Uncategorized – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

a second look, birds, Florida wildlife, friends, fun, life, life goes on, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, nesting, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Excitement at the rookery…

February 9, 2023February 10, 2023 naturecoastimagesblog

A friend recently commented that she went by the rookery and not a lot was going on. But that was a few days ago, and the action is picking up at this point. The birds are flying in and out, building their nests. Once most of the nests have eggs there will be a lot of birds on nests, and that is a lot quieter. Until the chicks hatch and the decibel level goes up. Way up.

A little hanky-panky going on. Actually there was a lot of it going on.

This spot is a small outcropping at the edge of the bigger island that the birds nest on. I’ve watched the birds for years and this area is usually where the anhingas nest, along with a great white egret also. But not the wood storks. So when this wood stork invaded the area the anhingas let him know that they weren’t going to stand for it.

I love the look on Mrs. Anhinga’s face in this one. I think she called for help.

I’ve always noticed that as close together the nests are the birds seem to coexist quite peacefully.

But this argument continued and I kept shooting since it seemed like new behavior to me.

Maybe flapping his wings would back the anhingas off.

But the face off was still in full swing.

At this point it seems the anhinga is backing off. But I took many, many more pictures and this standoff continued as we were leaving.

If the war nearby was alarming to any of the other birds it wasn’t obvious. The egrets were more interested in finding a partner, so they carried on as usual.

So there was lots of posing going on also.

Once they have eggs the birds will be laying in the nest, only getting up to reposition themselves. After a couple of weeks you begin to hear the babies calling out to be fed. You hope that they will be bobbing up and down in a nest that you have a view of from the sidewalk, and eventually that will be true. The cycle of life.

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Blue Hour…

December 2, 2022December 1, 2022 naturecoastimagesblog

And then it was blue hour and we had arrived at a neighborhood pier in Clearwater. I’m always confused as to what I’m looking at exactly when I’m looking at a skyline across the water. I was told that that’s the Sand Key Bridge that is lit up by the sunset light that was developing.

I wonder if that’s a sunset cruise heading out?

There are two bridges in view from this vantage point.

This floating bill board changed it’s advertising as it cruised back and forth.

And it set behind the buildings, but that was interesting in it’s own way.

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The color is back…

November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 naturecoastimagesblog

I should say the color was back, showing a pink glow through the nice transom over the front door. So I grabbed my phone and headed out the door, and there it was. Beautiful color after a few gray and gloomy days. It has me wondering if the sky will be as pretty for the sunrise also…

Most of the color is concentrated at the horizon line, but sometimes it lights up the whole sky!

a second look, friends, fun, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Growing up…

November 16, 2022November 16, 2022 naturecoastimagesblog

The orangutans kept us waiting yesterday. The keepers had set the stage, placing colorful boxes front and center, and edible greens were in lots of nooks and crannies in the rocks. I waited a little while, but I had wandered away when they put in their appearance. I got there just in time to see the keepers tossing the last of the chunks of fruit to the waiting orangs. They don’t squabble over the offerings, they politely wait their turn.

It took me a while to find mom and baby in the habitat. I think they were playing hide and seek.

At nearly 2 years old Riplee’s mother lets him explore the habitat as he will, but she keeps an eye on him. The boxes seemed to be as interesting as the treats that were waiting for them.

When one of the orangs sits in the sun I consider it an invitation to take a picture.

Or two pictures. Actually there were many more.

Here’s Riplee enjoying himself orangutan style.

With the cooler weather heading our way we’ll be visiting the zoo more often. It’s always a sure-fire photo op.

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, food, fun, moon, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sunset, Uncategorized

A low key sunset…

November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 naturecoastimagesblog

Sometimes you head out for the sunset just because you have the opportunity, even though the sky doesn’t look all that promising. And sometimes you like one view of the sky from Hudson Beach, but your friend wants to watch from the opposite end of the area. You may have been less than gracious, wanting to see the same view you always see. And then you might look at your pictures and think that it wasn’t such a bad outing after all.

A little blue heron visited for a few minutes.

Then he flew off, but circled back for a photo, or two.

I thought these clouds might be interesting as the sun set.

Most boats were coming in, but a few headed out.

A promising sunset on the way, I thought.

I zoomed in because I liked the way the sun looked as it set behind the vegetation. What I didn’t realize until I saw the shots in the computer is that there are birds in the vegetation.

adventure, coping, finding my way, Florida wildlife, live and learn, nature, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Hitchhikers…

October 30, 2022October 29, 2022 naturecoastimagesblog

I love my car, I really do. It has taken me on a lot of actual miles, which in turn lead to many emotional ‘miles’ over the last few years, and for that I am grateful.

But if I have one complaint about the car it’s the fact that the windshield fogs up whenever I head out for a sunrise photo shoot. I have no idea if my previous cars also fogged up in the early morning darkness because getting out for the sunrise was never a priority until the last few years. My routine to combat the nearly impossible-to-see-through windshield involves using the defroster, turning the heat on even though I don’t need it, and opening windows a crack, none of which seem to do much to solve the problem. So I drive with the windshield wipers on. If other drivers notice this I assume they are also struggling to see where they are going so they probably understand my dilemma.

But this morning it wasn’t the thought of a nice sunrise that had me out in the darkness, it was a hankering for a pumpernickel bagel that rousted me out. I started the car and immediately the windshield fogged up, so I turned on the wipers, opened the window a crack, and flicked away a drip of water from my hand as I started up the street. After I turned onto the main street, the one with no place to pull over, is when I saw something jump on the dashboard. I screamed my best horror movie surprise scream, but I quickly saw that it was a frog. A frog which I now realized was the ‘water drop’ that had landed on my hand and that I had flicked away. Now I was watching the frog as he tried in vain to jump out the windshield, while also trying to see the road through fog while the windshield wipers wiped away. The photo op came when I was able to pull into a parking lot and take a photo, after which I was going to figure out how to encourage him to hop out of the car. Instead he disappeared down into the opening between the dashboard and the windshield, and that’s the last I saw of him.

I can’t say for sure that no frogs were harmed in the creation of this blog post, but I must say that I did enjoy my pumpernickel bagel. And with two more in the freezer I may not have to repeat this adventure for a little while. And another day dawns…