Purple Pansies

Pansies

I try to visit my family in Connecticut a couple times a year. When I do go, I usually stay at my son and daughter-in-law's house in S. Windsor.

Their home is just beautiful and their yard is amazing. There are small garden's all over the yard in different places. These pansies are growing in pots on the back porch just outside the breezeway. They have all the colors and color combinations.

Purple is one of my favorite colors, so I chose to show you all these this time. Aren't they just gorgeous?

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

The other day, while I was photographing the Osprey nest, I think this guy got a bit jealous or maybe he was just curious. He came right over to me and hung around very close as if to say, "photograph me; I want to be famous, too". It was a great opportunity to oblige him, don't you think?

Great Blue Herons can be found all over the United States; anywhere water is; they are not fussy, they like both salt and fresh water. They are tall, stately birds that move slowly and deliberately when stalking their prey. When they decide the time is right, they strike with lightning speed. They are similar to cats on a hunt. The Great Blue Heron's diet consist mainly of fish, but they'll eat anything, snakes, lizards, rodents, other birds and small mammals.

Great Blue Herons hunt alone and it is rare to see more than one of them in the same place. However, they nest in colonies. There may be as many as 100 nests in one tree. They are monogamous during a season, but find new mates every year. 

These birds are very long (38-55 inches) with a wing span of 66-79 inches. Despite their size, they only weigh about 5 or 6 pounds, due to hollow bones that enable them to fly.

Ospreys Nesting

Ospreys Nesting

I posted a photo of this family on April 26, if you want to see how much they've grown. I believe the one on the left is one of the chicks and the parents are in the middle and on the right. They only thing that leads me to believe that this is the chick is the one on the left has yellow eyes, while the other two have orange eyes. In the other post, there were 2 chicks and they were both still fuzzy at the time. Now this chick is nearly the same size as his/her parents. I have no idea where the other one is, maybe it's fledged???

Ospreys (Pandion halliaetus) are raptors in the Hawk and Eagle family. They are rather large birds with a wing span of 5ft, 6in and they are 23 inches in length from tail to head. The dark line through their eye is a  good identifying factor. They hover just before they dive for a fish and can be seen flying with the fish head first in their talons, once they catch their fish.

They are resident year long in Florida and can be found near any body of water where they can fish for food. Their diet consists almost exclusively of fish.

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill (Aijai aijai)

The Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaia ajaia) is a tall bird, about 32 inches in height and a wingspan of 5ft 6 in, with a flat, bluish bill flattened at the tip.

They get their name for how they feed. They use their beak, swiping it back and forth in the water, sort of spooning for their food. Spoonbills feed on small fish, snail, aquatic insects, and shrimp.

They can be found in mangroves and saltwater lagoons or marshes in the shallower water.  They are resident in Louisianna, Florida, occassionally in Texas, and in the American tropics. 

Because of their color, tourists to Florida often mistake them for Flamingos.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodios)

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodios) is a very large, tall bird. It stands at around 4 ft tall, and has a wing span of 6 ft. The adult's plumage is a blue-gray, with black shoulder patches and a black stripe from his eye to the back of the head.

Great Blue Herons can be found all over the United States and the Caribbean and South America. They are resident year 'round in Florida, and most have lost their fear of humans. Great Blue Herons can be seen near fishermen, standing within a few feet of them waiting to steal their catches. They can also be seen (like this one) walking around on lawns, waiting for a handout.

It is illegal to feed wildlife in Florida, but many people do, which encourages them to come right up to the door waiting for a snack. Snowbirds (people who winter in Florida) feed the birds, then when they leave to go back up North, the birds sit and wait for them to come back (like this one) instead of hunting for their own food.

In St Petersburg, around The Pier, people have fed the Pelicans so much, that they no longer fish for their food and many were starving to death. They City now feeds  them daily to keep them from starving. It's very sad. This is why it is illegal in this state. People who are feeding these beautiful birds are also not giving them natural food that is in their diet, which is making them unhealthy and threatening the species.

Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auitus) grow to about 33 inches. Immature Cormorants, unlike the all black adults are brownish, with whitish plumage from the throat to the breast. 

Cormorants swim with their bills angled upward. Flocks often fly in a V formation. They can often be seen resting with their wings open drying. They nest in colonies in Cypress trees and Mangroves.

They live on the coasts and near large bodies of inland water. Florida has a resident breeding population and there are numerous migrants from northern U.S. from November through April.

