Crops & Clips: Snowy Christmas in Florida

Oh Deer, Christmas is here:



Deep snow on Miami Mountain in the middle of May, 2010? I looked up and, for a moment, thought I was in Oregon or Washington State!



No, the image has not been photo-shopped. This mountain of coral rock was mined from the bottom of a deep flooded quarry about 1 1/2 miles to the south of our home in Miramar, Florida. I'd never before or since seen the stone piled this high. Demand must have been down and they were stockpiling it.

The rocks are rich in phosphate which formed millions of years ago on the floor of the ocean from the shells and skeletons of sea creatures.

Over 15 square miles of wetlands in nearby NW Miami-Dade County have been permitted for rock mining. In addition to the threat to the Everglades ecosystem, groundwater pollution of several nearby water wells is a concern of conservationists. 

The phosphate comes from sediment that was deposited in layers on the sea floor. The phosphate rich sediments are believed to have formed from precipitation of phosphate from seawater along with the skeletons and waste products of creatures living in the seas.

Phosphate rock and its by-product of phosphoric acid are valuable in fertilizer and industrial applications. It is also a source of gypsum for building materials (drywall), but the phosphogypsum produced in Florida is contaminated with radioactive uranium and thorium (and other isotopes including radium) and its use is prohibited domestically. It is thus stacked up indefinitely in dozens of locations. See: The Clock is Ticking on Florida's Mountains of Hazardous Phosphate Waste

We lack snowy mountaintops, but we have dancing Snowy Egrets:







Living decorations for our greenery--

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on Brazilian Pepper:



Christmas Palm:



We lack spruce or fir trees, but what can be prettier than Egrets decorating a Cypress tree which conveniently turns red in December before shedding its needles?...



...or a Northern Cardinal... 



...or Red-winged Blackbird on Cypress:



Instead of glass and plastic ornaments and silk flowers we have mangoes from our back yard...



...Wild Balsalm Pear...



...fleshy flowers of the Pond Apple...



...and Wild Poinsettia:



Carolina Wren with wild Poinsettia:



On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: Seven ducks a-flying...

 

...Six storks a-nesting.. 



...Five goldenrods...

 

...Four ducklings waiting...



...Three Swamphens...



...Two Ground-Doves...



...And a Mockingbird in a berry tree:

 

Christmas full Moon rising over our back yard, December 25, 2015...



...and, early the next morning, setting as  we walk into our local wetlands:



Snow Moon is sinking...



...Bright lights are blinking, ...



...bringing us good cheer,
 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
   
I feel compelled to add a postscript to show feathered "ornaments" from our previous homes, including Cedar Waxwing on Cypress (Illinois)...



...and a Mountain Chickadee (New Mexico):




= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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