Photo Journal

A Fieldtrip to Fairchild

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.

W. E. Johns

I took a day-long field trip to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in South Miami last week. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I found was magic. I also found shade, a series of small lakes, a huge variety of palm trees, a spiny forest, a rain forest, lots and lots of lizards, lots of birds, and a few heart pounding moments…

A curious little lizard greeted me just outside the visitor center.

To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.

Claude Monet

(This isn’t hard when you don’t actually know what it is. A beautiful flower by any name.)

Peeking out.

A gulf fritillary butterfly lands on a cactus blossom in the Spiny Forest garden.

An iguana finds a place in the sun.

Tropical water lilies reflect in a tranquil pond.

Beneath the fig trees it’s another world.

The lower gardens look inviting from the overlook.

I step into the lower gardens with the Egyptian Goose.

A very long iguana crawls beneath the mangroves.

A great egret creeps up to the water’s edge.

A white ibis looks over its shoulder suspiciously.

The unexpected happens - an apparently sleeping crocodile stands up and walks across the path in front of me.

I continue take pictures while internally freaking out.

Then the ibises, who were suspicious and wary of me, follow the crocodile across the path…

and I was worried that I was too close.

Nature, for me is raw and dangerous and difficult and beautiful and unnerving.

Andy Goldsworth

It is easy to forget, when you are surrounded by beauty, that nature is unpredictable and definitely NOT always safe, even here in this beautifully planned and well-maintained garden. That is part of the appeal of exploring outdoors to me - the demand that I take it seriously and weigh the dangers against my desire to see everything. I think I stayed far enough away from the crocodiles at this garden. I did not walk closer to the one I saw crossing the path. I turned around and went back the way I came after taking these photos. Of course, that’s how I saw the next crocodile…

This was a photo-heavy post. I hope it all comes through ok. I was just so excited to share the whole experience. Thanks so much for being here. I will see you next week!

P.S. The ibises were fine. They wandered around near the crocodile for a few minutes, and then just walked away and back down the path.

P.P.S. If you’re interested in Fairchild Gardens, click here.

A parting shot - this crocodile was across the pond from me - much further away than it might appear. I loved the symmetry with its reflection in the water. Its mouth is open, which looks menacing, but it was completely still. {They keep their mouths open when lying in the sun to help regulate their body temperature.)

An Abundance of Seagulls

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.

Wallace Stevens

Seagulls flying over the lake, circling and calling.

Video of Seagulls circling over the lake in the early morning of June 9, 2023

Seagulls landing and fighting on the big flat rock where they all want to stand.

So many seagulls, more than I’ve ever seen here.

Why are they here? Why are they circling?

Last week I was certain they were escaping poor air in other places caused by the wildfires in Canada.

Seagulls floating on the water on a calm day, a pinkish haze in the air. I watch them, take pictures and muse.

This morning I walked down to the beach and found that hundreds of dead alewives* washed up overnight. Is this why the seagulls are here in abundance this year? Have they been tracking the alewives all this time? Or is it the wildfires? I’m not sure now. I was convinced when I took the first photos of the gulls that they were escaping bad air in other places, but today I realized there could be more to it.

I’m constantly amazed at what is happening all around me every day, under the surface. The things that birds and other animals know instinctively for their survival, that I can only guess at. Amazed by the world underneath the water, teeming with so much life that I can’t see. It fills me with curiosity and wonder. I hope it does the same for you!

*Thanks to my friend, Kat Needham, for identifying the fish for me. If you want to know more about alewives, click here.

We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.

Albert Einstein

Thank you so much for being here! See you next Friday.

Finding Beauty in the Flawed

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

Shunryu Suzuki

The Woodchuck

If I had weeded the garden,

he wouldn’t have come

standing on his hind legs-

savoring dandelions

and wheat grass,

resting on an old stump

and then waddling, content,

back into the woods.

The Crow

I welcome the glossy black bird

when he comes into my yard

frequenting my feeder,

nearly too big for the pole

quivering under the weight

of his heavy body.

I do not judge

the bloodiness of his beak -

it is crow nature to eat meaty things.

I welcome him here,

in my half wild garden-

where he is not expected

to want to be.

I welcome him here -

wondering.

The Deer

Their coats, like moth-eaten clothes

imperfectly stored for the winter

are changing for summer,

shedding extra layers -

lightening

to a beautiful reddish brown.

but their eyes are still as deep

as winter.

Beauty is the moment of transition, as if the form were just ready to flow into other forms.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What a magical week. The woods are bursting with wild things. I was actually trying to get a picture of the crow who has become a regular at the feeder when I saw the woodchuck (aka groundhog) outside my window. The crow flew off, but the groundhog was having a feast and I don’t think he even saw me.

It wasn’t until the next day that I was able to get pictures of the crow. I have to confess that I cleaned him up in the three pictures I shared. (If you want to see what he looked like before I cleaned him up, let me know!) I was afraid that there was just a little too much grossness on his beak. I feel pretty honored that he keeps coming back. I guess crows don’t normally use backyard feeders. He’s become a member of my wild family.

The deer have been a little less present in the yard lately, but I see them everywhere on my walks. I sometimes wonder if they’re wary while their coats are changing. If you know, I’d be interested.

Thank you so much for being here! I hope you have a wonderful first week of June. See you next Friday.