This image was taken at Crescent Lake Park in St Petersburg, FL.

The Dali

The Dali Museum

The building was designed by architect, Yann Weymouth. The free-form geometrical glass bubble is made up of 1062 pieces of glass and is 75ft tall at its highest point. This image shows only a small part of it. The bubble is named, enigma.The galleries house a collection of works by Salvidor Dali, dating from 1904 until 1989.

You can see another shot of the enigma in a previous post. I will be posting more photos of this innovative building as time goes by.

This building was shot in the late afternoon, using my Canon 6D, with my Tamron 28-300mm lens. Settings used were f3.5 at 1/2500th in Aperture Priority mode and +1/3 eV, ISO 320, at 35mm. I used the pattern metering mode to ensure a good exposure since I was shooting from dark shadows into the light.

free-form geodesic glass bubble known as the “enigma”. The “enigma”, which is made up of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass, stands 75 feet at its tallest point, - See more at: http://thedali.org/about-the-museum/the-building/#sthash.Dw8vutEw.dpuf

Yann Weymouth of HOK

Yann Weymouth of HOK

Comfort Station One

Comfort Station One

Comfort Station One, or Little St Mary's Comfort Station was built in 1929. The architect, Henry S Taylor, built many of St Petersburg's buildings around that time including St Mary's Catholic Church. The octogon building is Romanesque Revival Style and is built with multi-colored bricks. It was designated in 1985 on the National Register of Historic Places, which is unusual for a comfort station.

A story that has been floating around for many years is that this comfort station is an exact replica of St Mary's Church, which is about a mile away because the church didn't pay the architect all the money owed to him. However, the architect denied the story. He said although the church paid him off late due to tight money in those days, they did pay him all the money owed to him.

It is also rumored that this comfort station is haunted by a female ghost, named Agnes. There have been many people who have claimed to have seen her and speak with her. There have also been reports of a cold chill even on the hottest days and misty figures on the mirrors.

Goldenrod

Goldenrod

The Goldenrod (Solidago fistulosa) is in the Aster family. There are about 120 species of Goldenrod. They grow to about 40 inches or nearly 4ft tall. Some species branch out, others are like this one growing up singular. Goldenrod is also blamed for causing allergies in humans, similar to ragweed. However, the pollen is heavy and does not blow into the air. It has to be pollinated by bees or butterflies. So, in order for humans to get an allergic reaction, they must touch them in some way, maybe brush against them with their clothes.

In North America, Goldenrod is seen as a weed, but it is prized as a garden plant in Europe.
 
Goldenrod blooms from June through November and can be found in Florida in dry pinelands, flatwoods, ditches and roadsides.

Low Tide

Low Tide

This is one of those images I couldn't make up my mind if I liked the colored version or the black and white. The black and white won out because I think I like the drama created from the monotone and high contrast. I wanted to emphasize the light and shadows caused from the early morning light.

This image was captured last January at the South Rest Stop under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The people out in the distance were crabbing, I think. Florida doesn't really have many rocks. The "rocks" in the foreground are recycled from torn up highways, etc.

One thing I liked about the color version is it showed the green algae on the rocks, however, since it was very cloudy, with the sunlight only peeking through, the color was pretty muted. I may or may not post the color version at a later date.

Great Blue Heron Up Close

Great Blue Heron

The other day during my trek to Spa Beach, I spotted this Great Blue Heron perching on a wall near a fisherman, just waiting to grab his fish.

These guys are the best at stealing a catch. The poor fishermen do all the work, while the Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Pelicans hang around just waiting for them to reel in their catch. As soon as the fish is above water, the bird swoops down and steals it.

Herons, Egrets and Pelicans in this area are so used to people they have lost all their fear of humans. It is not unusual to see 4 or 5 birds within 2 feet of fishermen. The fishermen try to chase them away, but all they do is move another 2 feet or to the other side of them and it all starts over again.

It's pretty comical to watch; that is, if you're not a fisherman. They don't enjoy these birds at all.

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican in Flight

Another rainy day today and more scheduled for tomorrow. So much for shooting for my bird's eye view self-assignment.

This was shot yesterday over Spa Beach on the roadway to The Pier in St Petersburg, FL. He was just about to dive for a fish. I love the graceful way Pelican's fly, especially when they hover over the water looking for fish. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't doing that. He was using his own bird's eye view from the air.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Today, my self-assignment was bird's eye view. Unfortunately, we had a lot of sea fog, and a high up level was shrouded in fog. So, instead I went out just looking for something to shoot.

