This dragonfly looks very much like a wasp, and you can easily mistake it with one. In fact, this species of dragonfly has chosen to mimic the behavior of wasps to mislead would-be-predators. The Eastern Amberwing is known to fiersly defend its territory as is the case when I chased it to photograph it until it stood its ground on a leaf. A more detailed description of this dragonfly can be found from the Hartman Prehistoric Garden. Also, when trying to identify dragonflies and other insects, one of the best sources for identification is the BugGuide from Iowa State University Entomology Department.

In the new BJ's gasoline pump by Tampa Palms (Tampa, Florida) there is a little pond that holds about a 6 feet alligator who at this time carried a little fearless dragonfly. The alligator would be the equivalent to public transportation in a dragonfly's world I guess. Weather there might be a symbiotic relationship or not here, we are not sure.

The Little Blue Heron really catches your attention with its grey-blue feathers. This little funny blue bird spends a lot of its time in the banks of ponds, lakes and rivers, just feeding of insects, crustaceans, and fish. It is much more shy than other water birds like the like its cousin the Great Blue Heron or the Sandhill Cranes. You can read more about the little blue heron from Nature Works, and more about common water birds from the University of Florida.

These little insects on my porch's screen have to be some of the smallest I have ever photographed. While their soldier like camouflaged bodies make them different from many insects, their plumose antennas(e) gave away at least their family in the insect world. They are midges, more specifically non biting midges. Midges are closely related to mosquitoes, but they don't have the means to bite (fortunate for me), nevertheless they fly in annoying swarms that inevitably lead some to enter your nose, mouth and ears when you cross their path. Midge in their larvae (and winged) state are an important source of food for fish, and of course, fisherman's best friend as a synthetic bate.

These insects can easily be mistaken by moths (when wings are open), which are sort of a cousin to them. Very particular bug that caught my attention because of its squid looking shape; only when it spread its wings, did it look like the insect it is. Caddisflies are actually aquatic insects when in their larvae stage, and are very well known for building silk cages which they carry around like hermit crabs. They are an important source of food for fish hence sports fishermen try to match their "artificial flies" to the caddisflies. Wikipedia has a very good article about caddisflies in general.

This was about a 10 turkey flock that was right there on the Flatwood Park's bicycle trail just feeding and not minding the bikers and joggers. I am not sure if they were truly wild or just some rogue turkeys that fled a nearby turkey farm on Morris Bridge Road. They truly look like they are made for running in the rough terrain of the park, since their legs look absolutely muscular and very large in proportion to their size. When you look for online resources for these birds, you will find that most of them are hunting sites; this is to expect, since they look really easy to hunt given their size and the fact that they are very widespread across North America.

While bike-riding at the Flatwoods Wilderness Park, I couldn't help to notice this wonderful bird staring from a tree at its surroundings. Our presence there didn't seem to mind it until I got close enough to get a picture of it, and most likely become an annoyance. These birds are expected to live about an average two years in the wild, but have been known to live up to 20 years in captivity. These birds are also called hen hawks and are a nuisance to poultry farmers who some times resort to killing them. An excellent resource to learn more about this type of hawk can be found on the Animal Diversity Web from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

The great heron has to be one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen. This one in particular was in the pond behind my house, standing in a very interesting position in which I had never seen any bird. It looked as if it was sunbathing since it was facing West in the late afternoon, so that it was facing the sun directly. This bird is fairly large at about 3-1/2 feet of height in its position in the photo. I found very little information about this bird online, but one of the best resources was this from TigerHomes.org (a private animal sanctuary).

Carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus in this case) live in wood, but contrary to what you would think, they do not eat wood, their diet consists of other insects, meat whenever they can get it, and sweet stuff including honey dew from aphids which they protect and harvest honeydew from. When I was photographing these little creatures at night, using my flash I noticed they didn't like it much, because they were both running around like crazy, and emitting a loud noise that sounded like loud clicks. It seems, this noise is their war call; in fact, pest control people identify carpenter ants by knocking on wood, and if they hear the clicking it means they are there. Three excellent resources on carpenter ants:

• How to identify ants from the University of Nebraska (Nebraska ants, but these ants are common in other places). Will allow you to at least generally identify the ant in a class.
• Carpenter Ants resource, from the University of Missoury.
• Florida Carpenter ants from the University of Florida .

Not only did the green tree frog (Hyla cinerea) make it to the Hollywood Walk of Fame as Kermit the Frog, but this small fellow (about 1-3/8" body size in this case) has been the Louisiana State Amphibian since 1993 when after a heated debate made it as the Louisiana State Amphibian which actually is truly represents a feat, given the multiple species of amphibians that habitat the State of Louisiana. Regardless of their name, green tree frogs can change colors depending on temperature, sexual mood, or dormancy state (they turn gray and sometimes to black when dormant). The Hilton Pond Center has an excellent article about green tree frogs.