Fall

 

Happy autumnal equinox and the first day of fall (I had to look up if seasons are capitalized, although I suspect by now most of our English grammar rules have gone by the wayside.) 

For the past week, night temperatures have been below 75°. Back up to burning blazes during the day, but I can actually feel the weather changing. So different from South Florida. Time to plant tomatoes and trim the tropical sage.

Saturday, we went birding with Brady, the last of my purchases from Orange Audubon’s auction. Getting up at 4:45, we met Brady at the St Cloud Publix, transferred his gear to our truck, and headed for our first visit to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. On the way in, a family of caracara: mom and dad sitting atop a telephone pole with 2 juveniles foraging in the fields. The rest of the day we drove higher and yon, looking for red cockaded and red headed woodpeckers, success with both. 

At a boat ramp, we watched a family of mockingbirds with 2 fairly recently fledged young fly back and forth in the scrub. In the water, there were lotus and water lilies, a good chance to compare and contrast. Really nice to be able to move at our own pace and not chase numbers.

Back in the scrub, I spotted a pine lily, the image I have on my Florida Native Plant Society t-shirt. Now I don’t have to traipse through the scrublands trying to find one. I wonder if they would grow in my yard.

Since Brady directed me to turn left here, right there, I didn’t pay attention to where we were. I plan a return trip on our own, and using the GPS coordinates he sent me, have another look before hunting season starts.

Three weeks ago, Grant, Patten, Clara and I toured the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, a breeding facility created to reintroduce indigos to Florida’s panhandle and other parts of its historic range. This trip was also an auction purchase. Our guide Nick is a self taught snake and reptile wrangler, having started at Gatorland. So knowledgeable and so caring. 

We got to see the outdoor pens, the breeding facility (Think large drawers with big snakes inside), the quarantine area (Snakes get a type of food poisoning that is usually fatal, mostly from eating other snakes. The center is trying to find a cure.), and the offices where I got to choose a “piece of original snake art”, (A painting created by putting paint on a snake and letting it wiggle across the canvas. Unfortunately, unsigned.) 

The center is also breeding newts to reintroduce to vernal ponds. Clara fed brine shrimp to these miniature amphibians. 

Best of all, we got to name a baby snake. Patten wanted to acknowledge Spaulding’s snake phobia. I acquiesced and voted for “Uncle Bong”, which Clara had called him when she was little. However, “Spaulding” won out, and snake #999 now has its container and pit chip so written. 

Second best part was we got to hold a large indigo named Frog.