florida photos: roadside attractions

i don't know about you, but i have a strong innate desire to stop on the side of the road and photograph wildflowers in the spring.  i don't often give in to this urge as i'm a little nervous about stopping on the side of the road.  back home, in florida, i'm a little more comfortable with the country roads, plus i have little boys who see ditches full of water and think, "crawdads!"

so, we had another successful crawdad excursion this trip.  g got enough again for aunt linda to cook him up a mess for breakfast.

troy got to show off his jewelry making skills once more.

and since it wasn't raining this year, avery and i got to enjoy the wildflowers.

he picked this little bouquet for his mom.

while i took my flowers home in photographs.

i've always thought it was interesting that wildflowers in florida (and probably most places) tend to be concentrated in certain color families.  in florida there is a great deal of white and yellow with a dash of purple. (and, coincidentally, these were my high school colors which i always thought was way cool).  probably, this has something to do with what the bugs like.  isn't that little green guy cute?  the little bee in the top photo has less discriminating tastes as he's enjoying the flavors of the non-native european crimson clover. 

 

speaking of native species, i was super excited to spot this beauty and realize it was a giant sundew!  i'm so used to seeing the tiny red ones that i never realized there were other varieties in florida. 

 

we also have carnivorous pitcher plants.  these are their buds.  hoping to get more pictures of the plants when we go back this summer.

while avery and i were investigating the flowers, g and troy were still busy with the dip nets.  one would think that this little guy was just a baby . . .

 

but the size of this behemoth tadpole would indicate otherwise.

not sure what this is, but it reminded me of mountain laurel.

not sure if these are pipeworts, bog buttons, or hatpins.  i never realized there were all different sorts of these.  must investigate further next time!

arrowhead.  and if you're in florida, i found a fun (free) app called "nature viewing along the great florida birding and wildlife viewing trail" that has flowers, butterflies, and birds.