As with most wildlife photography, success can be hit-or-miss. After many forays into the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, a 400,000+ acre swamp located in south Georgia, there are days I fill SD cards to capacity, and days where I wish there was more to see than empty branches on tall trees. But never “write off”Continue reading “Now you see it, now you don’t…”
Tag Archives: iNaturalist
Clouds of Vapour from Their Nostrils
A favorite passage from William Bartram’s Travels, published in 1791. “I have seen an alligator take up out of the water several great fish at a time, and just squeeze them betwixt his jaws, while the tails of the great trout flapped about his eyes and lips, ere he had swallowed them. The horrid noise ofContinue reading “Clouds of Vapour from Their Nostrils”
Until Next Time
An excerpt from my March 2015 Okefenokee Journal: Thursday, March 12, 2015 – As the afternoon wore on and the cypress shadows lengthened, I realized we couldn’t paddle the full ten miles to Big Water and make it back before sunset. We paused to relax in the peaceful sanctity of the swamp stillness before turningContinue reading “Until Next Time”
Alligator Tail
An alligator is a whole lot of tail! Full of muscle and strength, the tail makes up half of an alligator’s total length and is designed for efficient swimming. The tail is laterally compressed (which means it is taller than it is wider) and is topped with tall crests of epidermal scales. This design meansContinue reading “Alligator Tail”
That’s the last time I saw that hog alive…
An excerpt from E.A. McIlhenny’s 1935 book, The Alligator’s Life History: “On one occasion I saw a Duroc boar hog that weighed not less than five hundred pounds caught by a large alligator while the hog was swimming across a stream about eighty feet wide. The hog had a regular crossing place at this point, andContinue reading “That’s the last time I saw that hog alive…”
Okefenokee Tiger Moth Caterpillar
The Okefenokee blackwater is decorated in the spring with the golden fingers and bright green plumes of the Golden Club plant (Orontium aquaticum). The waxy leaves are shed water droplets and always seem dry, hence the name “Neverwet.” As I had my canoe anchored on a bed of bonnet lilies to photograph some GoldenContinue reading “Okefenokee Tiger Moth Caterpillar”
Alligator’s Diverse Diet
As an iNaturalist project admin, I completed a review of over 19,000 American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) observations uploaded to iNaturalist between 2009 and December 31, 2020. Photographs which depicted an American Alligator eating a prey item were added to the iNat Alligator Appetites Project. The result revealed a gruesome smorgasbord of dainties enjoyed by thisContinue reading “Alligator’s Diverse Diet”
Okefenokee Gold Mine
The Okefenokee continues to make the news as conservationists sound the alarm against a proposal from Twin Pines Minerals to mine thousands of acres alongside the National Wildlife Refuge. This mining operation isn’t a modern day gold rush, but a search for titanium dioxide. Even so, there is Gold in the Okefenokee! A different sortContinue reading “Okefenokee Gold Mine”
Raptor Feast
This feast took place outside of the Okefenokee, but the hawk was so cooperative it just begged to be posted on the Okefenokee blog… Leaving my office in Walton County, Georgia, a Red-tailed Hawk was feasting upon an Eastern Gray Squirrel by the roadside. I pulled my truck closer and watched it tear apart itsContinue reading “Raptor Feast”
Okefenokee Zale Moth Caterpillar
How cool. I had no idea that the Okefenokee had its own moth! And I wasn’t even on the lookout for this little critter when I found it. My daughter and I were paddling north up the Suwannee Middle Fork (red trail) from Billy’s Lake. The run is usually quite wide, but at some pointsContinue reading “Okefenokee Zale Moth Caterpillar”
