Please welcome Lorrie Muldowney, this month’s guest blogger. When we go on walks she identifies the birds we see – and here in the March 2021 Saturday Morning Magazine blog she introduces you to her love of birding.Photographs of owl,…
Sanibel and Captiva Islands Have a Serene Side
Sanibel and Captiva islands. Ah, say those words with me again. Sanibel and Captiva islands. What images come to mind? Sun. Sand. Shells. Got it. The unwritten rules of travel writing require me to put sun, sand and shells high…
Alafia River State Park has Epic Bike Trails
Epic.Now there is a word you do not hear very often.But you hear it often at Alafia River State Park, a reclaimed phosphate mine with some of the most challenging elevation changes in the state of Florida. The park is…
Explore the Wild Side of Englewood
Englewood, Florida has a wild side. I’m thinking parks and beaches and dining discoveries. What were you thinking? Moving right along – Swim, paddle, board a boat, walk, run, amble or meander, it all works in Englewood. Day of Discovery…
Flamingos Come Home to Roost
Flamingos are flamboyant, funky and famous. Who knew they are now considered Florida natives? Hunters and poachers did in the population in the 19th century. From then on, captive flocks, a tourist attraction around the state, settled in as THE…
Florida State Parks are Calling Your Name
I LOVE FLORIDA STATE PARKS Yes, I do. Deeply. Passionately. Just thinking about taking my dogs for walks on dirt trails shaded by tall trees or getting my wading shoes wet climbing in and out kayaks for river trips makes…
Sunken Gardens Grows Lush and Exotic
Two words perfectly describe Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg – lush and exotic. What, you say, is it still there? Oh yes, Sunken Gardens, an old Florida family roadside attraction, is still alive and thriving right in the middle of…
Finding Flamingos in Florida
When wild flamingos showed up in South Florida last spring birders of all levels got pretty excited. And why not! The flamboyant birds with pink feet, long legs and even longer necks plus a body feathered in a brilliant hot…
Birds and Birders Flock to Florida
The guide sang out “LBB at 2 o’clock.” Birders with binoculars swung them up tight to their eyeballs and looked off the right. But no, not me, I am standing there clueless. This was my first bird walk. I have…
Great Florida Birding Trail attracts visitors
The photographer, wearing multiple cameras, walked towards me grinning. Cameras with long lenses worth more than the national debt of medium-sized third world countries hung from each shoulder. “Well how is it?” I asked, holding just one camera in one…
Florida birding festivals take flight
Somewhere in a drawer or under a pile of file folders you can, with a little luck, locate your wish list of adventures in Florida you haven’t done yet. Oh, I know you have one. Yep, I’ve got one of…
Bird Sanctuaries Fill a Need in Florida
Can you roll your R’s and say these words – Rescue – Repair – Rehabilitation – Release? Say them with me now. Congratulations, you’ve just described the amazing world of bird rescue. And, you can go see this world in…
DeLeon Springs Boat Tour shows history’s wake
Breakfast at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant inside DeLeon Springs State Park is an event. The tables have built in griddles. Our waitress showed us the button to turn on the griddle (gee, that was the hard part, it…
Native Plants Bring Birds & Butterflies
Jeff Nurge went native eight years ago. He planted native flowers, bushes and trees in an effort to attract wildlife. You can’t really tell from the front – native trees and bushes are spaced apart. It is the sides and…
Florida Books – five fall favorites
School has started. You know what that means. In the morning, after the macaroni munchkins are gone, you may even have a few minutes to yourself. And the weather is trying to turn towards fall. Cooler days suggest that outdoor…
Seeing Sandhill Cranes at Paynes Prairie
The air is alive with noise. All around us on Paynes Prairie near Gainesville it sounds like a thousand squeaky doors swinging open and shut on their hinges – creak, creak, creak. Noise surrounds us. We can’t see the noisemakers…