Category: making memories

'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…

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.
a second look, adventure, birds, bucket list, friends, fun, Just do it, making memories, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, road trip

Myakka River State Park…

naturecoastimagesblog

When we left home our destination wasn’t the Myakka River State Park, but it was only a half hour away from our destination, and after driving an hour and a half to get there it was a shame not to stop by. There are spoonies there after all, and I see the most beautiful photos of them online. In those photos they are landing, or taking off, or just flying overhead. But none of that was going on when we got there. You can see them from the parking lot, and the path to walk to get a closer vantage point is not too long. But what was going on, or not going on, is evident in the feature photo. Maybe it was the fact that we were there in the afternoon, possibly siesta time.

The spoonies hang out where the river meets the lake, which just so happens to be where the gators hang out also. Lots of them, just to the left of the scene in the feature photo. And also in the water, swimming over to get a closer look at us as were take our pictures from the opposite shore.
Was the great blue paying attention to the gators in this picture? The little blue certainly wasn’t. And the spoonies aren’t paying attention at all.
They weren’t all totally inactive though, I just had to look a little more closely.
And when I saw one shaking it’s booty I made sure to get a picture.
Of course spoonies weren’t the only birds there. I shot bursts of photos trying for pictures of this osprey flying right overhead. When you shoot bursts the camera needs a break to catch up with itself now and then. And during one of those buffering moments this osprey dove into the water and came up with a fish! Right in front of us! But I can’t prove it because I missed the shot, darn it.
We both took lots of pictures of this black-necked stilt because we hadn’t seen one before. He was wading and hunting for his lunch with lots of other wading birds.
Among the waders were a few limpkins. They were hunting for their favorite treat, apple snails. But any snail will do. Their beak has a bit of a twist to the end, specialized for getting the snails out of their shells. They must be successful because the riverbank was covered in empty shells.
Finding a little blue heron there shouldn’t be a surprise, they seem to be everywhere.

As always it was a fun way to spend the day. And we have to take advantage of the weather while it’s still a relatively cool 80 degrees or so. Hot in the sun if you just stand there, but in the shade it just can’t be beat!

'scene' along the way, eagles, Florida wildlife, friends, fun, making memories, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, nesting, perseverance, photography

Another day with the eagles…

naturecoastimagesblog

The feature photo is Duchess, the eagle Mama, taking her turn off the nest, but not venturing far. And here is Duke, staying very close to the nest, keeping close watch. I know which is which because we happened to arrive to find my favorite, and most dedicated, eagle watcher already set up and taking pictures. She is an expert on all the nests in our area. It was fun to keep watch with her and her mom.

I believe this was Dad’s position for the entire time we watched.
And here is the baby view I had hoped for, Except in my mind it was going to be a tiny ball of yellow fluff.
He looks alert, and serious, as befits an eagle.
He proceeded to flap his wings, getting ready to eventually leave the nest.
Then, all of a sudden Mom arrived. Look at his posture, exactly like mom’s here.
Feeding time. Mom stayed feeing the babies for a while, and then off she flew.
Dad was still on guard. And, finally, baby #2 appeared.
A slightly closer view.

Dad also flew off the nest as we packed up our gear to get on with the day, but as we drove away we could see both adults on snags close to the nest. It was a beautiful day and a chance to visit with friends, what could be better?

a second look, adventure, attention to detail, friends, fun, making memories, nature, pelicans, perseverance, photography, technology

Homosassa Springs residents…

naturecoastimagesblog

What a perfect day we chose to visit Homosassa Springs State Park. The weather couldn’t have been better, which the visitors appreciated, but the animals seemed to be enjoying it also. It was warm enough that the people didn’t need a sweater, but not so warm that the animals were hiding in the shade. Sometimes you see the foxes just pacing along the borders of their enclosure. The one in the feature photo looks to me to be just enjoying the day. Shortly after I took this picture it closed it’s eyes and went to sleep.

