So, my recent long blog silence has actually been a pretty productive time for me, working on various projects. I’ve managed to get quite a bit done on my dissertation project, submit two conference proposals, and get ready for teaching this upcoming semester.
The weather in Orlando lately has just been hot and humid, though it’s hard to say it’s more hot and humid than it is for essentially half of the year. We haven’t dong as much outdoorsy stuff as we’d like, but it’s a bit hard to get motivated in this weather… But one of the hikes we did do (cut short by an incipient thunderstorm) was in early July in the Little Big Econ State Forest, located NE of Orlando.
We took a short hike from the Barr St. trailhead through the forest and along the river. It was intensely green, and the water very still.
The old oak trees all had some serious epiphyte growth. Vireos, titmice, and blue-gray gnatcatchers were flitting around in the canopy, looking for food.
There were quite a few tiny young bromeliads on the mossy trunks.
A bend in the river, where an alligator suddenly churned the water to catch a fish. We also heard a bald eagle calling from this spot.
We headed back earlier than planned, because of the approaching thunderstorm. Still, it was a good short outing.