New Underwater Camera Setup

This week I received my eagerly awaited new underwater camera equipment. After first setting everything up on land, the following day I headed to Ichetucknee Springs to test it out underwater. This post details my new setup and its performance in the field. Prior to getting my new setup, all my underwater photography and video […]

North America’s ancient freshwater fishes deserve respect

On a foggy January morning I walked a riverbank in north central Florida, with telephoto lens around my neck and fishing pole in hand. I stopped to photograph a river otter as it bobbed and weaved amongst the riparian structure, hunting for fish. Herons lining the bank occasionally squawked, protesting my presence. It was the […]

Bison and wild horses in Florida

There is a place in Florida where wild American Bison and horses roam free. This place is Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, a 23,000 acre seasonally flooded prairie just outside Gainesville. Here, I have had numerous encounters with wild horses, but until recently the Bison offered only glimpses at great distance. But that changed this […]

The aquatic ecosystem of an abandoned swimming pool

In late April of this year, I found a Florida softshell turtle trapped in an abandoned outdoor swimming pool. In a previous post, I recount how I drained the pool, captured the turtle, and returned it to the nearby lake from which it came. This pool is part of a shuttered hotel, and is near […]

Microfishing an urban Florida canal

Microfishing refers to a specialized form of angling in which very small fish species are targeted using miniature tackle (i.e. short rods, light line, and tiny hooks). The technique was developed in Japan, where anglers target the miniature Japanese Bitterling (also referred to as Tanago). This niche style of fishing has recently been growing in […]

La Chua Trail

A persistent dilemma for the traveler is whether to visit some place new or return to a place you have visited before and like. Of course, different individuals weigh these options differently. At a broad scale, two extremes could be: visiting the same place for vacation every year, versus always visiting someplace new. On an […]

Water birds in close proximity to alligators

In Florida, I frequently see water birds in close proximity to alligators. We can define ‘close proximity’ as less than one alligator body length away. I find this curious, as alligators do occasionally eat birds. So why aren’t birds more wary of alligators? I know I am not the only one who finds this situation […]

Alligator Diet Observations

The question of what alligators eat has mostly been addressed through stomach content analysis. A sample of dead alligators, often harvested by hunters, have their stomachs opened, and all the prey items contained within are identified. Another approach involves capturing live alligators and removing their stomach contents through pumping or the Hose-Heimlich technique. This avoids […]

Dry Season Everglades

Before moving to Florida, I wasn’t aware of how distinct the wet and dry seasons were here, and the profound effect this has on the landscape and wildlife. The wet season is summer, and the dry season is the rest of the year. It still rains in the dry season, but substantially less than in […]

Rescuing a Florida softshell turtle from an abandoned swimming pool

It is springtime in north central Florida and that means female turtles are moving about on land looking for nesting sites, and alligators are active. A week ago, I was walking along the edge of a lake, past a long-ago shuttered hotel. Out of curiosity, I took a look in the abandoned and partially filled […]