February 2021 – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

a second look, adventure, birds, family, Florida wildlife, fun, learning, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, safety Harbor

Owl life…

February 28, 2021February 27, 2021 naturecoastimagesblog

A trip to Safety Harbor for the sunrise always includes the ulterior motive of heading to Philippe Park to see the owls, or at least try to see them. There are always other photographers there, and I usually embarrass myself when I can’t seem to ‘find’ the owls that everyone else seems to have no trouble seeing. Not yesterday though, the Mom was sitting on a branch that even I had no trouble spotting. Seeing Dad, however, took a little more sleuthing, but now that I’m informed that that’s his favorite spot it’ll probably be easier to spot him next time.

I was told that Mom was keeping an eye on the nest while dear old Dad, tuckered out from his night of hunting, snoozed nearby. And in the nest was a curious baby, or make that two of them, easy to see after you finally do realize where the nest is.

And that’s basically it, Mom watches, Dad snoozes, and baby occasionally pops his head up but mostly is hidden down in the nest. The photographers were waiting, wanting to see Mom fly to the nest and get that owl-in-flight shot, but since nothing much was going on I was tempted to leave, my good-byes were on the tip of my tongue. Then a couple of blue jays seemed to be pestering the parents. That blur to the right of Mom was one who photo bombed the shot. Mom’s ‘horns’ came up, she wasn’t happy, but nothing much happened until the crows got in on the act.

Several crows landed above Mom, and several more near Dad, and they were working together, by the sound of their crowing they were quite obviously harassing the owls.

Mom was getting fluffed up, and the photographers got excited that she was going to fly.

I had just enough time to zoom out a little to give myself room when both owls took off, and those crows did too. I wish I’d gotten sharper shots, but I have to say I was glad to get them at all. From the groans I heard around me I think several people were caught off guard. And that was the finale for the day, for me at least. If the crows were intent on raiding the nest it didn’t work, not this time, and the owls returned to their chosen spots to continue their watching and snoozing…

A beautiful day in a beautiful park, but I get up so early to get to the area for sunrise that I’m too anxious to head home to explore the park and just enjoy it…

a second look, facing facts, fantasy images, finding my way, Florida landmarks, Just do it, let it go, life goes on, live and learn, moments, nature, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography, Rise and shine, road trip, safety Harbor, sunrise, Up and at 'em

Sunrise, by the skin of my teeth….

February 27, 2021February 26, 2021 naturecoastimagesblog

I really ought to plan my photo trips a little better, but somehow they do seem to work out, one way or another. So maybe flying by the seat of my pants isn’t all bad. But looking up the travel time to Safety Harbor at 5 AM (30 minutes), and expecting it to be the same if I left at 6 AM, wasn’t my smartest move. I had less than 5 minutes until the sun peeked above the horizon this morning, I made it, but barely. Another photographer informed me that I had missed a beautiful moon set though. I have the app (PhotoPills) to let me be more aware of these photo ops, but I still haven’t learned to use it. Sigh. And still another photographer chose to inform me that I should get rid of my lens and buy the one that he had. I think this is the first time I’ve run into someone like that, photographers are generally a really nice group of people. I’m sticking with my lens, it’s the person behind the camera who leaves a bit to be desired sometimes.

LensBall gives you a different perspective, especially when the views are limited…

a second look, family, fun, kids, life goes on, memories, moments, nature, Passing time, perseverance, photography

Growing up orangutan…

February 26, 2021February 25, 2021 naturecoastimagesblog

Of course I took four times as many pictures of the orangutans yesterday as I did of all the other creatures at Zootampa. The problem was that RanDee wasn’t presenting her three month old baby boy to the camera as nicely as she did last time. As usual she was huddled with her mother DeeDee, who seemed to be grooming her daughter and watching over her grandson. Those orangutans don’t just appear to be a close knit group, they are family, three generations together. Their interactions are so much fun to watch, and I know it’s not just me because the rest of the onlookers were delighting in the young ones at play and as they noticed the newest addition. Little kids loved watching them play also, but then they were ready to go see the elephants, or the tiger…

I didn’t ‘see’ this photo until the third trip through my images.

