Monday, July 27, 2009

View of the Everglades

I just like this photo. I took it along the Tamiami Trail, half way to Naples.
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Crows




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Recently, my son and I went to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne for a short outing. He went swimming and I watched the birds. (That's a white ibis.)

I got totally absorbed in a crow v. human drama taking place at a picnic table behind me. A family had brought what looked like shrimps to barbecue for lunch but they wanted to go swimming first. It didn't take long for a couple of crows to start poking (beaking) around and getting into the food. It took the dad several trips out of the water and up the beach before he finally secured the food. I think the crows eventually would have figured out how to access even the coolers, but Nick and I left before it all played out.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Swimming au naturel


No, this isn't somewhere in the Everglades; it's a natural swimming pool in suburban South Miami.

Four years ago, the owners, two FIU professors, brought in the backhoe and dug an enormous hole that became this extraordinary retreat. The water is supplied from the water table and recycled.

It took a while to get the flora/fauna balance right, including mosquito fish -- native gambusia that feed on mosquito larvae -- and other natives.

The surrounding plants are all native to the Everglades, including cypress and pickerel weed. Raptors visit the place looking for food, too.

I just loved this pool; it was so much more inviting than the regular South Florida offering.


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