A perfect orb of feathers, a male yellow warbler sits on a branch in a large shrub. Like a tennis ball with a beak and feet. #birds

Another nine-banded armadillo, this one crossing the grassy trail ahead of me. These guys barely open their eyes.

Yesterday I barely saw a single bird, but there were nine-banded armadillos everywhere, at least half a dozen along my hike. Here one sits up on its hind legs, its head pressing up against a small tree trunk.

A morning view down the Rainbow River from the springs. I didn't have a wide lens handy, so I just snapped a shot with my phone.

Gotta say, I watched this today and I really enjoyed it. Some beautiful bird videography, but also genuinely funny and, of course, ridiculous. Definitely a road trip movie as much as a birding documentary.

A yellow-throated warbler sits atop a broken, dead tree branch at sunrise. #birds

This would be a neat photo if not for those blades of grass in the way. An American bullfrog hangs out underneath a stick at the edge of a tiny pond.

I saw this bird craning its head to look at me, standing on a branch behind some foliage, and I got really excited because I didn't recognize it. And as is so often the case it turned out to just be a juvenile of a bird I often see: a white-eyed vireo whose eyes have not yet turned white. #birds

Looking back towards the camera, a tufted titmouse stands on a shepherd's crook, ready to spring down to the feeding station below. #birds

Sometimes you just lose a day to trying to identify species. Pig frogs and American bullfrogs have very small differences (the extent of toe-webbing; how pointed a snout is; the patterning on a portion of the frog nobody ever gets to see). I'm going American bullfrog here.

As I scanned the marsh, I saw a purple gallinule that wasn't walking atop vegetation like purple gallinules usually do. Then I realized its stature was off, and finally I noticed the beak and legs were the wrong colors. An invasive gray-headed swamphen striding through the shallow water. #birds

A male red-winged blackbird sits atop some cattails, which are starting to lose their fluff. #birds

A roseate spoonbill stands on one leg at the edge of the marsh, its foot submerged and reeds in the background. #birds

A closeup of a great egret preening at sunrise. #birds

Another female yellow warbler posing nicely for me while clinging to a tree twig. #birds

This purple gallinule was plucking blossoms off the alligator flag and dropping them into the water below for the young one to collect and eat. #birds

I continue to spend way too much time relating to the frog. #birds

A female American redstart popped out of the foliage just long enough for me to take her picture. Very frustrating birds to photograph. #birds

A closeup of a barn swallow that was hanging out on the boardwalk railing. #birds

Just finished reorganizing all 7,500 photos in my database. To celebrate, here's yet another snowy egret, this one flying low over its reflection in the water after pulling up a fish. #birds

The boat-tailed grackles are all mid-molt right now, so you'll see some looking a tad patchy. Posing atop a shrub, here's a female whose collar is looking particularly frayed. #birds

A great egret stands on the boardwalk railing in the warm glow of sunrise. #birds

Another image of a snowy egret pulling a fish out of the water mid-flight. #birds

A green heron scans the water below for signs of fish. #birds

A snowy egret comes up from the water with a small fish, a splash behind it and a reflection below. #birds

A female yellow warbler poses nicely for a portrait while clinging to a twig in a tree. It's always nice when a warbler gets close enough that you don't need to crop. #birds

I remembered some guys. Presenting: Every running back the Detroit Lions drafted in the first three rounds after 1989 and before 2023.

My benchmark for Mets relief pitcher trade deadline acquisition gone horribly, horribly wrong has been Billy Taylor in 1999. Taylor might be off the hook.

I'm rich in snowy egret photos right now. Mid-flight, a snowy egret splashes through the water and pulls up a small fish, droplets flying everywhere and a long, wet plume wrapping around its head to obscure its eye. #birds

Yesterday I got to see something I'd yet to see: a line of snowy egrets, all hunting in the same fashion. They'd fly low over the water, dragging their feet through the water to stir up fish and herd them in the proper direction before plunging their head underwater to make the grab. #birds

A Carolina chickadee perched on a tree branch against a green background. #birds

I spent an hour this morning watching about a dozen snowy egrets hunt this morning, and I've got a lot of photos to edit. In the meantime, here's one picking up a fish from the water mid-flight, wings stretched out and a small splash below its feet. #birds

I got a much better shot of my pal this morning, and on further inspection I was wrong. It's just a small green tree frog after all.

A black-crowned night heron standing on a concrete wall overlooking a pond. #birds

I've spotted this tree frog--pretty sure it's a squirrel--on this palm frond each of the last three trips to the preserve.

Sleepy oranges emerge like clockwork in late August near me, building to a crescendo over the first two weeks of September. Here's one resting on the underside of a blade of grass against a backdrop of leaves.

Warblers have been popping up for a couple weeks now. While prairie warblers do have breeding populations down here, I chiefly see them in winter, and I was able to nab this photo of one perched on a twig in an oak tree yesterday morning. #birds

A wood duck in eclipse plumage floats on a muddy pond in some morning light. #birds

I'm perhaps a little cooler on a lot of the Mets' current crop of prospects than many, but I am excited to see Tong in the bigs.

A black-bellied whistling duck landed beside me to pose for a portrait. #birds

A zebra longwing, the state butterfly of Florida, visits a firespike blossom.

A great blue heron hanging out in the shadows along the edge of a pond on a bright, sunny day. #birds

Here's a photo showing the massive size difference between a golden silk orbweaver and Argyrodes nephilae, a robber spider that sits on the periphery of orbweaver webs to steal prey.

An anhinga, preening in the backlight. #birds

Oh man, for reasons I'm still trying to figure out, today is the funniest day ever.

Perhaps the best portrait of a belted kingfisher I've ever gotten, a juvenile perched against a blue sky with a wild look in its eye. You can tell it's a juvenile by how rufous the band across its breast is and by the whisper of red-brown in its face. #birds

Here's an old one because I haven't made it out for a couple weeks due to commitments, weather, and a stubborn eye infection. Brown pelicans love to dive from heights at great speed, but that must be learned, so juveniles often just swim at the surface and conjure fish by splashing about. #birds

The lighting on this one was difficult, but a white ibis tilts its head slightly. #birds

Here's one for #WorldLizardDay: after counting scales on its face and back, I suspect this is a common five-lined skink. They're quite difficult to differentiate from southeastern five-lined skinks and broad-headed skinks. It was running all over the back of a large sign on the trail.

A juvenile sandhill crane looks straight on at the camera, its head tilted slightly. #birds