I've always so admired the spider webs I have seen you SMuggers capture, beaded with dewdrops. I never get to see them, as the air is so dry here that we seldom get that dewy look. Well, in Florida I happened to run across this dewy cobweb, and although it isn't the most perfect web, at least it had dew drops, so of course I had to shoot it. It was along the boardwalk in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in SW Florida, north of Naples. 5/20/22 www.sparhawkphotography.com
This is a view of Long Pine Key Campground in Everglades National Park, Florida. I birded this side of the lake, and was quite taken by the pines growing there. These are called Slash Pines, and at one time covered most of southern Florida, from the coast to well into the Everglades. It became prime real estate for Miamians, with the pines providing a source of wood for building, and most of the pineland woodlands were decimated by farming and development. Currently only about 20,000 acres of this unique pine habitat exist, almost entirely in the park, which once occupied 10 times this area--it is the most endangered pine community in North America. 5/19/22 www.sparhawkphotography.com
I had seen this species before, but never in breeding plumage, including the feather plumes on his back, on his head, the deeper blue feathers and the bright blue bill. It almost looked like a different bird from wintering individuals in San Diego. This one was photographed at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Del Rey Beach, Florida. 5/18/22 www.sparhawkphotography.com
