December 2019 – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

'scene' along the way, adventure, Florida wildlife, kids, leap of faith, live and learn, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip

On the wild(er) side…

December 30, 2019December 29, 2019 naturecoastimagesblog

If you are ever at the intersection of Welland Road and Roach Road on the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive then look to your right and the feature photo may be the view you will see.

No, the feature photo was not taken on a kayak trip, thank Heaven! If it had been I’m not sure what exactly would have happened next. But I wouldn’t bet money against me getting flustered enough to tip over the kayak and… well, I’m not sure what would happen next but I never want to find out. I’m told that they don’t see kayaks as dinner, but surely they smell warm flesh, and fear!

How delightful to have flowers in your alligator shots…Do you see the smirk on their faces? The little upturn at the end of their smile? I don’t think they are worried about much of anything. What do they eat? And how often? After all, they are huge, and healthy looking. And they really weren’t far away at all, but somehow standing on the shore of an inlet with other people gives a sense of security. As long as I think I could outrun at least one of them.

I frequently forget to notice reflections when I’m taking pictures. But I did notice this one, two alligators for the price of one.And then there was this boy, so sure that he had everything under control. As we drove into my son’s development once there were kids on bikes riding on the road and an alligator sunning itself on the far shore of a retention pond. The idea that I was seeing kids and an alligator in my field of vision all at once made a huge impression on me. This kid told me that he had once been three feet away from an alligator. And that’s exactly the sort of thing to give me nightmares…

'scene' along the way, birds, Cranes, Florida wildlife, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip, Uncategorized

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive…

December 29, 2019December 28, 2019 naturecoastimagesblog

I’ve been to this wildlife drive before, but it was shortly after a hurricane and it never occurred to me that it might be closed. But it was. And it was a two hour drive so it was a disappointment. I guess that’s why I haven’t planned another trip until now, if you can call it planning when you wake up and kick yourself for sitting around the last couple of days, and decide to go right now. I found myself surprised at how wide open the landscape was. I’m glad the day turned out to be cloudy. It just couldn’t quite manage to actually get sunny so the one-way road, that forms an 11 mile loop around the lake, was muddy and full of puddles. But everyone was enjoying the birds and taking pictures, while we dodged puddles. There were thousands and thousands of birds, ducks, swimming in the water on each side of the road. And they were calling, it was loud! It seemed like I may have been lucky enough to have a good variety of birds in my area because I’d come all that way but my photos are of the birds I commonly see at home. It was a nice day, but a car wash is in order…

'scene' along the way, a second look, eagles, Florida wildlife, fun, nature, nesting, perseverance, photography, technology

Eagle watch…

December 28, 2019December 27, 2019 naturecoastimagesblog

Yesterday I decided to stop by the eagle nest for yet another check to see if they were ‘home’ and in the mood to get their picture taken. I haven’t stopped too many times lately, but I’ve been disappointed often enough that I didn’t really expect to see one of them, let alone two. And before I even got out of my car a friend pulled up, also on the eagle watch. We are thinking that it’s about time for the eggs to hatch, and the real eagle watch will begin when that happens. She said that she had already been by once that day and didn’t see anyone, so neither of us were expecting to see them, but there he was, or is it a she? The larger one is the female, or so I’m told, but you have to see them side by side to judge. He or she was on a branch above the nest, keeping watch. Sitting calmly enough, but looking from side to side and seeming to be on guard. And as we watched suddenly there was the second one, just arriving at the nest it seemed, and then sounding off as if she didn’t like what she found there. What we didn’t see was any activity that suggested that they are feeding hatchlings, but that should be soon. We’ll be keeping watch ourselves, hoping for the day we’ll see the babies popping their heads up for us to get a picture. And neither of us had our best camera/lens combination with us. I won’t make the mistake again. This is the best I could do yesterday.

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, Florida landmarks, Florida wildlife, fun, nature, perseverance, photography, simple things

My new favorite park…

December 27, 2019December 26, 2019 naturecoastimagesblog

I don’t know why it took me so long to go to John Chestnut Park. I had seen that my photo group have taken photo walks to that park frequently, but for one reason or another I hadn’t been able to join them. Until today, when I decided that it was high time I made a visit. As I got out of the car I saw another photographer with his big tripod and camouflage covered lens, which he parked outside of the bathroom while he went in. So I appointed myself to guard the camera, and then proceeded to pick his brain about what might see and where. He showed me his pictures he’d just taken as two eagles harassed an osprey to try to hijack his newly caught fish. I was sorry to have missed that.

Do you see the seeds on the railing in the feature photo? He told me that people place them there for the birds, and right on cue that Downey woodpecker landed and gave me my first photo op. The squirrels were quite interested in the seeds also, and if I had had food for them I’m sure they would have eaten out of my hand. The park is lovely, full of boardwalks over the wetlands, and trails to follow, and that’s just what I did.

As I took pictures of the park itself I was quite surprised to find that squirrel at eye level only five feet away from me. I didn’t seem to bother him as I took pictures while he was having a snack. But as I stood there something caught my eye out in the woods. I assumed it was a bird, but when I took a picture and then enlarged it in the camera I realized it was a deer. The flicking of her tail was what had caught my eye. So I backtracked a bit to try to get a better shot, and then realized that she had walked under the boardwalk and she was just off to my right. I called to her and instead of taking off she turned and looked at me. I’m happy to say that this park will be worth many more visits in the future.

'scene' along the way, a second look, boats, moments, nature, perseverance, photography, sky, sunrise

Aripeka again…

December 26, 2019 naturecoastimagesblog

I stopped at the first bridge on my trip to Aripeka that morning. I liked that there were lights on in the houses, but it looked like the actual sunrise would be so far to the right that it wouldn’t be the prettiest sunrise photos for me. So I took a few pictures and then moved on to the second bridge, the more familiar bridge I’ve used for sunrise photos. In the 30 seconds or so it took to drive that little way up the road not only had the sunrise colors come to life, but the wind had kicked up tremendously. I overheard the bait shop owner cautioning the boaters who had stopped on the bridge, telling them that they would have some problems if they headed out on the water that day. While the temperature was mild, the wind was still whipping and the sky was overcast, I wonder how those boaters did out there…

'scene' along the way, friends, fun, go with the flow, Just do it, kayaking, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Santa paddle…

December 25, 2019December 24, 2019 naturecoastimagesblog

They called it a Santa paddle, and paddle we did. Hours of paddling on Silver Lake. I spent most of that time fascinated at the thought that the scenery was so natural. I wondered if people paddling this place years ago looked at an identical scene. If you notice the trees you’ll see the high water line, and the few houses that we did see on the shores suffered flooding when the water rose. It was hard to imagine the water so high.

The feature photo shows the most alligator-ish sight that I saw. And for that I was thankful. It was too cold for the gators, I was told, it was meant to reassure me. But where would they go? In my mind every log floating just beneath the water was suspect, but I did forget about that after a while. Maybe it was the overcast day that caused such gorgeous reflections in the water. It was a lovely paddle.

I wish all a very Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year will be kind to one and all.