In the early 1990s, when I should have been sitting in my college classes, I was usually out in the rural areas and swamps of Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas flipping pieces of tin and digging through piles of debris hoping to find snakes. Reptiles became a lasting interest, and much of what drew meContinue reading “Okefenokee Brown Water Snake”
Tag Archives: Nature Journal
The Heron is at Home
In 1895, naturalist Bradford Torrey wrote of the Green Heron being at home in watery woods such as the Okefenokee Swamp: “The day was before me, and the place was lively with birds. Pine-wood sparrows, pine warblers, and red-winged blackbirds were in song; two red-shouldered hawks were screaming, a flicker was shouting, a red-bellied woodpeckerContinue reading “The Heron is at Home”
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”
Outside the Okefenokee: Jorō Spider Invasion
Today’s post takes us outside the Okefenokee. But who knows if this foreign invader will eventually spread through Georgia and into the swamp??? Although it didn’t cause national hysteria like the beetle invasion of 1964 (or was it Beatles in the British Invasion???), I did happen to hear about the Jorō Spider invasion of 2014.Continue reading “Outside the Okefenokee: Jorō Spider Invasion”
Okefenokee Bonnet Lakes
In 1875, The Atlanta Constitution published the dramatic headline: “We now announce to our readers, and the people of Georgia, that we are fitting up an expedition for a complete and thorough exploration of Okefinokee. The full details of the plan and expedition will be published soon – if they come out alive.” Over the nextContinue reading “Okefenokee Bonnet Lakes”
Obliging Alligators
An excerpt from naturalist Bradford Torrey’s 1894 book, A Florida Sketch-Book: “The river in that part of its course is comfortably narrow,—a great advantage,—winding through cypress swamps, hammock woods, stretches of prairie, and in one place a pine barren; an interesting and in many ways beautiful country, but so unwholesome looking as to lose much ofContinue reading “Obliging Alligators”
Okefenokee Green Heron
An excerpt from my March 10, 2015 Okefenokee Journal; my daughter’s first trip to the Okefenokee. Tuesday, 4:13 PM – After pitching camp in the Stephen C Foster State Park campground, the game with my daughter was to see who would spot our first alligator. So we headed down the Trembling Earth Nature Trail andContinue reading “Okefenokee Green Heron”
Be Aware! Alligators Present
An excerpt from my March 10, 2015 Okefenokee Nature Journal: Tuesday, 6:35 PM – As the fading light of dusk was about to force us to our tent site, a couple walking up the road said, “There is a gator behind the boat barn. But be careful; he’s out of the water and he is biiiiigggg.”Continue reading “Be Aware! Alligators Present”
Outside the Okefenokee: Timber Rattler
The Timber Rattlesnake’s range extends from New York and down south into the northern part of Florida, including the Okefenokee Swamp. Today’s post features a find outside the Okefenokee from up in Walton County, Georgia between Atlanta and Augusta. An animal control co-worker texted me after-hours and said, “I’ve got one for you!” Along withContinue reading “Outside the Okefenokee: Timber Rattler”
Okefenokee Anticipation
Whenever an Okefenokee excursion comes to an end, I am immediately antsy about another trip. Typically I have to wait another year, but sometimes two! During the wait, the anticipation builds. I frequently gaze at the large fold-out National Geographic topographic map I purchased at the Stephen C Foster State Park trading post in 2015Continue reading “Okefenokee Anticipation”
