Nature Appreciation

[John Roberts]

Here is Gaillardia a butterfly plant....yellow variety

 

[John Roberts]

Here is one of my favorites.... A White Peacock Butterfly. The butterfly took a few rests allowing me to get a decent picture....I will post a few.

 

[John Roberts]

White Peacock Butterfly - side view

 

[John Roberts]

And the last of the White Peacock photos, at least the ones to be posted......
Doing what butterflies do best

 

[John Roberts]

Here we go....a native Anole...I knew I would see one eventually.
This guys can change color brown to green.....this one was on my hurricane battered Cassia alata.

 

[John Roberts]

Last of my Lantana shots.....unless I get one that is better ......my white Lantana

 

[done_got_old]

Last of my Lantana shots.....unless I get one that is better ......my white Lantana

Again, great pictures. Thanks

 

[TamedTiger]

I hear you!! I live in Southern Africa and our porcupine is the size of a mdium sized dog!

There are plenty of comments here about sunsets and sunrises - I've travelled a great deal and NOTHING comes close to an African bush sunrise/sunset - just truly stunning!!

Oh , and the wildlife is pretty good too!!

Pete

Southern Africa is where I had my unfortunate porcupine incident ... it was touch and go for a while there.

I have traveled a great deal as well, and the sunsets in Africa are spectacular.

 

[John Roberts]

Here is an Oxalis flower.....small not that striking until you look close.

 

[John Roberts]

Crackle....crackle.....hello LX international we have incoming....

 

[John Roberts]

The bees have been so busy....everytime I focus they are on to the next flower.....I will replace these shots when I get better ones.

 

[John Roberts]

Here are a couple of photos of Salvia plants....I believe they are Salvia coccinea the pink being a cultivar....the red is the straight species.......good hummingbird plants.

 

[John Roberts]

Here is the pink, my favorite....a bed of these things in full bloom knocks the eyes out.

 

[John Roberts]

Found this description on a birdlist........this is fascinating!


On the ground in a clearing under some Sand Pines_were at least 15 to 20
Pine Warblers very close together,_jumping up and down like jack-in-the-boxes.
(?)_ I then_noticed a much larger group of birds on the ground and in the low
brush_nearby._ This second_group_was made up of about 90% Pine Warblers-the rest
being a mix of Parulas, Redstarts, Ovenbirds, Black-throated Blues,
Yellow-throated Warblers, White-eyed Vireos, a couple of_Yellow-rumps_a Carolina and a
House Wren._ For the next 10-15 minutes, I consistently counted_50 to 70+
_birds- all at once!- within an area of no more than 5X5 yards.__

_

Hundreds and hundreds of termites were emerging_and flying very slowly
straight up from two holes in the ground about 10 feet apart. _The birds totally
ignored me and gorged on the little_white-winged critters; I was within 2-3 feet
of this frenzy!-_surrounded by birds. _They were picking bugs from leaves,
from the ground and catching most of them in the air!_ It sounded like
being_surrounded by a hundred Pistol Shrimp....snapping and snapping all around me._
The birds came within inches of my face, zooming back and forth_ hawking
termites.

_

At last the termites stopped coming out of the ground.....it became
silent....all the birds quickly faded into the woods._

 

[John Roberts]

Here is a link to a nice male Black-throated Blue Warbler photo.....

http://www.southfloridabirding.com/black_throated_blue_warbler.jpg

 

[John Roberts]

and here is a link to a female Black-throated Blue Warbler

http://www.southfloridabirding.com/black_throated_blue_warbler_female.jpg

 

[John Roberts]

And here is a great link for bird photos, anyone into birds will love this one. I might remind ya'll that these are for viewing only.

http://bkpass.tripod.com/floridabirds.htm

 

[John Roberts]

Another great bird story from a bird list. Note that the ships position is at the end of a 500 mile open stretch of water which these birds have just flown.....Some of these birds loose a third of their body weight making this trip.

I just returned from a seven day cruise on the Carnival Inspiration out
of Tampa.
Last Friday evening we sailed into the cold front that had just come
through Florida. It was 9:00 PM, we were fifty miles out of the Port of
Costa Maya which is on the Yucatan Peninsula headed back to Tampa. I was
walking on the upper deck, star gazing when I felt a sudden drop in
temperature (about ten degrees). The wind started to blow very hard and
then it happened. Thousands of migrating birds began to circle and zigzag
the ship. They were obviously attracted to the ships lights cause they
would circle and dive into the lights. Most just flew through and over
the decks but many were so exhausted that they were flying into the side
of the smoke stack and some were landing on the decks. Passengers were
picking them up and holding them in their hands. Of the fifty or so that
landed on the deck I saw Scarlet Tanagers, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks,
Swainsons Thrushes, Tennessee, Chestnut Sided and Worm Eating Warblers,
Yellow Throated Vireos and Empidonaxes which I couldn't identify. This
went on for about twenty minutes. Then we must have passed through them
just as a torrential rain came down. Just before the rains I saw and took
pictures of a Tennessee Warbler as he landed on a plastic cable cover,
walked around it till he saw an opening and got inside the cover,
snuggled up and decided to ride out the storm in the warmth and dry
shelter that he found for himself. Latter on that evening at midnight, I
checked on him again and found him still snuggled up and sleeping. The
next morning it was once again a clear and beautiful day and the
Tennessee Warbler must have recovered and gotten his strength back cause
it was gone. Unfortunately I recovered seven dead birds during my morning
walk around the deck.

