Night Blooming in the Early Morning

Been having some trouble with our offline blog platform.  Hopefully, as of this writing it is fixed enough to be able to create and post as usual.

Although the surfboards remain high and dry, we finally got the boogie boards in the water.  And, yes, we went in with them.  It was Darlene's first time and she did quite well considering we didn't have much to work with in the powerful surf category.  On the other hand, it was yet another experience that demonstrated just how good we've become at relaxing.  We were both wiped after only a short session!

There is a Night-blooming Cereus in our neighborhood.  Actually, there are several but we only really see the one on a regular basis because it is both near where we park Annie and something we pass when we ride the bikes to work.

These cacti are supposed to bloom in the evening and cater to night time pollinators like bats and sphinx moths.  We've passed this cactus at night and seen nothing.  Yet, in the afternoon we see dead blooms. 

            They fall off leaving their rip cords behind.

                                                                What is going on?

An early morning walk the other day revealed the answer.

                    Our night-blooming cactus is more of an early morning sort of guy.

                             He subscribes to the "Let's give bees a chance" motto.

Other sightings on early morning or late afternoon wanderings around the complexes include...

This specimen is believed to be Chlorophyllum molybdites,
the green-spored parasol.  One of its other common names
is 'Vomiter' in case you were wondering about its edibleness.

                         A beautiful Tri-colored Heron displaying all three colors.

                                                      Mama wood duck and babe

      Although we've seen plenty of cattle egrets, we have never gotten a photo until now.

                            Another first.  The first sighting of a Least Tern.  Lifer!

                            And, here's our first decent photo of an African Agama.

         Curcuma also known as Tumeric or Hidden Lily

                                                               Hidden Green Heron

                                                  Orchard Weaver doing its thing.

            Another first... the Roseate Skimmer.  Like neon lights flying over the pond.

                              More bright pink in the blooms of the Dilang-baka cactus.

Speaking of pink... remember the pineapple photos in our last post.  We did not realize that
pineapples actually bloom flowers at each little bit before they grow.  Isn't that awesome!

                                                                    Hey, check it out!

                                                  Our little tadpoles are growing up.

                                                                   Aren't they cute.

At first it seemed we'd discovered a rare tree dwelling onion.

But they are the bulbs of Encyclia tampensis, the Tampa
Butterfly Orchid.

They look like the Chinese Crown Orchids we posted about
previous only these have a smooth 'tongue' and five petals.
The Chinese Crowns had a ruffled tongue and three petals.

                              no comment needed.... this little flower speaks for itself

We'll round this post out with a few shots of Delonix regia, a.k.a Royal Poinciana, a.k.a
The Flame of the Forest.  Aptly named, it was on fire!

                                                                 A beautiful display

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