More often than not when you visit the park this bear is snoozing in the shelter of his ‘porch’, but on this day he was enjoying the sunshine.
Here is another resident who was out and about instead of looking for a place to nap.
This great egret is displaying her breeding plumage, so we know what’s on her mind.
I liked the expression on this pelican’s face. I think there were more pelicans than any other birds here in the pond.
Here you see Lu, the adopted Floridian who was allowed, by popular demand, to remain in place when this facility passed into state control. He has now reached the grand old age of 63 and is retired from his former role as a movie star.

There are a million pictures in the camera from this trip. Or 1357, I lost count. I chose to work on a few pictures of animals that I took fewer photos of and then moved on. The bursts of images that my new camera takes leaves me scratching my head as I try to choose the ‘best’ ones. I will have plenty to keep me busy tomorrow as rain is in the forecast. A great day of practicing with our new cameras, all three of us, and then lunch along the riverside.

attitude adjustments, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, hockey, Home Team, making memories, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography, technology

USF hockey…

naturecoastimagesblog

The nearby Advent Health Skating Rink is the home rink for the USF hockey club’s games. Between the USF games themselves, and the free skate rinks, there is a good crowd there on any night we’ve gone to a game. But Saturday night’s game was beyond anything we had seen before, as far as a standing room crowd goes. We found standing room in the upper level that allowed for three people at a time to have a great view of the ice. I was the fourth, so I only took shots for a couple of minutes myself, but I shot on burst mode and assumed that with all the fast action I’d get a shot or two that I might want to use here. That proved to be a little optimistic. As you can see by the feature photo, the night’s game was billed as the “War on I-4”, because of the rivalry between the USF Ice Bulls and the Knights of UCF. It definitely wasn’t UCF’s night as they lost 10-0.

They rolled out the red carpet for the Bulls mascot to drop the ceremonial first puck.
Then the Ice Bull’s mascot and the Advent Health Mascot got the crowd going to start the game.
This was the extent of the action shots I managed to get.

It’s fun to go to these games because most of our photo shoots are an hour or more away. But this rink is just a few miles from home. The next time we go it’ll probably be a smaller crowd to deal with, which won’t necessarily improve my photos, but I will try to take advantage of having a view of the ice, and maybe a seat too!

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, birds, bucket list, Circle B Bar Reserve, Florida landmarks, Florida wildlife, friends, fun, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography

Back to ‘the B’…

naturecoastimagesblog

We had such a fun day at the B a few weeks ago, but I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see the painted buntings. On this trip we saw a cameraman sitting and watching, and sometimes shooting, in the garden area. I was pretty sure he was photographing buntings, but was afraid to approach for fear the trike would scare them off. It was right at the start of the day, and when I first get the trike out it seems to have a bit of a knock that goes away after a bit. But then he motioned us over and said that they weren’t shy at all.

They were on a lawn and in the shadows, and trying to will them into the sunshine just simply didn’t work. I had a harder time holding steady than usual too, and I could have gone back to the car for my tripod but that didn’t occur to me.
There were only a few of the zillion shots that were usable. I used my old Tamron 18-400 lens with the adapter, thinking I’d be ready for anything. Might have outsmarted myself.
The sweet little Mrs. was also present…
It was so nice to have these sandhill cranes posing so nicely for us. They were all over the neighborhoods in Spring Hill, but when I see them now they always seem to be along side a busy road. Even if there was a place to pull over I’d be afraid that my attentions might cause them to step into the road. So this was a treat.
They are beautiful birds, but their overall gray-ish color makes them blend into the roadside scenery sometimes. It can be startling as you are driving and you don’t notice them until they are very close.
Those noisy grackles seemed to be having a disagreement up in the tree top.
I don’t pay a lot of attention to the anhingas since they are always displaying their feathers like this. But I couldn’t ignore this one.
I now know where to look for the eagle nest, but it is too far away to get in closer than this.
A bit further up the trail we have the ‘big boy’ hangout. Huge alligators across a smallish stream and on the far bank sunning themselves. When I say huge I mean HUGE.
In this same area is this great blue heron nest. I couldn’t see any activity in the nest, but I didn’t watch for very long.
We spotted the windmill that day too.

We are so lucky to have this great place to go to see wildlife. And each time we go back we see different birds, and sometimes animals, and so we return again, and again.