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PELICAN OVER THE MOON

This photograph was made the evening before the mon was completely full.

Pelican Over the Moon

A brown pelican flying past and positioned so that it appears to be flying over the rising moon against a blue and pink sky.
Information about and more photographs of pelicans can be found on the Wild Florida Photo brown pelican page.
Purchase Pelican Over The Moon by Paul Rebmann



TUBEROUS GRASSPINK

This orchid was photographed during a May, 2013 Florida Native Plant Society state conference field trip.

Calopogon tuberosus var. tuberosus - TUBEROUS GRASSPINK

Tuberous grasspink is a frequent terrestrial orchid of marshes, swamps, bogs, marl prairies and wet flatwoods throughout much of Florida, although becoming less frequent to the south. Also called common grasspink, the range extends throughout the eastern United States west to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota and into Canada from Manitoba to Newfoundland.
The flowers typically vary from pale to deep pink in color with a golden crest on the lip. Occasionally plants can be found with white flowers and are called color form albiflorus. As with other grasspinks, the lip is on the upper side of the flower, differentiating the Calopogon genus from other similarly shaped orchids that have the lip on the bottom. Flowering can occur over an extended period from March to August, with only a few flowers open at a time. The plants grow from 10 to 30 inches tall with one to five slender ribbed leaves less than the height of the flowers.
Grasspink #1 by Paul Rebmann Grasspink #2 by Paul Rebmann



RUDDY TURNSTONE

I call this image 'Curious Turnstone' as it appears that the bird is looking under the seashell.

Arenaria interpres - RUDDY TURNSTONE

These shorebirds are considered winter residents along the entire Florida coast, but some may be seen at any time of year. The winter range extends along most of the United States coast, plus the Caribbean and the coast along much of Central and South America. Breeding occurs on the rocky Arctic coasts and tundra of Alaska and Canada.
One of the most distinguishing features of Arenaria interpres at any time of year are the orange legs. In flight the white lower back and bold black and white wing pattern is visible, as is the white tail with a black tip. At rest the back is a mottled pattern of rusty edged feathers, with bold reddish patches in breeding plumage. The short, stocky, slightly upturned beak is used to turn over small rocks and other objects in search of food.
Curious Turnstone by Paul Rebmann



WINTER IBIS TREES

A Florida winter scene where the Ocklawaha River flows into the St. Johns River with numerous white ibis perched in the top of spanish moss-draped cypress trees. A single great egret searches for food in the spatterdock along the water's edge.

Winter Ibis Trees - Ocklawaha River

The Ockalwaha River flows north 74 miles from Lake Harris in Lake County passing through Marion County and along the western border of the Ocala national Forest, ending in Putnam County, entering the St. Johns River just upstream of Welaka. The Ocklawaha is the largest tributary of the St. Johns River, and Silver River is the largest tributary of the Ockalwaha. The 5-1/2 mile Silver River is the outflow of Silver Springs, one of Florida's largest freshwater springs.
The name is derived from ak-lowahe, meaning muddy in the Creek language. After the earlier Timucua people of this area were vanquished by disease and early colonists, Creeks moved in as they were pushed out of their traditional homelands to the north. Those native peoples that remained in Florida came to be known as Seminoles.
The Ocklawaha River was one of Florida's earliest tourist attractions after the Civil War, with specially designed steamboats taking passengers along a wild jungle cruise up the Ocklawaha to Silver Springs. This activity peaked in the 1870's and diminished after railroad service was established to Ocala in 1881. The Ocklawaha was intended to be a major part of the cross Florida barge canal, a project started several times and canceled in the early 1970's but not before Rodman dam was built, creating a reservoir out of part of the river. For a complete history of the canal, one should read Ditch of Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for Florida's Future by Steven Noll and David Tegeder. The path of the canal is now the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, named for one of the people most active in the efforts to stop the canal from being built.
Purchase Winter Ibis Trees by Paul Rebmann



PILEATED WOODPECKER

These large woodpeckers often make their presence known in the woods with their whinnying, laugh-like calls, the deep drumming on trees or the heavy chopping sound they make while foraging.

PILEATED WOODPECKER - Dryocopus pileatus

Pileated woodpeckers are found though-out the southeastern United States, up the Atlantic coast into New England. The range also extends west through the Great Lakes region, up into northwestern Canada to the Pacific and dropping back down into the United States along the coast into California and also in the northern Rockies.
Second only to the probably extinct Ivory-billed woodpecker in size, they are mostly black with white stripes on the face and a distinctive red crest. In males this red crest extends to the front of the head and they also have a red cheek stripe. Females have a black forehead. The wings of both sexes are white underneath with a black trailing edge. The top of the wing shows a narrow white crescent on the base of the primaries, often showing slightly when at rest.
Purchase Pileated Woodpecker by Paul Rebmann



WEST COAST DUNE SUNFLOWER

Helianthus debilis vestitus is one of three subspecies of dune sunflowers in Florida and occurs only on the state's west coast. The debilis subspecies is found on the east coast of Florida, and cucumerifolius has a scattered range that includes the Gulf Coast, central Florida, the panhandle and numerous other states.

WEST COAST DUNE SUNFLOWER - Helianthus debilis vestitus

An occasional wildflower of coastal dunes from Pinellas & Hillsborough Counties south into Lee County.
The stems of west coast dune sunflower are decumbent, hairy, variously described as hirsute or villous, with ascending to erect flowering branches. The leaves are widest near the base, not constricted in the middle and gradually tapering towards the tip, coarsely and irregularly toothed with the underside densely gland-dotted. The peduncles are 3-1/2 to 6 inches long. Flowers have yellow rays just less than a half to 5/8 inch long and dark disks abou 7/16 inch in diameter. West coast dune sunflower may flower all year.
Purchase West Coast Dune Sunflower by Paul Rebmann