle trotting down the trail. All I had to do was be in the moment, and everything came together. Another lesson from the earth.

Mating Common Green Darners

Hawk in the Bushes

Giant Swallowtail

Green Treefrog

Mating Delta Flower Scarab Beetles

Red Tailed Hawks

Florida Mud Turtle