The Flickr Northmiamifl Image Generatr

North Miami Beach, Fl.

TTArtisan 25mm f2

It's fall and I want to be outside. To meander in the woods, wander along streams and feel pine tags carpeting the ground under my feet.

It's fall and I want to walk, gather and explore. To rediscover the names of weeds I see every year and remember them again. The variety, the cleverness of Mother Nature's seed delivery systems... burrs, barbs, beggars lice, hooks, downy floating feathers.

It's fall and I am a creature again, another appreciative animal wandering this wondrous planet. Grounded and glad to be here.

As this year's leaves began drying and seeding, I told my friend Lynn (and her gentle shiny black dog Glinka) about my fall longings as we walked the sidewalks of my neighborhood. She thought a moment, seemingly considering whether to divulge something secret and sacred, then leaned in and whispered, “Have you heard about Arch Creek East? The pace of my heart quickened. “No, where is it?” Even after she spelled out directions, I couldn’t picture where it was. So we planned to meet there one morning and we did.

Since then, it has become my soul's place... and my dog Honey’s place too. The smell of it, the peace, the whine of the wind in the Australian Pines. The thrill of seeing thousands of tiny hatchlings in the creek, high tides and low tides. And I’ve returned every day with my camera over my shoulder, my heart alive inside me, taking pictures of this sacred place to share with you now.

In the 1880's, esteemed Florida photographer Alfred Middleton Munroe wrote of this land... “the narrow river, which most of the way is bordered by mangrove trees, whose roots shoot out from the body of the trees twenty feet above... together with the long hanging moss make pictures that are worth coming down here to see.”

Thank you, North Miami, for having the wisdom and sheer human kindness to provide this preserve for all of us who need it and treasure it. For all of us who walk here each day, who make friends here and find nature here. Who restore our health and soul here. We are most grateful!

Susan Ford Collins/Jungle Mama
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

It's fall and I want to be outside. To meander in the woods, wander along streams and feel pine tags carpeting the ground under my feet.

It's fall and I want to walk, gather and explore. To rediscover the names of weeds I see every year and remember them again. The variety, the cleverness of Mother Nature's seed delivery systems... burrs, barbs, beggars lice, hooks, downy floating feathers.

It's fall and I am a creature again, another appreciative animal wandering this wondrous planet. Grounded and glad to be here.

As this year's leaves began drying and seeding, I told my friend Lynn (and her gentle shiny black dog Glinka) about my fall longings as we walked the sidewalks of my neighborhood. She thought a moment, seemingly considering whether to divulge something secret and sacred, then leaned in and whispered, “Have you heard about Arch Creek East? The pace of my heart quickened. “No, where is it?” Even after she spelled out directions, I couldn’t picture where it was. So we planned to meet there one morning and we did.

Since then, it has become my soul's place... and my dog Honey’s place too. The smell of it, the peace, the whine of the wind in the Australian Pines. The thrill of seeing thousands of tiny hatchlings in the creek, high tides and low tides. And I’ve returned every day with my camera over my shoulder, my heart alive inside me, taking pictures of this sacred place to share with you now.

In the 1880's, esteemed Florida photographer Alfred Middleton Munroe wrote of this land... “the narrow river, which most of the way is bordered by mangrove trees, whose roots shoot out from the body of the trees twenty feet above... together with the long hanging moss make pictures that are worth coming down here to see.”

Thank you, North Miami, for having the wisdom and sheer human kindness to provide this preserve for all of us who need it and treasure it. For all of us who walk here each day, who make friends here and find nature here. Who restore our health and soul here. We are most grateful!

Susan Ford Collins/Jungle Mama
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

The Atala butterfly is strange to photograph. The colored areas are vague at the margins so the color seems to have been dusted on a bit carelessly. But look at its marvelous tones... deep velvety blue, bright iridescent sky blue and brilliant red orange! The Atala is very fast moving so getting a shot at all is always a thrill! Usually looks like a vibrant patch of astounding flying color and it's gone.

Interdependencies in nature once again. This marvelous creature owes its life to the Florida Coontie which was almost wiped out after being the money crop of the first Florida pioneers. Without the Coontie, this beauty will be gone.

The short, woody stem and rootstock of the Coontie grows almost completely underground and produces a terminal crown of stiff, evergreen, pinnate leaves up to 3 feet long. The brown, fleshy, erect, female or seed-bearing cones are pendent when mature. Coontie plants contain a natural toxin, which Atala larvae accumulate in their bodies and use to repel birds. Without Coontie, adult Atalas have no place to lay eggs. No eggs means no new generations. .

Wild Coonties’ demise began with starch: Long before Europeans arrived in Florida, Native Americans used Coontie as a source of starch. Coontie, in fact, is a Seminole word that means “bread” or “white root” because the roots can be made into flour.

Atala Eumaeus
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

I walk my dog Honey through a field that is regularly mowed. And mow after mow, these tiny delicate blue flowers come back and flower... just in time for the next mow.

Introduced from Asia, this Spiderwort's flowers bloom for only one day, perfect for the circumstances I found them growing in. It forms colonies by rooting from the stem nodes; thus the species name communis. The reclining stems have upright leafy branches with deep blue flowers at the top, protruding from a heart-shaped, enfolding leaf. They grow in open disturbed areas, roadsides and wooded borders here in Florida.

Asiatic Dayflower, Commelina communis, Spiderwort
Biscayne Park FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

Ipomoea alba or Moon Vine is a night-blooming morning-glory that grows as high as a large tree. In the evening, the flowers burst open quickly and last till touched by the morning sun.

