My Favorite Place to Visit

Way back in the 80's and 90's I made my first visit to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia. Over the years I am continually drawn back to that area. I do have 6 Grandkids who live on the Maryland Eastern Shore near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and that is reason enough to visit but what draws me to the area are the fantastic and never failing photo opps up and down the coast. My favorite, bar none, is the Chincoteague NWR and the Assateague National Seashore. For the last 4 years I have guided a group of Carolina Nature Photography Association members there in mid-November. This is the time of year the snow geese arrive and If you have never seen 10-20,000 snow geese take flight at the same time...you have a treat in store for you!! The sunrises and sunsets are brilliant at Chincoteague and this one is looking out over Snow Goose Pond. There are about 6-10,000 snow geese in cove on the left and a few minutes after this shot they all took off (probably spooked by the eagle that was overhead looking for supper). I will post that image later and it is awesome. When on the island this song is constantly playing in my head:

How Great Thou Art
Lyrics ~ Carl Boberg, 1859 - 1940

English Translation ~ Stuart K. Hine, 1899 -
Stanza 1:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder

Consider all The works Thy Hand hath made,

I see the stars,

I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy pow'r throughout The universe displayed;

Stanza 2:

When through the woods And forest glades I wander

I hear the birds Sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down From lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook

And feel the gentle breeze;

Refrain:

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

All Things are Bigger out West

I am currently in Las Vegas for a conference and finally got a chance to visit Zion National Park. Left my Vegas Hotel-Casino early Sunday morning and it was an easy 2.5 hour drive to get to the park. Like many of the parks, Zion roads are getting some much need maintenance due to influx of TARP monies. The bad news is that some areas of the Park are near unaccessible. Lucky for me I chose Sunday to visit because there is no construction on weekends and the East area of the park is accessible though a bumpy ride along the road under construction. But if you want to see the Bighorn Sheep in Zion you need to go to the East side of the park which gives access to the higher peaks and areas where the sheep hang out. I explored the West and Southern parts of the park until about 4pm when I retrieved my car, loaded up and headed for the high country. Incredibly beautiful country. And the Sheep were exciting to watch. How do they manage to hang onto the sides of these sheer cliffs? The Columbine I found growing on the side of the cliffs along the river canyon. The wind was blowing like hell but I managed a couple of shots that are okay. Enjoy!!

Some Days are Definitely Better than Others

Spent the day at Pee Dee NWR with a bunch of my CNPA friends. We met at 8am and photographed different areas of the Refuge and then met for lunch at a barbecue restaurant near the Refuge. It was one of those days of good (not great) shooting opportunities but great company. As leader of the outing, I found myself worrying about everyone else all day and not my typical day of looking for inspiration for my own image making. There were some new CNPA members on the outing and a few that were especially interesting and fun to shoot with on such a day. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed myself and it turned out to be the best day of the week for me!!
Every photographer probably keeps a list of subjects they would like to explore and so do I. Previously, Owls were near the top of the list. They seemed to avoid me like the plague but this past year I have had several opportunities to make great images of Owls. I once say an Indigo Bunting on one of my backyard feeders but I was unable to photograph it. Today I saw several Indigo Buntings but gave up my chance to shoot them to help other participants get their shot. Another subject that always eluded my was the Tree
Frog. Well, today I was presented with several opportunities t shoot Tree Frogs, and, Boy!, did if enjoy myself and even got some fairly good shots. Here is one of my favorites of the day, enjoy!

Heron Siblings

I am still amazed that these Great Blue Herons come back every Spring to raise their families within a stone's throw of homes in the White Oak neighborhood off of the 4 Mile Creek Greenway. Even though some trees were lost due to storms this year, they built nests in new trees and so, again this year, there are 18 nesting pairs of herons in this rookery. In the midst of them this year and in a dead rottened out tree lives a raccoon who can be seen sleeping most of the day. I suppose he is ever on the lookout for the time one of the nests is unguarded and he can scurry up and have a gourmet lunch.
Almost al of the nests now have little ones and they grow fast. This is a shot of a nest that has 4 little ones that are about 3 weeks old. It will take them another 5 weeks or so to fledge so you can imagine how crowded that nest will be soon. They are very interesting to observe now as they learn about their surroundings and explore their little world.
The White Oak neighborhood have built a platform on the edge of the wetlands and it is very nice to be able to sit and enjoy the sites. If you sit quiet enough, you will see the Herons, an occasional Green Heron, Canadian Geese, a pair of Wood Ducks, lots of Red headed Woodpeckers, Blue Birds and other songbirds too numerous for me to list.

