Category: Bayport

'scene' along the way, a second look, Bayport, birds, Florida wildlife, fun, moments, perseverance, photography, sky, sunrise, Up and at 'em

I still love Bayport…

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I went back to Bayport again already, and I had a fun time shooting. There was enough of a pretty sunrise to make me happy, plus a great blue heron dropped in on the fishing pier, probably looking for treats from the fishermen. When I was heading here frequently for the sunrise I came to expect a great blue to show up before I left. We may not have been able to go to the park for several years, but the great blue was probably there every day, enjoying himself without us. I love to see the boats leaving from the boat dock, creating photo ops for me. Yes, a fun day. But then I got home and looked at my photos and they all looked too dark, I almost didn’t even attempt to edit them. I’m glad I didn’t give up because when they were merged into HDR they looked a lot better.

There was another unexpected sight that made me smile that morning. One last boat that was heading out for the day with a dog onboard, and boy did he look as if he was going to have a great time. Lucky dog!

a second look, Bayport, birds, blessings, boats, Florida wildlife, fun, nature, perseverance, photography, Rise and shine, sky, sunrise, weather

Favorite places…

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Bayport was a favorite sunrise location for me for quite a long time, but several years ago they closed the pier, and then closed the entire park while they replaced the pier. A sunken ship was the cause of the delay, but yesterday then reopened the park, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony. I would probably still be in the dark about this if not for my former neighbor who posted about the reopening yesterday, which meant that today I was going to make sure to be there for the sunrise.

I wasn’t the only one there. Many very happy fishermen were also there, greeting each other and teasing me about taking pictures of their great, but imaginary, catches. And the sunrise didn’t disappoint. I could have lived without the guy with a drone who was buzzing the area as the sun rose though.

And again the weather was wonderful enough that even after the sunrise I was reluctant to leave, but once the sun was up I thought my day was done. That was until I noticed the grackle on the mirror of one of the parked cars, and then the birds took over the shoot.

The grackles are noisy, but for some reason I enjoy their antics. And of course the seagulls were plentiful too. I saw a Great Blue Heron land and intended to see if I could get a photo of him, or two, but I was busy with the sunrise at first. He was no where to be seen when I did look for him.

I guess the great blue heron that I missed is why I decided to take an alternate route home and see if I could see One-Foot Fred. I wondered what he did once the sunrise was over and his benefactor got on with his day. And when I got to the Hammond’s Creek Bridge there he was, standing right in the curb area where I would have pulled over to park. He paid no attention to me as I pulled over beyond him and got out and took a few pictures. I felt a little sorry for him standing there all alone, not a fisherman in sight. But as I pulled away I saw a fisherman arriving, carrying his tackle box and fishing pole. That made me happy.

Bayport, changing times, coping, courage, finding my way, following the rules, life goes on, perseverance, photography, sunset

The rules…

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I have always spent a lot of time arguing with myself over what I should or should not do.  Rules have always dominated my life, and most of those rules I made up myself.  Going through my old photos brought me to this one, taken at Bayport a couple of years ago.  The first thought that came to mind was that this part of the park isn’t gated off, I could still go there for pictures.  A happy thought, until I remember the rule, stay home.  Would it really matter if I headed out, just me and my camera?  Even if I go out and don’t see another person have I somehow contributed to this current state of emergency we find ourselves in?  I shake my head over speeders and people who run red lights for obvious reasons, but is it up to me to decide if these new rules apply to me?  And how much inactivity will it take at my age to create a situation where my body won’t cooperate with what in my mind I think I can do?  It will be sunrise soon enough, and light enough for me to take a walk, so that’s what I think I will do.  I will go out and get my 10,000 steps in while I still can.  It’s a rule…

'scene' along the way, a second look, Bayport, birds, Florida landmarks, Florida wildlife, nature, perseverance, photography, sky, sunrise

Sunrise surprise…

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I stopped at Bayport for the sunrise on the way to my hike date yesterday.  I had read that they had finally begun work on the fishing pier that’s been out of commission for several years now.  I wondered how things were going.  I didn’t expect the road to be closed however.  It was pretty overcast and I wasn’t expecting much from the sunrise, but I told myself that I’d take pictures of the fishing boats as they left the launch area.  Only there were no fishing boats, no fishermen, no one at all.  With time to kill I took pictures anyhow.  And, as it frequently does, the sky did get pretty.  But I wonder how long they will have the park closed…11-13bayportflyover11-13bayportherom11-13bayporthawk11-13bayportsunrisecolor11-13bayportsunrisecolor2

'scene' along the way, a second look, Bayport, birds, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography, sunrise

Rainy days…

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It’s been raining the last two days.  Not all the time, but enough to keep me home.  Plus there were still issues that needed to be taken care, left-overs from being away for five months.  So I haven’t been out for pictures in two days.  That’s pretty much unheard of.  But, I thought, surely I must have photos that I’ve downloaded into one or the other computer, photos I overlooked for one reason or another.  So the feature photo is an iPhone photo from the Bayport sunrise just the other day.  It’s pretty much a rerun of the ones I’ve posted already.  But it’s the heron I saw that day that caught my attention.  It’s sad to say that while we are happy to see all the birds here, we photographers I mean, the fact that these birds are willing to hang around near people is often what will lead to their demise.  Do you see his leg?  He has fishing line attached there, and often it’s so very much worse looking than this looks.  Maybe someone tried to untangle him and this was the best they could do?  Perhaps.  Often times you’ll see that the overhead wires that line the street where the bridges lend themselves to fishermen fishing there, will be covered in fishing line.  And there was one-foot Fred, the Great Blue Heron who I saw many times, who the fishermen told me lost that foot to fishing line.  It’s upsetting to see.  It seems as if fishermen, who are out in nature as often as possible, would be more respectful of all the creatures out there.  And I have looked and looked at this photo and I have no idea why it appears that you can see through this guy.  I. hope it’s some optical illusion of some kind…10-8woundedheron

'scene' along the way, a second look, Bayport, birds, Florida wildlife, nature, perseverance, photography, sunrise

Back to Bayport…

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I have no idea how long it’s been since the last time I went to Bayport for the sunrise.  Or sunset for that matter.  It was always my favorite place to go, and a place to go when I ran out of ideas for places to go.  And Sunday was a beautiful morning for it.  The fishing pier still hasn’t been repaired, and it felt a lot more rickety than I remember.  There is an underwater shipwreck nearby which is holding up the funds for the repairs. A fisherman told me that and I was dubious, but I Googled it and sure enough that’s the problem.   I didn’t think the heron was going to show up, but as you can see he did.  Seems like things went along just fine without me while I was gone.  10-6bayporsunrise410-6bayportHDR110-6bayportHDR310-6bayportHDRboat10-6bayportHDRclose10-6bayportHDRreverse10-6bayporheron10-6bayporheronegretOn the way home I stopped at Jenkin’s Creek in hopes of seeing an eagle, but I struck out. What I did see was a sign saying that ALL parked cars were subject to a $5 parking fee.  That was new.  I stopped to take pictures of this egret, and I didn’t pay.  I’m such a renegade in my old age.