exploring new places – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

a second look, adventure, birds, butterflies, Chinsegut Conservation Center, exploring new places, Florida wildlife, friends, fun, gardens, nature, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, Nature's beautiful creatures, nesting, perseverance, photography

Beautiful day, part 2…

March 6, 2023March 5, 2023 naturecoastimagesblog

Only it was really part 1, because I have a few images from my second trip to Chinsegut Conservation Center in just a week or so. That was our first stop, since it was the farthest north we intended to go. When we got there the feeders were being loaded up, again. The gal said that they’d been filled up the night before and were empty already. It didn’t take long for the birds to get to work on emptying them again. That’s a red bellied woodpecker in the feature photo.

Another Mrs. Cardinal enjoying the suet that was also refilled that morning.

Birds of a feather eat together. Pine Warblers.

Yes, I think the pine warblers outnumbered everyone else.

Heading south we stopped at the Nature Coast Botanical Garden next, and wandered to the music by a band that was playing in a little gazebo next to the train garden. We saw the train make its last trip around the track before being put away for another week. But I found the waterfalls at the garden to be especially pretty that day.

Plus a butterfly, which made me happy to see.

Stop number 3 was to see what was happening at the eagle nest. The two ‘babies’ were on their own while we were there. But a couple who were just leaving said that one of the adults had just been up in the tree keeping an eye on them.

There seemed to be some tidbits in the nest for them to be snacking on.

This was all the action we saw from them, and we didn’t wait for a parent to return,

Our last stop of the day was at the rookery, and those were the pictures I posted yesterday. This morning we watched a live streamed photography class given for our photography club. And I’ve got a book I need to get back to…

'scene' along the way, black and white, exploring new places, Florida landmarks, fun, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip

Let’s go for a ride…

February 28, 2023February 27, 2023 naturecoastimagesblog

My immediate comment at the suggestion of ‘going for a ride’ will always be, “Where to?” And these days I will always expect to take some pictures when we get there. But there was no destination in mind when we headed out yesterday, and if we would have known we would have had the scooter and trike with us. We saw a sign for Dade Battlefield Historic State Park and turned in. The site preserves the battlefield where the Seminole Indians fought the soldiers under the command of Major Francis L Dade in the Second Seminole War. What little we saw of it made us want to come back when we are able to ride the trails. And learn a bit of history that we may have missed growing up in Massachusetts.

You drive in and park at the visitor’s center. When we arrived we saw a volunteer taking a group out for a narrated tour of the battlefield. This looks like a nice place to ride and explore.

Having just taken a class on black and white photography I had in mind finding scenes that might translate to black and white well. Or at all.

There were many live oaks creating tunnels to lure you into the woods. We didn’t see the 400 year old oak that the volunteer told us was here. I think we knew immediately that this place would be worth another visit.

I think I like this black and white the best.

We also ‘found’ the Florida National Cemetery and drove in to see it. I was there with a friend a few years ago for the Memorial Day festivities and it was a very moving place to be. The feature photo doesn’t do it justice, because there are fields and fields of gravestones, all perfectly tended and around every corner. We now have a plan to go back this Memorial Day. All and all it was a beautiful day for a drive…

I’m looking forward to the class on editing your black and white photos.

adventure, birds, exploring new places, Florida landmarks, Florida wildlife, friends, fun, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, pelicans, perseverance, photography

Pelican Paradise…

February 5, 2023 naturecoastimagesblog

Looking at my pictures from Homosassa Springs I had to think that it really does appear to be a pelican paradise…

And this is a white pelican, and the bumps on his bill means that he/she is in breeding plumage.

Here we have a Black Crowned Night Heron. He is a wild bird, living here by choice. Smart bird.

Here we have an immature Black Crowned Night Heron with an adult in the background.

They aren’t afraid of people. This one was on a branch close to the walking path.

And here is more proof that they aren’t afraid of people. The woman in the glasses is getting ready to feed the pelicans. She said that they try not to feed the wild birds but these three look pretty hopeful to me.

The pelican in the center was the winner this time.

That little immature night heron looks a bit disappointed to me.

This is a Crested Caracara, who looks too pretty to be a raptor who will chase off vultures in order to feast on their left overs.

This is a little Burrowing Owl, who finally opened one eye to peek at what was going on. We are planning to take a trip to Cape Coral to see them in their natural habitat soon.

When ever I see a pretty view like this I grab my iPhone to take a picture.

Did you know that the flamingos have black -tipped feathers? I sure didn’t.