During the day I met a couple who said they had seen a small bird flying
around the Casino and another man told me he had seen a bird flying
around the piano bar. I can now understand more clearly how Florida and
other areas get species of birds that neither breed nor winter there.
There's no telling how many other cruise ships and freighters encountered
this same phenomenon and are now relocating various species of birds
throughout the world.

 

[lilyfeet]

What a Fabulous Thread!

Once upon a time, when the internet first started, this was the type of Board I was looking for....and I all I could find were teens with foul language and bad spelling.
Hurrah for you, John Roberts (and a special hurrah for Literotica!)

When I have friends that vacation in far-off places, I often ask them for a gift...and before they get that Oh No! look in their eyes, I ask them to find a beautiful, natural scene, and think of me. To memorize the sights, sounds, aromas and emotions and to say "This is for J__"
When they return, over a glass of wine, cup of tea, they recount the experience. I have had many friends thank me for making them stop and truly enjoy a scene, vista, moment...as if they needed the permission or reminding! I get such delights in their recounting of the special moment:

Most recent: Traveling by train through British Columbia, grey and rather overcast, steep hill to one side.... rounding a bend... the sun breaks through the clouds to shine brightly over a huge expanse of daisies, with small blue flowers peeking out among the yellow and white - far as the eye can see, all gently framed by mountains in the distance. Aahhh.

Lilyfeet

 

[TamedTiger]

lily - I like this thread as well. Not many people truly take the time to appreciate the beauty of nature.

John - I really like the photographs with the bees.

Since the above few posts were about birds ... I'll share my experience.

I was staying in Poland for the summer, near the Baltic sea. The place where I vacationed is a peninsula - the Baltic sea on one side, and a bay on another. Really quite beautiful.

One morning, I had gotten up at around 5:00 AM. Instead of going to the beach to watch the sunrise, as I usually did, I went to the bay. When I got there, I saw that in the water there were, literally, dozens of swans. All of them were grouped together in a large cluster. Some were still sleeping on the shore, but most were lazily swimming in the bay.

When the sun began to come up, their feathers reflected first pink, and then, progressively, a stunning gold, until finally, they burned a beautiful, almost dazzling white. It was really quite a sight. Especially when they began to ruffle their feathers, and clean themselves. Because of the changing sun on their feathers, it was like watching an exotic bird from another world. A colorful chameleon of sorts.

Truly an incredible sight. I watched them for a good three hours before people began to congregate, and the swans dispersed.

I went back every morning after that, but I never saw them again.

 

[John Roberts]

lily - I like this thread as well. Not many people truly take the time to appreciate the beauty of nature.

John - I really like the photographs with the bees.

Since the above few posts were about birds ... I'll share my experience.

I was staying in Poland for the summer, near the Baltic sea. The place where I vacationed is a peninsula - the Baltic sea on one side, and a bay on another. Really quite beautiful.

One morning, I had gotten up at around 5:00 AM. Instead of going to the beach to watch the sunrise, as I usually did, I went to the bay. When I got there, I saw that in the water there were, literally, dozens of swans. All of them were grouped together in a large cluster. Some were still sleeping on the shore, but most were lazily swimming in the bay.

When the sun began to come up, their feathers reflected first pink, and then, progressively, a stunning gold, until finally, they burned a beautiful, almost dazzling white. It was really quite a sight. Especially when they began to ruffle their feathers, and clean themselves. Because of the changing sun on their feathers, it was like watching an exotic bird from another world. A colorful chameleon of sorts.

Truly an incredible sight. I watched them for a good three hours before people began to congregate, and the swans dispersed.

I went back every morning after that, but I never saw them again.

Thanks for sharing Tamed Tiger, it sounds beautiful.

I had a similar experience here in Florida.......some of the types of herons and egrets gather together in larger groups when it is close to breeding time, I guess it is to find mates...
a couple of years ago I was at the right place at the right time and saw75+ Great Egrets in a small area.... all those white birds were beautiful....my Sony Mavicka was not up for the task..the picture did not turn out.... <grinning> maybe this year I will capture such a moment.

Thank you Lilyfeet for your kind words. Love to have people like yourself enjoy this thread and share their experiences.

 

[John Roberts]

An Osprey on Merritt Island....not a good shot but a beautiful bird.

 

[John Roberts]

Here is my best bee shot to date.

 

[TamedTiger]

Here is my best bee shot to date.

Very nice!

 

[John Roberts]

A short trip to the St.Johns River flood plain produced some pictures.... The first a Cooper's Hawk