Tulips in Bloom

The folks who lived here before planted clumps of Tulips around the house. Since we have been here we have systematically dug them up and replanted them in locations where we think they have more impact. They play along with us and, in spite of what we put them through, sprout and grow and bloom again each year just in time for Easter. As I came back and forth and in and out of the driveway, they call to me incessantly until I gave in, got some gear, and crawled around on the ground at their level for the last few days. Across the street on the golf course there are some kind of flowering tree. The blossums are purple. I looked at a color wheel and found that the Tulip color and the color of the blossums on the trees were complimentary and blend together in a pleasing (to the eye) manner. So I get back onto my back to get low enought to make the trees the background and the Tulips the foreground and main subject. The results show that I should heed the lessons of theory more often. I think this is a pleasing image and a different, if not unique, image of Tulips. What do you think?

Some Days are Better than Others!

Yes, indeed, some days are better than others! For some time now the Piper Glen Golf Club patrons have been treated to a near daily show of an American Bald Eagle. He visits between 10am and 2pm on the days that he comes and his obvious purpose is to fish the lake next to the 18th hole and in plain view of the lunch bunch. The dining room staff have been kind enough to telephone me when he shows up and I jump in my car and in 5 minutes I am on the patio outside the Clubhouse armed and ready. He is a magnificent bird and my shots do not do him justice but I will keep trying. Notice the fish in the talons of the eagle in the middle image. Enjoy!

One last peek into the Alligator Farm

Came into the St Augustine area around 11am and couldn't help stopping to see how much activity had changed in a little over a week. The activity has certainly picked up there with Great Whites and Snowies setting up housekeeping and preparing for families. There were also a couple of Wood Storks and at least 3 Roseate Spoonbill couples in addition to lots of Green Herons and Night Herons. Things will be jumping here in a month. Wish I could come back!! The spoonbills were busy splashing in the lake, to our delight!!

Sunday at Gatorland Rookery (Orlando)

I am slowly (and reluctantly) working my way back to the Carolinas. Spent pretty much all day at the Gatorland nature rookery. The Egrets (great, snowy, cattle, etc.) have settled in, selected mates and producing offspring. As you can see from this photo they are not the prettiest of youngsters but make absolutely stunning adults. The Spoonbills are busy making preparations and the Woodstorks are also busy getting ready for family. This place is going to be bedlam come April/May and I certainly intend to come back then.

Saturday was a long day!

Friday night certainly did not live up to expectations for the Little Estero Lagoon but one of the other photographers there said that there would be a low tide Saturday morning at 7am and that means there would be a lot of birds. Got up early and was on the ground at sunrise...few birds. I waited hopefully until about 9am and decided that this just was not going to work and time to shower, pack and move out to Cape Coral for the Burrowing Owls. By the time I was showered and checked out and had a bit of breakfast and on the road, it was near noon before I got to Cape Coral. There was a Burrowing Owl Festival scheduled for today but it was cancelled because of the rain. After coming this far, I was reluctant to leave without seeing a single owl so I waited around until the rain tapered off around 2pm. And then I saw my first Burrowing Owl...what a precious little bird! I am now definitely a fan of the burrowing owl. These little guys are really neat! Cape Coral, with over 1000 nests, is the largest single location for these endangered guys. They were easily accessed after the rain and could be spotted on almost every site and the sites are marked by bright colored tape. The heron and shorebirds are from the morning shoot at Little Estero Lagoon and the Owls are, of course, from Cape Coral.

On The Road Again

Well, had a nice break in travels to play golf with some old golfing buddies from Northern Virginia. Shot an 82 the first day, then on the second day shot a 41 on the front nine before getting rained out on the 11th. I remember when I would have played on in the rain. Funny how your perspective changes at age 70. On thursday, our last day, we played TPC Tampa Bay and I shot an 86. All in all, not bad for an old man!!
Now back on the road for a few days. Spent Friday at Venice Rookery and the Little Estero Lagoon in Ft Meyers Beach. Neither were especially productive. I think the water is too high and the weather is too cold for the birds. Saturday I will try Cape Coral for the Burrowing Owls and then check out Ft DeSoto Park before heading back to Orlando area to shoot Gatorland Rookery again!! That has definitely been the best spot so far.