I advertised it, and I'm here to deliver the goods! Now, there were some expert birders along with us, but I couldn't hear everything they said so you may have to help me out.
This field trip was sponsored by the Florida Wildflower Foundation. I have the specialty tag and I'm a member!
http://flawildflowers.org/
Orlando Wetlands Park used to be a cattle ranch that the city bought and turned into a wastewater treatment area. The guide was telling us how the priority is the water quality so sometimes they have to add chemicals and stuff. The wildlife is somewhat of a side effect, but they seem like they try to do right by both. The family that sold the land maintained their hunting rights from Nov - Feb until this year when they sold those to the city. As a result, the park will now be open year-round!
Here's what we rode in. You can see there are benches on either side of the trailer thingie.
To minimize my chance of screwing this up and losing my pictures, I'm going to break this into a few posts. Let's start with my favorite - the butterflies!
First up was a Ceraunus Blue.
Here's a blurry Long-Tailed Skipper along with another one that lost its tails.
There were tons of White Peacocks. Remember, one of their host plants is the aquatic plant,
Smooth Water Hyssop (Bacopa monnieri)
I saw a Red-Banded Hairstreak! Been a while since I've seen one.
Barred Sulphur.
I believe this is a very worn Carolina Satyr. I'm going to send all of these to BAMONA for confirmation and for scientific purposes.
Everyone got excited to see a Queen.
But everyone ignored me when I ran across the path to chase this Monarch.
This is the part where I yell, "El Nino!" Yup, that's a female Black Swallowtail. I saw a male later in the day but didn't get his picture.
And right near it was a Great Southern White!
This Monk Skipper landed on this guy's back. We were all taking pictures and he didn't even realize because he was talking to one of the guides. Of course, as soon as I said he had a butterfly on him, it flew off. I swear they understand me!
Up at the Visitor's Center, they had passion vine so you know they Gulf Fritillary caterpillars!
Mom and I ate some snacks and then walked around a bit. I found a Gray Hairstreak this time.
One of those Skippers that gives me headaches.
I feel like this is a Pearl Crescent and not a Phaon Crescent, but I'll have BAMONA decide.
Okay, that's it for butterflies. Birds are next!