I don’t know what drives us to go out and take pictures as often as we do. But it is especially fun to have friends who love to be out there taking pictures together. And what a beautiful place to live to be out with our cameras.

a second look, adventure, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, exploring new places, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, kids, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography

Sarasota Audubon Nature Center…

January 3, 2023January 2, 2023 naturecoastimagesblog

We nearly missed this center located adjacent to the Celery Fields trail. The sidewalk we were riding led us past the beginning of the trail and over to the Audubon center. It wasn’t open since it was past noon, but the multiple bird feeders set up outside were amazingly busy. When we first stopped to see what we could see there were little kids there, talking excitedly and running back and forth to grab snacks from their mothers. But I can’t say that the birds, and there were lots of them, were bothered by all the action. We were bothered however, so we decided to go get some lunch, and when we came back to the feeders we were there by ourselves. That was much nicer.

There must be some truth to the saying that ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ Or so it would seem.

In the light I thought they looked slightly green-ish, mostly because that’s what I hoped they’d be. I hoped to see painted buntings, but we didn’t. These are brown headed cow birds, and I’ve never seen them before.

I think I probably have seen them before, but didn’t notice them being different from all the other little brown birds.

A red-winged black bird in non-breeding colors. I had to look this guy up, thank goodness for Merlin.

We see cardinals daily on our bird feeder. This one kept to himself, mostly in the bushes or on the ground, and was gone fairly quickly.

The blue jays didn’t stay put long also, but this one stopped at the bird bath for a drink.

It’s that ”birds of a feather’ thing again. I was excited over the purples and blues of the feathers in this photo, but Merlin says they are common grackles. I think they were the most abundant birds at the feeders.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy kids, and their conversation was fun to listen to, but they were lined up across the table part of the picnic table viewing spot, making it tough to frame a photo. Their mothers were around the corner, paying no attention, as the kids came and went with their juice boxes and snacks, which included slices of watermelon. So in the feature photo, the slice of watermelon in the bird bath, placed by the Audubon folks or the kids? Guess we’ll never know.

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, bugs, bunnies, butterflies, egrets, exploring new places, friends, fun, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip, technology

Celery Fields…

January 2, 2023January 1, 2023 naturecoastimagesblog

A couple of years ago I spent a day being chauffeured around by another photographer, seeing many birding spots that day. Celery Fields was one of our quick stops, since we were in the area. But my over all impression was that it was rather flat and we didn’t take pictures there that day. Maybe we stopped with a different view that day, but I never added it to my mental ‘must see’ locations. Our intention in going this time was to ride the trails and see some birds that a friend had photographed there. But we quickly found that those long slow dirt trails were going to be too much for our trike and scooter, so we rode on the sidewalk and found plenty beautiful subjects to shoot.

I’m always on the lookout for bees and that’s what I hoped this was. I didn’t have the right lens on the camera and it didn’t seem to be focusing as I wanted it to, but I took some shots anyhow. I’m glad I did. The feature photo seemed to have the same problems also, but turned out okay.

This is the view we saw, definitely not flat. Each turn of the trail revealed yet another hill to climb.

Though the people on the hill caught my eye. I think he was being sent to retrieve his brother. I wish I’d rolled the zoom back a little.

If this guy had been lost he was found in the end,

This egret was the reason we did ride on the sidewalk, which revealed a few more photographic subjects.

I thought this was a glossy ibis, but I had to check to be sure and it is, but he’s in his non-breeding plumage.

A little blue was hanging out with the egret and ibis also.

We missed a great opportunity to get pictures of this immature red-shouldered hawk when we first arrived. Lucky for us he flew into the trees nearby and posed a while.

I saw the beautiful color of this fella’s feathers, but when he turned his head I was a bit disappointed to see that it was a turkey vulture. But I suppose they have their place in the big scheme of things.

This little bird was high in a tree so I had to zoom to the max, and then look it up on Merlin. It’s a loggerhead shrike, which I’d heard of but seeing it was a first for me.

It’s a shame that we didn’t look up info on this location before we visited because there is a lot more to be seen here. But we’ll be back…

adventure, attitude adjustments, birds, black and white, exploring new places, friends, fun, nature, Pedaling Along, perseverance, photography

Wilderness Conservation Park…

December 26, 2022December 27, 2022 naturecoastimagesblog

We’ve been bundled up and hiding from the cold weather for a few days now. Not all that cold according to my northern friends and relatives, but too cold for people who have lived here for any length of time. But today we just had to get out for a little while, so we went to a new-to-us park and rode the trails for a little while. I loved the beautiful reflections in the river, the Hillsborough River, even with the cloudy conditions and the temperature that might have reached 50 degrees. It was a nice ride, then it was time to head for home and heat up some of the turkey soup to warm up.