Critter Porn!

Due to popular request, I have finally reinstated my Critter Porn page. Enjoy!

New! July 9, 2018 - Gulf Fritillaries bumping uglies.

New! July 9, 2018 - Variegated Fritillaries getting it on. I swear the one
on the bottom is showing her "O" face.

February 27,  2017 So, these 2 Mallards were getting down in Easy Street park....

February 27,  2017 ...when this other Mallard came by and wanted to get in on the action... oh my. I never thought about how ducks mate, but I certainly didn't expect them to have HUGE tackle like this. At least we now know why it's called "Easy Street Park"

March 6, 2016: Great Egrets gettin' jiggy!

Lubbers in Love

Yellow-bellied Sliders having a 9-way

Red-bellied Woodpeckers getting down

Technically, mushrooms aren't critters, but this really looked like porn to me.

Cuban Anoles, doin' the nasty right out in public.

Viceroy Butterflies, grooving

Sealion orgy

Birds do it, bees do it, other bugs might as well too.

Gulf Frittilary Butterfies getting as passionate as butterflies get. 

Unidentified mushrooms

April, 2018 - Palm Bay, Turkey Creek Sanctuary

April, 2018 - Palm Bay, Turkey Creek Sanctuary

November, 2017 - Sebastian, country park behind tennis courts

November, 2017 - Sebastian, country park behind tennis courts

November, 2017 - Sebastian, country park behind tennis courts

November, 2017 - Sebastian, country park behind tennis courts

Announcing my new meetup group

Hey, kids, remember DeeMotivation? I have decided to resurrect it on Meetup with a new name. Join my new meetup group, FOWL (Fat Old Walking Ladies) for scheduled walks and birdwatching. First walk is tomorrow at Riverview park in Sebastian.

From the group description:

FOWL (Fat Old Walking Ladies) is a group where we (a bunch of fat old ladies) will get together to walk/birdwatch maybe even PokemonGo - anything to get us out and get moving. I will schedule walks on weekday mornings in the Fellsmere-Sebastian area, with occasional longer walks on weekends further away. I try to get in bird watching when I walk, and sometimes pokemon, but prefer to stick to just hatching eggs when walking for exercise.

For those of you who used to come out for DeeMotivation walks, consider this DeeMotivation: The Next Generation!

Rare Bird Alert!!!

I saw what I thought at first was a Belted Kingfisher on my feeder. Then I realized that the color and size were totally wrong. I'm pretty sure that it's a type of Roller bird. Can anyone confirm the species?

Plant ID Backlog

So, I have a backlog of plants for my daily blog that I am not entirely sure of the species ID.  Would appreciate some help. I need to learn how to ID plants that don't have flowers on them, any  resources you can recommend for that would be great too.  Thanks so much!

Click on photos to enlarge.

1.  Location: Lake Apopoka, in water. Possibly some type of Oxalis, but they don't seem to grow in water.
2. Location: Lake Apopoka, in water. Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
3. Location: Lake Apopoka, in water. Marsh-pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata)
4. Location: Blountston, Florida. Yellow flowery thingie?

Costumes

These are some of the costumes I have. I also have a cow but it's not really a native critter. Click to enlarge. (Note: I swear I'm not as grumpy as I look in these pictures. )

Northern Cardinal. Works best with a black turtleneck.

Sunflower. I have 2 of these.

Blue Jay

Greater Sage Grouse, breeding. This might not work as it's not native to FL.

Black Widow Spider

Cardinal and Blue Jay, action shot.

Bird of Paradise, might not work, is not native to FL.

Need help identifying some bugs...

Click on pictures to enlarge. Thanks to anyone who can give me a positive ID!

I took this first picture at Sebastian Inlet. Honestly, I'm not sure if they are even bugs. They might be a little tiny shrimp?



I found this little spider (body is about 3mm, from longest leg to longest leg a little over 6mm) in my bathroom. I think she might be a Asagena fulva. Someone suggested it might be a male Steatoda grossa, but I don't think the coloring or size is quite right - this was super tiny.

The following set aren't as high quality pictures, but I think they show the color and body shape a little more accurately.