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Urban Wildlife Guide: Summer Azure

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Sunday, July 12, 2015. The summer azure butterfly, Celestrina neglecta. Click to enlarge. Note the handsome black and white striped antennae. Summer azures are in the butterfly family Lycaenidae, famously studied by Vladimir Nabokov and commonly called "blues." Although I stood for an hour with my shutter poised, these little ones were too busy to linger with their wings open so I did not get a single shot of the blue surface. Here is a poem I like that has a blue butterfly in it. That made us laugh.

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Urban Wildlife Guide: May 2015

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Sunday, May 31, 2015. I took this picture of my local American robin on the first day of spring this year. Click to enlarge. We had come through a very cold winter. Like some robins in these parts, this one stayed north. I fed him raisins. There were days when it was so cold that he'd take a raisin and hop away into a place sheltered from the wind to eat it. He kept his feathers puffed up for insulation and often hunkered down so his legs were covered by his belly feathers. And he is not alone! Yesterday...

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Urban Wildlife Guide: January 2015

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Sunday, January 25, 2015. I wrote about bird droppings a few years ago. You can read that blog by clicking here. Since then, and entirely by accident, I photographed two more birds to add to that group of photos. Above is an immature peregrine falcon, Falco perigrinus. And below - -. An American Robin, Turdus migratorius. Sunday, January 18, 2015. John Steinbeck wrote: " What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. Sunday, January 11, 2015. Picking up a snack. I hav...

natureartjournal.blogspot.com

A Nature Art Journal in Southwest Florida: Classes

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9 am – 12 pm. Unity of Naples, Fellowship Hall. 2000 Unity Way, Naples, FL 34112. For questions or more information,. Please contact Elizabeth at. Watercolor Pencil Workshop Series. T the Naples Botanical Garden. 4820 Bayshore Drive, Naples Florida 34112. 9 am – 12 pm. Saturday, January 16, 2016. Continues for 8 weeks). Meet in Kapnick Center #124, then draw in the Garden. We’ll be sketching the world of plants with ink, pencil,. And watercolor pencil in a nature journal format. Download a PDF of our.

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A Nature Art Journal in Southwest Florida: Cassia

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Tuesday, November 4, 2014. My Cassia shrub has suddenly started blooming like crazy! Keeping a nature journal and the subsequent quest for deeper knowledge led me to discover that this native is not as advertised! I planted this about two years ago, and was thrilled to see it covered with flowers this fall. The butterflies and caterpillars love it, and the bright yellow buds and blooms all over this five-foot rambling shrub lighten the heart. As always when I sketch something, I start wondering about it.

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A Nature Art Journal in Southwest Florida: Lubber grasshoppers

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Monday, July 4, 2011. Southeastern lubber grasshoppers, click to view larger. This year these grasshoppers seem to be popping up everywhere. Lubbers are beautifully patterned and colored tropical grasshoppers that enjoy moist areas such as marshes, swamps, ditches, and damp pine flatwoods. They live throughout Florida and range throughout the southeast United States. Stocky and sturdy, lubbers have rudimentary wings that don’t support their bodies, so they hop or walk instead of flying. If you’d li...

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A Nature Art Journal in Southwest Florida: Fall in the Fakahatchee

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Thursday, November 13, 2014. Fall in the Fakahatchee. You can click on any image above to view larger. Last Saturday, we met at the blue Harmon Building on Janes Scenic Drive within the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. From this starting point, we could choose a number of possible sketching locations. Across the road is Lake Gloria, named after the wife of the former landowner. The lake was created years ago when it was dug for roads and construction. The door to the Harmon Building. The clear blu...

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Urban Wildlife Guide: March 2015

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Sunday, March 29, 2015. Despite the cold (32 F and windy in New York City) I saw these flowers today where last week there was snow. Some day soon this year's interesting insects and baby birds will come. Click to enlarge. Sunday, March 22, 2015. I took this photo on Saturday, yesterday, the first full day of spring. That's three inches of fresh snow. Click to enlarge. In anticipation, here is a quote from the Song of Solomon, 2:11-12. Sunday, March 15, 2015. The ruddy duck, Oxyura jamaicensus. Is one cu...

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Urban Wildlife Guide: April 2015

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Sunday, April 26, 2015. I just spent a week in the pine lands of southern New Jersey. Chipping sparrows there started singing at dawn and kept on until the sun set. I saw dozens of them. This one was gathering material for a nest. The chipping sparrow, Spizella passerina. Is easily identified by its red cap, gray face, black stripe through the eye, and white eyebrow and throat. Click on the photos to enlarge. Spring is slowly waking in the woods. Click here to hear the chipping sparrow sing. Barnes and N...