My New Sanibel Island Art Installation!

Earlier this year, I was contacted by the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society on Florida’s Sanibel Island about the possibility...

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The Cuban Treefrog

The Cuban treefrog is my #1 hated invasive species for a number of reasons ranging from ecological damage to personally anger-inducing events and even...

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Anhinga!

- One of America’s Most Overlooked Birds. When North America was split in half roughly 100 to 40 million years ago by a great inland sea...

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We are extremely happy and proud to announce a new way of providing you with the very best professional prints for your office, home or gallery. Now we are offering not only prints, but a whole new range of customized frames, mats, and other accessories! All prints are shipped within three business days and come with a no questions asked 30 day return policy.

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…Notes from the Field is our blog that will relate experiences and stories about photographing all that is wild in Florida. It has replaced our “New Photos” page, and all of our new images will be presented here - including stories of what was involved to get these shots - camera tips and tricks for other photographers who really enjoy nature and the outdoors and want to learn more. You might even get a chuckle or two out of it!

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Birds

• Brown pelican and white ibis young are now visible in nests.
• Painted Buntings nest through summer in northeast Florida.
• Snowy plovers nest on Panhandle beaches.
• Bald eagles begin migrating north.
• Breeding begins for many resident and summer songbirds.
• The last of the cedar waxwings and goldfinches head for their northern breeding grounds.
• Least terns nest on beaches, sandy flats, and flat gravel rooftops that look like beaches!
• Red-cockaded woodpeckers are breeding.
• Painted buntings nest through summer in northeast Florida.
• White-crowned pigeons begin nesting on mangrove islands in Florida Bay.

Mammals

• Gray Bats congregate at maternity caves now through mid-July.
• Most bats give birth May through mid-June.
• Peak of the coyote denning season. (yes, we have coyotes in Florida)

Reptiles

• Courtship ritual of adult alligators begins, noted by the loud and resounding bellows and water slapping. Continues through June.
• The height of crocodile nesting in the Keys happens at the beginning of the month.
• Loggerhead sea turtles begin nesting on summer nights.
• Green sea turtles will begin nesting more abundantly now through September.
• Soft-shell and alligator snapping turtles complete egg laying.

Fish

• Bluegill are bedding at the full moon.
• Redbreast sunfish and spotted sunfish begin spawning in rivers.
• Pompano running in the surf in North Florida.
• Flathead catfish congregate below the Jim Woodruff Dam, Apalachicola River.

Invertebrates

• Peak flight month for Schaus' swallowtail butterfly in the Keys.

Plants and Trees

• The American lotus is in bloom in the wetlands.
• White swamp lilies dot wet prairies of the Everglades.

Orchids

• The rose pogonia is starting to bloom in the swamps and wetlands of Central and North Florida.
• Snowy orchids begin to appear in seepage bogs around the state.
• May marks the very beginning of the ghost orchid season, but chances are most won't be in flower until June or July.

Data provided in part by UF Florida Wildlife Extension

FloridaNaturePhotography is a part of Leighton Photography & Imaging - our local photography business based in Tallahassee, Fl. Nature photography is a large part of what we do, but we are by no means limited to just that. Click HERE to find out more about our company.

Our photographs not related to nature photography can be seen HERE in our online gallery, or through Fine Art America.

If you are or represent a gallery, publisher/publication, exhibition, event, vendor/reseller, or any other group interested in our work, please contact Rich or Galina Leighton HERE for more information.