Chronicles from Hurricane Country: Tampa Wildlife Etc.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Tampa Wildlife Etc.

The channel leading in from Tampa Bay was not what one would call pristine, so we were excited to see this yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea) hanging around. According to the University of Florida, this bird ranges from New England to Florida, west to Texas, north to Minnesota, and along Mississippi River. It winters along the Florida coastline north to South Carolina and feeds mainly on crustaceans.

More detail can be seen in the large view (click the magnifying glass for this and other large views).

Plant life and architecture follow....

We don't know what plant this is but thought it was pretty. It grew beside the bridge we crossed on our way to the University of Tampa campus.

The text below is taken from the historic landmark sign:

"Tampa Bay Hotel. Henry B. Plant built this ornate Moorish structure at a cost of $3 million. Opened in 1891, it became the social and cultural center of early Tampa. During the Spanish American War it was headquarters for troops going to Cuba and housed such visitors as Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Clara Barton, Richard Harding Davis and Gen. Nelson Miles. Purchased by the City of Tampa in 1905, it has served as the main building of the Univ. of Tampa since 1933."

I didn't see any kind of historic landmark sign, just liked the way it looked. It's located across the street from the UT campus.

These gorgeous flowers grow on the UT campus. Groundskeepers were about, so I asked them what this was. One of them guessed it was a fire lily, but told me he really wasn't sure. He was right in telling me this flower is native to Florida. Turns out this is a hybrid of the golden canna lily, whose photograph I found on the Jacksonville Shells website.

According to the University of Florida, this hybrid of Canna flaccida "typically grows to four feet tall. It grows in small stands at the edges of marshes, ponds and lakes."

More detail can be seen in the large view.

I've taken this shot from beneath the petals. More detail can be seen in the large view.

This one has a little visitor, who ducked out of sight before I could make a video of it. More detail can be seen in the large view.

These fish swim on the UT campus. I also took a video of them, and will post the URL here after I've uploaded it at our DSL-enabled library (or have set my computer to upload through the night).

I was intrigued with the architecture and reflections in this building, which houses Wachovia Bank. This is a view of the bottom of two diamonds set into the structure. A view of the top diamond is below.