Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in Flight
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, another Florida specialty, really stand out in flight. 
Blue eyes
White Ibis at the LILA research restoration facility at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
Virginia Key planned as Port project’s dumping site
UPDATE: This post was picked up by the industry news Web site Dredging Today after it was posted on this blog. Virginia Key Park’s North Point is the targeted site for excavated debris drilled from the billion-dollar Port of Miami project. The North Point proposed dumping site is located on the northern stretch of the mostly-undeveloped 1,300-acre barrier island adjacent to a state-designated critical wildlife area.
Everglades Roseate Spoonbill nests decrease
This is the third in my series on how Everglades Restoration would change the wildlife and landscape of South Florida’s River of Grass: A 2010 study overlooked by the media shows that the overall number of Roseate Spoonbill nests in the Everglades watershed was more than 60 percent lower than wildlife officials had set as a threshold for the Spoonbill’s recovery at the time. A copy of the report can be found here on the Web page for the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (SFERTF).
Virginia Key Mountain Bike Trails
I got my first chance to hit the trails at Virginia Key Park’s North Point, and it was a great 6.5-miles in the sandy dirt. I rode one of the singletracks, a half-mile trail I called Pine Switchback, three times. It was fast, hard-packed and had two sweet upsy-downs. 
Visiting Gray Kingbird
I was leaving Virgina Key Park when I saw two Gray Kingbirds perched on the power lines by the park’s entrance, not far from Rickenbacker Causeway. As I slowly pulled off the park road to get a closer look, the two Kingbirds were flying out trying to catch insects and returning to their perch. The Gray Kingbird summers in the most southern reaches of Florida, and is most often seen in the keys and Dry Tortugas.
“Tread Softly,” Stinging Nettle
It’s always a good idea to tread softly in nature, especially near this Florida native plant. Stinging Nettle, nick-named Tread Softly, blooms beautiful in summer, but packs a sting. 
Macro photography: Eastern pondhawk dragonfly
Female Pondhawks are striking up close, with bright green, black bars, and dark blue wings. 
