January 3, 2015
My somewhat serious resolution for the upcoming year is to increase the frequency of Volusia Naturalist posts. To that end, I’m initiating the year with a new type of post – an image gallery. For those times when I don’t have much to say, but want to share some photos of my adventures.
The photos in this set were taken over several days just before the new year. All of the photos are hyperlinked to larger versions. We spent most of our time in the Fargo area, at Stephen Foster State Park, with one afternoon trip to the east side of the Okefenokee at the Suwannee Canal Recreation Area, near Folkston.
A gray morning in the Okefenokee Swamp. This is in Stephen Foster State Park, on the west side of the Okefenokee.
The habitat surrounding the swamp is overwhelmingly dedicated to 20-year rotation timber farming. This includes a significant acreage in Okefenokee NWR. This is a tract of young slash pines that have been thinned and burned. The profuse pale fuzzballs are seed heads of Pityopsis graminifolia.
This Google Earth image shows part of the entry road through Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (177), leading to Stephen Foster State Park on the western side of the refuge. The Suwannee river near its origin in the Okefenokee is visible above the road. The long straight line in the NE quadrant is the Suwannee River Sill, a several-mile long levee built in the 50’s to control outflow of water from the swamp into the Suwannee. This was an attempt to reduce fire frequency in the swamp during dry years by keeping more water in it. It was a failure. Notice that nearly all of the habitat that isn’t wetland is covered by plots of timber at various stages of the harvest cycle.
Alligators were out basking on this gray day. These beasts are in the canal paralleling the Suwannee River Sill.
Great blue heron in the swamp. Notice the fire-scarred trunks in the background; many of the plant communities in the swamp are fire-maintained.
The canal leading from the boat basin in Stephen Foster State Park to the Billy’s Lake section of the middle fork of the Suwannee River.
White-tailed deer were common and tame around the cabins at Stephen Foster State Park.
Red-shouldered hawks were abundant, many hunting the the grassy shoulders of the entry road.
Sweetgum
There were only a few hours of decent sun, on Tuesday afternoon, during the 3 days we were there. This pine forest with cane understory is from the Suwannee Canal Recreation Area, on the east side of Okefenokee.
From the Swamp Wildlife Drive in the Suwannee Canal Area.
A magnificent 3/4 mile boardwalk into the Chesser Prairie area of the Okefenokee provides stunning views of this landscape still showing the effects of the 2011 Honey Prairie fire, which was allowed to burn. Charred posts from a previous boardwalk are still present.
Chesser Prairie, from the boardwalk.
Eastern phoebe from Chesser Island.
Way too distant shot of a male northern harrier, from the boardwalk. I don’t see male harriers often, though females and immatures are common in winter in Florida.
Pig frog? Active in the last week of December. Ranids in Pennsylvania can only dream about that shit.
Interesting assemblage of insects in the unwet portion of a water lily leaf. There’s a little water strider (Gerridae) in the notch, a small fly (Ceratopogonidae?) above it, and a “herd” of what look like some kind of leafhopper or planthopper nymphs. You have to click and see this at maximum resolution to see any detail in these tiny insects.
The diversity of fungal structures in this rotting branch was impressive. I have no idea how many species of fungi are visible here.
Swamp doghobble, Eubotrys racemosa. These are young flowering spikes that will bloom sometime in early spring.
The last afternoon we were there produced the best light of the trip. This shot of the Okefenokee from the boardwalk at Stephen Foster State Park was taken in late afternoon, as the window of sunshine was getting ready to close.
Golden afternoon light can make any shot look decent, but with this kind of view, it’s like taking candy from a baby. Which I’ve never done.
Frequent posts from you will be very much welcome, Dr. Pete. Bring ’em on even with abbreviated thoughts.
Overcast conditions often seen this Winter so far can benefit photography at any time of day as you appear well aware.
Be sure to have safe and rewarding adventures in the new year.
Thanks, Bob. A happy and safe new year to you as well.
These are great photos, Peter! I like the new posting system. I particularly like the frog in this set of photos!
Thank you, Wink
Beautiful! Every one.
Thanks, Dinah
Peter – your photos are magnificent and give me the sense of being in the special places you share. I like the new style of post – you know the “picture is worth a 1000 words” saying. Thanks for sharing your adventures in the natural world.
Thanks for your thoughts, Marianne. The “thousand words” offered by a picture beat the hell out of a thousand real words of my bloviation.
So happy to have stumbled on this website on my way to researching a future field trip. Your Florida photos spoke to my heart! Archie Carr was my Zoology prof back in the day…a bit before yours. And, yes, he was one of my heros, too. I was there at UF when the State made the decision to dam the Oklawaha and go forward with the Cross Florida Barge Boondogle. The whole UF Biology department let out a huge cry of mourning as if their very bodies were being sacrificed. Sad day…and the scars still remain. Kudos to the late Mrs Dr. Carr for her valient efforts to reverse the evil.
Back to your nature photograpy…it tugs at my heart strings to see these wonderful natural places that make up the real soul of Florida. I guess we can stretch North Florida into South GA to include your fantastic shot taken on that golden evening in the Okeefenokee. In an earlier day…I was once privileged to paddle that river from Stephen Foster Park to the town of Suwanee 230 miles…quite a 20-mile-a-day haul in a November hunting season. GA and FL hunters firing across the banks…dogs baying. “The water was low, and the current was slow…so I had to dig my paddle in…me and ibuprofen, my best river friend!” Loved the Ogeechee Tupelos coming out of GA! Again, thanks. Now back to “Long Leaf Pine in Volusia”.
Heartfelt thanks for your eloquent words, Sonya.
I was trying to find some info on a naturalist, John Serrao, that I knew, and took classes from, in the Poconos of Pennsylvania a couple of years ago. I heard he had moved to Florida. Somehow, your website came up when I Googled him. What a wonderful find! Your photos are magnificent. I have visited many of the areas you show from numerous trips to Florida over the past many years, and love your exquisite precision with your camera. (Can you detect the envy in my comment?) I am looking forward to reading through all of your posts. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for taking the time to do this.
Jane Frye
Thank you, Jane. You are welcome. I haven’t had time to post recently, but maybe your kind words will motivate me to do so. I’m going birding/herping/spidering with John tomorrow. I’ll tell him you mentioned him.