Category Archives: Wildlife

Gulf Watch (Two)

Thursday, August 26, 2010 Posted in Music, Wildlife

August is usually a hot, wet, stormy and steamy month in these parts. This year is no different and walking in near fainting weather in search of wildlife and seascapes to photograph is not exactly at the top of my pleasant experiences list.  But I can’t help myself and going for long periods without seeing the spectacular local wildlife, makes me feverish.  Last week, we went to Pine Island,  and spent some time in Bokeelia.  Bokeelia is a charming area where I contracted the avian bug some years back.  Allow me to  elaborate:  it was here that I took my first pictures of two giant birds.  That is how I saw them at the time.  I was smitten when I saw the flawed jpeg of them in iPhoto.  The two giants were a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret.  My Christmas card that year carried a graphic of the giants at the back.  I’ve moved on since then and with this blog have indulged  my imagination with stories of  local wildlife.   I’m guilty of anthropomorphism and proud of it!  So, when I saw this particular giant last week, I did an inner yell:  “There’s Baudelaire the Great Blue Heron!”

Grande Bouche the Brown Pelican was doing a goofy dive and showing off to his pals on the dock:

I regretted not bringing a little picnic for this perfect setting:

I know it’s a tired old cliché but I can NEVER resist those golden sea oats:

Another thing I can never resist is the gun metal skies on our coast in August:

Time to leave and head for home before the storm but not before visiting this wonderful gem of a gallery:

For now, all is well in our little spot on the Gulf of Mexico.  May all be well in your spot of the world.  Here’s a little music from the movie, August Rush.  Enjoy!

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Odd Duck Day (Two)

Thursday, August 12, 2010 Posted in Wildlife

Shhhhh!  Getting close to butterflies is difficult and it is even more difficult to photograph them.  Over time, I’ve learned that I have to approach very quietly if a butterfly lands on a flower, like this one here:

Luckily, this one (a Swallowtail) hung around and sniffed the flowers for quite a while. I was able to get quite a few shots with several wing poses.  That way, I could admire the beautiful colors on his immense wings:

If you want to capture butterflies in flight, you’ll need a fast lens.  In the past, I’ve managed to capture some with a shutter speed of 1,000 and a decent range in my depth of field.  Today’s cameras offer high ISOs with little or no noise so, it’s much easier to capture these dancing sprites.  I’m dreaming of the day when I’ll have such a camera with a 3,000mm lens that weighs an ounce!!!!  Yeah, laugh all you want!!  I CAN dream, can’t I?  Meanwhile, take a look at these lovelies that were shot at a shutter speed of 400–hence the blur:

Look at this little one here–its antennas (sorry, cannot remember the correct term :{-) are so cute:

Butterflies love Lantana and Porterweed, so if you can, grow some in a pot or in the ground and they’ll come! Monarchs are very drawn to Tropical Milkweed, too.  As I write this, I can see 4 or 5 wafting around my butterfly garden.  I try to capture  them backlit if the moment arises, like this one here:

So, everyone, I hope you have a lovely weekend and manage to see some butterflies along the way!  Here’s a little music to inspire you :D

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Gulf Watch (One)

Monday, August 2, 2010 Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Wildlife

Yesterday, I went to one of my favorite spots on the Gulf of Mexico—Sanibel Island. It was the “wrong’ time of day for acceptable photography  but I went ahead and shot some images at Ding Darling. There, the ponds spewed out diamonds from the crushing August sun and the birds–for the most part– were mottled silhouettes.  Life is short and if there are rules you can break without doing damage, then photography is the way to do just that!   I got a few laughs out of the Reddish Egret doing its wild dance and then I noticed this odd creature:

Oh, it was a Snowy Egret in the the middle of its molt cycle.  Those gorgeous mating season feathers were swirling around for a last hurrah!  He proceeded to wrestle with a giant, unfortunate shrimp:

He tossed it and crunched it and flung it; and for a while he had a  bit of competition from a Little Blue Heron:

Want to bet who won?

Oh yes!  You were right.  Snowy One was the winner! He gave a massive heave and gulped it down:

[caption id="attachment_2122" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""Yum! Time for the next one.""][/caption]

Before leaving I caught a trio of Brown Pelicans and behind them–a trio of American Avocets. I had first seen these little darlings on Merrit Island but never here.  I must make a note to be on the lookout for them:

At the Pier–where I almost camped out during my Osprey Chicks project–more Snowy Egrets were enjoying the end of the day:

The sun was about to set when I left…:

And The Eastern sky blushed in homage :

The real show started afterward with a sky like I’d never before witnessed here.  It is beyond my capabilities to describe it but I may go back tonight.  Perhaps I’ll see a repeat performance and if so, I’ll use my camera to show you a smidgen of the magic.

For now, all is well in our little spot on the Gulf of Mexico.  May all be well in your spot of the world.  Here’s Jeff Buckley with Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

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I’m Back in the Land of Blogging!

Saturday, July 24, 2010 Posted in Music, Wildlife

Yes, I know—it has been a while. My last post was Friday, June 25th and it featured the first episode of Neptune the Osprey Becomes a Daddy. Photographing the last pictures of that post coincided with the discovery of  Blurb—a self-publishing company.  I made a deadline for myself to get a book done which involved following the progression of the Osprey chicks over a period of 5 weeks.  Doing this and laying out the book took up most of my free time.  So, please click on the link below to take a look at it.  It’s best to view the book in full screen mode.  And, please leave a comment.

You can preview the book by clicking here.

As far as this blog is concerned, I’m going to introduce a few additions.  With few exceptions, the posts up to now have been comprised of stories and while these will continue (there are a few in the works), I’ll be adding a regular feature and some random shots throughout the week.   It takes time to produce a theme and photos that fit into the particular story so that it doesn’t always get done within a 7-day time-frame. Here’s an outline of what you’ll be seeing on a regular basis:

1)  Gulf Watch

It has taken me a long time to put this topic up. I’ve made allusions to it but it’s been a difficult road.  So many people are on this train–most of them decent people who care deeply about the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  They are reporting and/or working endlessly  to alleviate the terrible impact the oil spill has had on the people, wildlife, ecology, way of life, and daily bread of several states.  However, there has been so much coverage on the oil spill, I didn’t want to add to the clamor.  But I can’t not speak about it because I live in southwest Florida near the Gulf.  For the past three years, I’ve done my photography almost exclusively on the Gulf’s  wildlife so, I’m duty-bound to talk about it.  Gulf  Watch will include images and musings on what I see around the Gulf of Mexico.

2) Odd Duck Day

Sometimes images don’t fit a particular theme or story but I’d still like to share them. Here’s a wildlife example:

[caption id="attachment_2106" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=" The day was going swimmingly well for Maury the Roseate Spoonbill when, all of a sudden, he had the urgent thought: 'What if I'd been born in Paris instead of Southwest Florida?'""][/caption]

So, come back soon and often and enjoy.  Here’s a little music.   Yeah, I know—I’ve posted the same one before but honestly, can you EVER get enough of this?  ;D

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