Visibly different, part 31


I have to confess that I started writing this a few weeks back, and then sat on it to hit the 20th anniversary (more or less) of this image, since it was taken sometime in August, 2002. I’d only been living in Florida for a few weeks then, and on wandering along the ocean in Indialantic, I found a starfish washed up on the sand, missing two arms. It was the first I’d read more

Profiles of Nature 49

By now, you’ve determined that there is no way to sneak a peek around the corner of a blog to see if a post really is here without it noticing you in return, so you might as well stop embarrassing both of us with even trying. It’s Thursday, we don’t miss deadlines, and we certainly aren’t inclined to have any mercy and give you a break. Just the thought of it makes us want read more

Some quick closeups

Last night I did another check at the nearby pond, not just seeing how active the treefrogs were, but also looking for other, aquatic subjects. They weren’t hard to find, but my first surprised me a little.


This is a juvenile painted turtle (Chrysemys picta,) and unless I miss my guess, it’s this year’s brood, judging from the lack of ridges on the scutes read more

Giant iridescent mosquitoes!

That… is a phrase that should become a new curse. Let’s start the ball rolling.

While I was working on the car yesterday, The Girlfriend’s Younger Sprog drew my attention to a giant mosquito that was sitting on the windshield, wondering if it was a crane fly. A close examination of the surprisingly cooperative insect lent weight to it being an actual mosquito, albeit a very large read more