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 Cypress Dome after Wildfire - Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida At the end of last April, lightning ignited a wildfire in Big Cypress National Preserve, just south of Interstate 75 as it crosses the state. The fire burned for about two weeks and fire crews from the preserve worked hard to contain the fire. Now about 10 months later, I have been wading through the burned out dome photographing the charred trunks contrasted with the brilliant greens of new sawgrass growth.
 Dingy-flowered Star Orchid (Epidendrum amphistomum) - Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida This weekend I will be searching through Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve in an attempt to find blooming orchids of any variety. I have no idea what I will find or if I will find any at all. This isn’t the ideal time of year for some of the most spectacular species but there should be some in bloom and I’m here now so I’m going to give it a try.
 White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) feeding in swamp - Kirby Storter, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida White-tailed Deer live in the Everglades and Big Cypress but they are seen only occasionally. I probably can describe each and every encounter I had with them during my time down here in 2005. They are very secretive and aren’t out in the open much. I think that the tall grasses also help to hide them from visitors. Prior to this trip, I had only photographed them in the Everglades once and the image is far from special. The image I have been using in my book and whenver I talk about deer on my website is from farther north in Florida, though still in what would have been the historical Everglades. Now I have new images!
 Fog, Palms, and Prairie - Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida As I am always attempting to make interesting images out of difficult situations, I had to try this the other night when a heavy fog rolled over the prairie just after sunset. Before I explain what my goal for the image was, take a minute to study it. Now, click to read on and see if my idea actually worked.
 Female Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) - Eco Pond, Everglades National Park, Florida Last Saturday, I spent the day visiting Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Orlando Wetlands Park with a close friend of mine. Sean and I have known each other practically our entire lives and Sean is my only other friend who was interested in birds as a kid and will still go birding with me today. My dad joked that he should drive us on Saturday so that we could stand on the center console of his car with our heads sticking out the sunroof looking for birds. There was a time when we were kids that we both could do that at the same time. I don’t think we’d fit today. In any case, we headed off to visit some of our old haunts and track down a couple specific birds. Our goals included a White-faced Ibis at Orlando Wetlands, a Painted Bunting at the same location, and then just a swing through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see what else we could find. We got all that and more…
 Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) - Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Florida The Florida Dry Prairie is a rather nondescript habitat. It’s a big prairie of bluestem grasses and wiregrasses and palmettos. In fact, it’s not even really all that dry. At times it can be very wet, but its called a dry prairie simply because it is much drier than the wet prairies elsewhere in Florida. So what is special about these prairies? Well, they are home to sparrows, lots and lots of sparrows, but one of them is particularly unique.
We know that the Lake Wales Ridge harbors some really unique life and habitats. We know that the local scrub is regulated by fire. But what exactly is the prime habitat for the Florida Scrub Jay? Let me just show you… As you can see here, Florida Scrub Jays like low scrub habitat with a mosaic of oaks and palmettos growing under five or six feet. As the head ornithologist at Archbold said, “If you can’t see the horizon you aren’t in good habitat.” Typically this short vegetation has patches of open white sand in spots where you will often find Scrub Jays foraging for fallen acorns and insects. At first glance, wanting to live in a big wide open environment may not seem ideal. As a bird, you are easily exposed to predators from above. However, this is where Scrub Jays thrive, so let’s explore why.
As I continue to explore more and more habitats, I am continually amazed how many of them are dependent on fire for both formation and regulation. It is truly amazing the number and diversity of habitats that are classified as pyrogenic, meaning that they are entirely regulated by wildfire. The scrub of the Lake Wales Ridge is definitely one of those habitats and I’d like to use this series of panoramas to show you how. This first panorama isn’t exactly the most exciting image as it is directly on top of a road, but I am including it because it is illustrative. At this intersection, you can clearly see three different sections of scrub at different stages of fire succession. Looking straight ahead when the image loads, you’ve got a recent fire, less than a year ago. If you pan to the right and cross the first road, you see a taller patch of scrub. This patch burned about 8 years ago. Continuing to the right, you will cross another road and see an even taller patch that hasn’t burned for at least 25 years. Let’s take a closer look at each of these forests…
I spent a couple days at the Archbold Biological Station earlier this month working on a project focusing on the Florida Scrub Jay and its habitats. As I have previously written, this is the location for Florida Scrub Jay research and a prime location for the beautiful scrub habitat that these birds call home.
 Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) in the rain - Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, Florida The theme for my time here at Archbold Biological Station so far is rain, and lots of it. I arrived Monday about 8:00AM and it was sprinkling and it never really let up all day. Today, Tuesday, was a little bit better and I had a productive morning and evening with more rain in the early afternoon. Fortunately, I made the best use of that time and napped!
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