So small. Such a delightful pattern!

Inconspicuous on the ground but somehow my eye caught it nonetheless! And my dog Honey sat down and waited so I could pick it up and take this shot. Thanks, Honey!

Biscayne Park, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

So beautiful and so small! Not Tulip sized but buttercup sized! Standing tall on a pale green stem with opposite elongated leaves.

I love the deep purple patterns inside the pure white petals! The golden pollen and stamens. And those tiny yellow green sepal points that wrap around the outside edges!

Eustoma, commonly known as lisianthus or prairie gentian, is a small genus in the gentian family. They are native to warm regions of the southern United States, Mexico, Caribbean and northern South America. This genus is typically found in grasslands and in areas of disturbed ground.

Lisianthus, Eustoma grandiflorum
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

Do you know this plant? It's here in South Florida. The leaves are trefoil in shape and it is rapidyl covering undergrowth in the Arch Creek area.

Lovely curving stamens with pale yellow pollen. Five curling petals that are fuzzy in texture.

Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

Gold, caramel, tortoise shell, honey. Such a beautiful winged creature with its glossy compound eyes, antennae and long narrow wings! And I love its protective stanch as it stands over its papery nest.

The term "hornet" (like "yellow jacket") refers to a kind of wasp that builds a large papery nest. One type of hornet, the baldfaced hornet, is black and white and about ¾" long. They tend to build mottled gray nests in trees or shrubs. Occasionally, they will build nests under roof overhangs, in attics, crawlspaces, and walls, or under decks or porches. The nests, which are generally pear-shaped, are constructed of a paper-like material formed from chewed wood. These hornets like to feed on flies and other insects.

Yellow jackets, by contrast, are the size of house flies, with distinct yellow and black markings. They build a very similar nest, but it is tan in color, smaller in size than a hornet's nest, and is usually found in an underground cavity such as an abandoned rodent burrow. Occasionally, yellow jackets nest in attics or walls. Yellow jackets are scavengers and are usually encountered at cookouts and around dumpsters and trash barrels.

Wasp is a name applied to many winged insects of the order Hymenoptera, which also includes ants and bees. Most wasps are carnivorous, feeding on insects, grubs or spiders. They have biting mouthparts, and the females have stings with which they paralyze their prey. The stinger can be used repeatedly. The thorax of a wasp is attached to the abdomen by a narrow stalk (hence the term “wasp-waisted”). Some wasps are solid black or dark blue, but most have red, orange, or yellow wings or markings. Stripes are common. The great majority of the 20,000 species are solitary, but one family (the Vespidae) includes both social forms (the paper wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets) and solitary forms (e.g., the potter wasps).

I know all too well that these elegant beauties can go into attack at any moment. I picked up a bag someone carelessly discarded. Unknown to the environmentally sensitive trash cleaner in me, the bag had a Chinese food honey pack inside. And a swarm of wasps that attached me and sting me numerous times! Painful for a day or so.

Golden Paper Wasp. Paper Wasp, Polistes fuscatus.
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL.
See my sets, Woods, weeds and streams. And Lubbers, Butterflies and Bees.
www.susanfordcollins.com

I love the diaphanous wings! The lacy membrane structure and the vein pattern in the leaves. And how about those shadows! Like helicopters on a landing field.

I was walking with my dog Honey and caught a glimpse of this dragonfly! Figured it would fly as I inched up to it with my macro lens. But it sat and sunned itself unperturbed, allowing me to get numerous detailed shots!

Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

Ah, the delicate pink veins and serrated edges glisten in the morning sun! Such a marvelous rosy pink and so daringly applied to these handsome palmate leaves! There are large stands of these lush, tall Castor Bean plants where I walk in Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve in North Miami, FL.

The Castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It belongs to a monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species is currently being studied.

Its seed is the castor bean which, despite its name, is not a true bean. Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant).

Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed contains ricin, a toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.

In South Florida, the Castor Bean plant is widely cultivated and has been introduced as an ornamental because of its large beautiful deeply notched leaves. It often escapes into surrounding areas or persists around gardens, building sites and old fields. It is limited to tropical areas because it is killed by frost.

Castor Bean, Ricinus communis
See my set, Woods, weeds and streams.
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

See my set, Woods, weeds and streams.
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

Waltheria
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

As I walk along with my dog Honey, these gleaming filaments jumped out at my eye and my lens. So long and curvaceous. Disconnected from an unknown source. And now hung by the wind on the end of this dried branch.

Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

No, it's not bent or damaged. The seedhead really does hang under the blade and form a delightful, whimsical triangular shape. Over and over I've seen the same pattern. Unusual to me but maybe you know what kind of South Florida grass this is.

Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

This bee acted like a paid model, turning and posing for about 30 shots! I love this image because of the glassy, water-like wings and the crew-cut body and head! And the magnificent Pye Weed flower it's on.

Hollow Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatoriadelphus fistulosus
Aster, Daisy
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

Lovely to look at but astounding to see at 14X magnification! I had no idea that this usually unnoticed wildflower is such a magnificent beauty!

Crystals emerging from geodes.

Hollow Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatoriadelphus fistulosus
Aster, Daisy
Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com

I wouldn't have seen him if he hadn't poked his head up and looked at me!

Well camouflaged but too curious not to be noticed! Seems to be a characteristic of this lovely tropical beauty! Check out the one on the bromeliad below.

Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve, North Miami, FL
www.susanfordcollins.com