Yellow Dog and Brown Dog cooling off in a beaver pond.
![[Dogs in water]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-03--butterfly-snake-dogs-cormorant-heron-beavers-dogs-pond-longleaf-fencewire/20200503_141956.jpg)
Gretchen is represented by her camera there on the right.
-jsq
Porch wren chicks 2020-05-17
The porch wrens built their nest so dark inside I never even saw their eggs, but now the chicks are hatched, four or five of them.
![[Flash: four or five chicks]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-17--porch-wren-chicks/20200517_110608.jpg)
Had to use my phone’s flash to see them.
![[One barely visible]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-17--porch-wren-chicks/20200517_110520.jpg)
Gretchen actually discovered them.
-jsq
Serpent 2020-05-08
The least menacing snake you will see today.
![[Not moving very fast]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-08--serpent/20200508_082734.jpg)
At the entrance to the Cypress Swamp. Brown Dog and Yellow Dog didn’t even notice.
-jsq
Gretchen and her Sycamore
She transplanted that tree when it wasn’t knee-high.
![[Gretchen, her Sycamore]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-03--butterfly-snake-dogs-cormorant-heron-beavers-dogs-pond-longleaf-fencewire/20200503_155048-rot.jpg)
Don’t tell her other trees she likes this one better. Continue reading
Turtle 2020-05-06
![[Howdy]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-06--turtle-birds-garden-longleaf/20200506_111149.jpg)
![[Scale]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-05-06--turtle-birds-garden-longleaf/20200506_111141.jpg)
Phoenix bird 2020-05-10
The firebird appears to be a Carolina wren.
This Thryothorus ludovicianus didn’t seem to mind that I was three feet from it. Continue reading![[Carolina wren]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-04-21--phoenix-bird/20200510_102404.jpg)
Smilax root 2020-04-25
These potatoes are stuck together.
![[I don't think she likes it]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-04-25--smilax-root/20200425_185412.jpg)
Really, I washed it.
![[After cleaning]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-04-25--smilax-root/20200425_185333.jpg)
Yes, you can eat these roots. They just take Continue reading
Phoenix Tree 2020-04-21
Update 2020-05-10: Phoenix bird 2020-05-10
Firebird:
![[Phoenix Eggs]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-04-21--phoenix-bird/phoenixeggs.jpg)
We burned on March 2, 2020, and that tree Continue reading
Swamp boat burn 2020-03-02
Dogs like water more than fire.
![[Yellow Dog and camouflaged Brown Dog]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-03-02--burn-cont-swamp-boat/20200302_130718.jpg)
Yellow Dog and camouflaged Brown Dog
And yes, Gretchen was putting out fires with a coffee cup and swamp water.
But she found something unexpected. Continue reading
Video: Wasps 2020-04-12
Something to avoid on the water.
![[Wasp nest]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2020-04-12--azaleas-pond-dogs-herons-woodpecker/20200412_111955.jpg)
As good a video as I could get, since I didn’t want to get any closer: https://youtu.be/ezt2ksMwz8I.
Stay tuned for great blue herons and a red-bellied woodpecker.
-jsq