Beaches and Coasts

Lakes and Rivers

Forests

Inland

Everglades

Panoramas

Black and White

Florida is world-renowned for its beautiful landscapes. With over 1350 miles of coastline from the Atlantic Ocean to the Florida Keys to the northern Gulf of Mexico, there are an incredible number of unique and beautiful habitats, especially in the Florida Everglades. We also have thousands of islands, lakes and rivers (many of those are spring-fed) and of course our unique forest habitats from Central and Northern Florida down to our oak and scrub pinelands. The following galleries have a little bit of everything that the best of Sunshine State landscapes have to offer.

Brushfoots

Gossamer Wings

Swallowtails

Skippers

Sulphurs and Whites

Moths

Did you know that Florida is home to over 1,320 species of butterflies and moths? That number is still growing with careful and painstaking research, more new species are being discovered all the time!

Anhingas, Cormorants

Birds of Prey

Carrion Birds

Coots, Rails

Cranes, Limpkins

Ducks, Geese

Egrets, Herons

Gulls, Terns

Shorebirds

Songbirds

Spoonbills, Storks

Woodpeckers

When it comes to birds, the Sunshine State is fantastically rich in species diversity. The geography of Florida’s Peninsula creates a natural migratory route for millions of birds each year as they head south over the Caribbean towards Central and South America (and back). While some species are found all around the world, we are lucky to have 196 species of birds that live and breed in Florida.

Deer

Pigs

Rabbits and Hares

Manatees

Squirrels

Raccoons

Armadillos

We mammals have come a long way since the time of the dinosaurs. Since those times, we’ve conquered the land, sea and air. Florida has at least 99 species of mammals living, breeding and thriving today.

Crustaceans

Dragonflies

Grasshoppers, Locusts

Spiders

Snails, Mollusks

Other Invertebrates

96% of all currently living animal lifeforms alive today are invertebrates. Included are all the insects, arachnids, worms, crabs, shellfish, starfish, corals, and more! One thing they all have in common? No backbone.

Alligators, Crocodiles

Lizards

Snakes

Turtles, Tortoises

Long before the first dinosaur walked the earth, reptiles ruled the world. 65 million years after the last dinosaur drew its final breath, North America’s modern crocodiles, alligators, snakes, lizards, and turtles and tortoises are still keeping our Florida natural history alive!

Tree Frogs

Toads

Did you know the word “amphibian” means “two lives”? All amphibians start their lives in the underwater, but after they go through a series of metamorphosis stages to adulthood, most trade gills for lungs and live the rest of their lives out of the water. Florida is home to 33 native and non-native species of frogs and toads, and many more species of salamanders, newts and sirens!

Arethuseae

Calypsoeae

Cranichideae

Cymbidieae

Epidendreae

Malaxideae

Maxillarieae

Neottieae

Orchideae

Pogoniinae

Polystachyeae

Triphoreae

Vandeae

Vanilleae

One of the largest families in the plant kingdom with nearly 28 thousand species around the globe, orchids are also one of the most popular and most sought-after flowering plants in history. In Victorian times, entire foreign expeditions were sent around the world at great personal risk led by fearless (and often ruthless) orchid hunters to acquire the next new unknown exotic species from the most distant corner of the Earth. Luckily for us, Florida is rich with unique native species found nowhere else in the world!

Wildflowers by Color

Wildflowers by Family

By far our largest collection of galleries, these wildflower image sets are arranged by both color and by taxonomic family for use as a casual identification tool or field guide, or for more thorough scientific research for deeper understanding.

Pitcher Plants

Venus Flytraps

Bladderworts

Butterworts

Sundews

Sometimes called insectivorous plants, these amazing plants have adapted to a life in places where the soil is so poor in nutrients, that they’ve gained the ability to grow by trapping their food with modified leaves. By taking root in a harsh habitat, they have eliminated most of their competition from other plants.

Bromeliads

Mushrooms

Plants

Saprophytes

This last and final collection of galleries include all the non-wildflower images such as our native trees, ferns, palms, fruits and berries, cacti, saprophytes, mosses, bromeliads and more!
Cardinal Flower

Cardinal Flower

Mar 26, 2017

Today's post is about one of my favorite wildflowers found in the swampy hardwood forests along the Gulf Coast - the cardinal flower. I was hiking through an area near Bristol, Florida called the "Garden of Eden Trail" when I spotted this super-vibrant beauty from...

Black-necked Stilts

Black-necked Stilts

Mar 24, 2017

Quick post for today. I've been sitting on this photo of a trio of black-necked stilts for a while because I saw something in it, but it just didn't look right. Then I had one of those "a-ha!" moments and cropped it from a horizontal "landscape" orientation to a...

Ghost Orchid Photographed from an Unusual Angle

Ghost Orchid Photographed from an Unusual Angle

Mar 12, 2017

Ten years ago I spotted my first wild ghost orchid in the Fakahatchee Strand of Southwest Florida after literally years of exhaustively searching the wetlands and wading through enormous tracts of swamp following a grid pattern on a worn-out, folded-up survey map....

American Strawberry Bush

American Strawberry Bush

Mar 5, 2017

The American strawberry bush - also known by many other names such as the "hearts-a-bustin" and "hearts-bustin'-with-love", is a native member of the bittersweet family is one of those oddly beautiful plants you find sometimes in autumn while out in some of the more...

Paurotis Palm: A Florida Native!

Paurotis Palm: A Florida Native!

Nov 11, 2016

My favorite palm! The paurotis palm is a wonderfully beautiful palm that I have a personal connection to. As I was starting to build my photography business back when I was still living back home in Southwest Florida, I worked in a plant nursery and planted many...

Southern White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera conspicua)

Southern White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera conspicua)

Jul 13, 2016

Quick post today to share with you one of my favorite terrestrial orchids of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts - the southern white fringed orchid! Often difficult to photograph in Florida's bright summer sunlight, heavy overcast skies were a huge in helping get this...

Three Species of Florida Native Turtles!

Three Species of Florida Native Turtles!

Mar 31, 2016

The sign of any healthy body of water is the presence of native turtles. Of the 327 species alive today, 60+ of those are found living in the wild in the United States. The fossil record shows that turtles are at least 157 million years old in what we would recognize...

Florida’s Wild Native Orchids – Cymbidieae

Florida’s Wild Native Orchids – Cymbidieae

Mar 18, 2016

One of my very favorite types of wild native orchids I've found in the wild are those belonging to the tribe Cymbidieae, all of which are found in the tropics or subtropics. Not only are the flowers spectacularly colorful and often large, each plant often has many...

The Birds of Southwest Florida

The Birds of Southwest Florida

May 5, 2015

Quick post for today on some of the more common birds of Southwest Florida, such as anhingas, herons, egrets and hawks. These species are most often found near or on the water. Anhinga Also known as the snakebird, the anhinga is a common fish-eating bird found along...

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