I couldn’t resist cropping it in closer also.

I’m usually happy to get a shot of this littlest of the big kids, but yesterday she was photo bombing my shots.

Meanwhile someone decided that dousing herself in sand was a great idea. I distinctly remember holding my son upside down and rubbing his head so that we’d leave at least some of the sand in the sandbox. It’s hard to believe I did that when I look at him now.

This looks to me like a mother passing knowledge to her daughter. How much communication do they have I wonder?

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, changing times, ducks, following the rules, fun, Just do it, life goes on, Nature's beautiful creatures, Passing time, perseverance, photography

Spending time, not money…

February 25, 2021 naturecoastimagesblog

I narrowed my choices for the day into cleaning out the inside of the car, or go to the zoo. I told myself that going to the zoo was my ‘saintlier’ choice since I’d be taking advantage of my pay-for-a day and visit for a year pass. It’s only a deal if you use it.

This little one was all by himself on the little waterway between the monkey enclosures. I loved the ripple he made as he frantically swam upstream, and had just wondered where his mother was when a posse of ducklings came into view.

This looked like a scene from a movie to me.

Something big must have been going on since there were all these guys in tuxes standing around.

Meet and greet with the Galapagos tortoises.

If you walked down to the viewing area you can get a picture of a rhino’s eye. From up above you can see just how close you can be to them. Judging by size this is the ‘baby’ white rhino.

I love how well they have landscaped around the primate/monkey sections.

I guess it’s that time of year since the planting areas had lots of new plants set in place, waiting to be planted. It will be pretty.

You can wear your heart on your sleeve but this guy wears his on his nose.

This house sparrow hangs out with elephants.

Another day gotten through. There is no goal in mind exactly, just to get through this whole, strange, time we find ourselves in. I’ve been wondering if we’ll know when it’s over, or will it just fade into a new way of living…

'scene' along the way, birds, connections, family, Florida landmarks, fun, kids, leap of faith, life, life goes on, moments, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sunset

Family sunset…

February 24, 2021February 23, 2021 naturecoastimagesblog

It was a day to celebrate a family. Not my family however, I have no idea who these people are except that they are exceptional. This was a photo shoot at Pine Island, the first time this family had all gotten together for a family photo, because this is a new family. Two parents, four biological children, and four siblings who had newly joined the family. I was told that they lost their mother a year and a half before and had been placed in foster care. They kept telling their social worker to call this family, they knew the family from bible camp, and they were sure that this family would take them. And once they got a social worker to listen to them that’s exactly what happened. It was a nice story, and the sunset that I didn’t expect to be much wound up to be as heartwarming as I could ever hope for…

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, backyard visitors, birds, eagles, egrets, Florida wildlife, fun, life goes on, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, nesting, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, Tricolored heron

Good housekeeping…

February 23, 2021February 22, 2021 naturecoastimagesblog

Friends were taking a day trip today, but I decided that I wanted to stick closer to home. And I did, but I stuck even closer than I thought I would. Usually I drive a little way to see the eagles, and I had that in mind, but then I remembered the eagle nest that’s practically in my back yard. Trouble is that I hardly ever see eagles there when I check, I suspected it had been abandoned. But today one of them was keeping watch over the nest. I couldn’t see any other activity, but I’ll be checking it out from now on.

As I watched the eagle I couldn’t help but notice all the various birds flying overhead, and that reminded me that it had been a long time since I had checked out the nearby rookery. So I went home and got my ladder, because shooting over the fence would be impossible with out it, and sure enough, there was lots of housekeeping going on there.

I don’t recall seeing a snowy egret here before. Maybe we’ll get to see a new family this year. Possibly not the most exciting news for everyone, but that possibility is enough to make me happy. And that goes for the feature photo, a tricolor heron, too. I was always so happy to see them on the pond in my back yard, they were a favorite of mine. But I honestly didn’t realize what I was looking at when I was trying to get a photo, I thought it was a little blue heron, which is the same mistake I used to make out on the lake. Again, I would love to see him or her raise a family in this little rookery also. So much excitement this time of year, and so close to home.