I went to a park I haven't been to in years only to find out it was closed on Mondays. Then I went to another park and found nothing interesting there, so I went to The Pier. Although the building is closed, the roadway on the way to The Pier is still open.

I spotted this Great Blue Heron on the top of a roof on the walkway in one of the decorative shelters (it's the only thing I can think of to call this thing). He was just standing there looking out over the water. It was difficult shooting up in the air, but out of several I took, I like this one. I like the blue sky for a background and I like his stance.

It's still the same old stuff I've been posting for so long, but this time, I took my time and looked for a good background, taking care not to have any other distractions in the photo so I wouldn't have to crop anything out.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

This Yellow-crowned Night Heron was just posing there at Largo Nature Park waiting to be photographed. There were three or four of us just snapping away and he didn't move a bit.

Several people from one of my Meetup groups were going to a shoot at this park, and since I haven't shot any nature photos with my new camera and lens, I thought I'd tag along. It was lucky that we came upon this usually very skittish bird.

We had a great time with the exception of the Mosquitoes. None of us thought to bring bug spray. Well, I had some in the car, but didn't want to loose track of the crowd and it was a long walk back. It was kind of foolish that we didn't think of it, especially when we all knew that the area was flooded. Tampa Bay had 2 weeks of bad weather and the ground is soaked. That'll teach us!

Dahlia Bud

Back side of Dahlia Bud

This photo was shot two days before it came in as a full bloom. I like the colors of the backside and the freshness and firmness of the bud. There are about 20 different types or species of Dahlia. This particular species when in full bloom are deep pink in color, like the outer petals around the edges, and round like a pom-pom. They are stunning flowers.

This image was captured at my son and daughter-in-law's home in South Windsor, CT.

Let me know in the comments what you think of it.

Luna Hibiscus Seed Pod

It had just stopped raining, and I just had to go out and shoot something. So, my son and I went looking at their pretty much spent Fall garden. I was looking for water drops to shoot to try to capture the garden in a water drop. That's one thing I've never been able to accomplish. It just never works out well for me. I finally did it, but that's not the photo I decided to post tonight. It'll show up in a later post, so if you want to see it, you'll have to check my blog out often so you don't miss it.

These Luna Hibiscus seed pods were just begging to be photographed. The water drops on the leaves, and that deep purple color with the light green pods just captured my eye. It helped that the lighting was perfect for this kind of shot as well.

I hope you like it as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) are not only beautiful flowers that smell magnificent, but they are also very interesting. Their stamen are like little flowers in themselves. Unfortunately, Magnolias only bloom for one day, leaving brown, dry petals, which are not quite as pretty as the petals were the day before.

However, the stamen stay to become beautiful soft, red cones which last a very long time. I've never picked up one to see if they are fragrant which makes me wonder why I've never thought to do that before.

Bud

It's surprising what you can come up with when you're out walking around on your own property, or any place for that matter. All you have to do is look.

I came across this bud on a weed along the driveway at my daughter's house. I have no idea what it is; I don't even know if it's going to be a flower.

The pattern it formed is what caught my eye. Lucky for me, I had my trusty Tamron 90mm lens on my camera at the time.

For a closer look, just click on the photo. Does anyone have any idea what this is? Please let me know in your comments.

Pickerelweed

When I first moved to Florida in 1988, this was one of the first aquatic flowers that I photographed. When I saw this one in John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor, it reminded me of the time many years ago when I first saw these pretty flowers.

I was standing by the edge of a pond photographing it, when movement at my feet caught my eye. Just as I took the camera away from my face, I saw an Alligator come up slowly right between my legs. It scared the daylights out of me. It was the first Alligator I'd ever seen in the wild. I didn't know it then, but it was a pretty young one, because it was so small. I doubt it was more than a year old.

When I look back on it that incident now, it gives me a chuckle. When I saw him, I wasn't sure what to do so I slowly walked backward and got out of that park as soon as I could. I think I'd still do the same thing today.

Since the subject of this blog is Pickerelweed, I should probably get back to that instead of reminiscing about the past. Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is an aquatic plant that grows in shallow, still water. It gets its name from the Pickerel fish that shares the same habitat. Pickerelweed blooms from June through November in freshwater marshes, lakes, streams and at the edge of ponds.

I like to finish my blog with a little nature lesson for those who would like to learn as much as I've learned about nature ever since I started taking photos of nature. It has taught me so much.

Doing What a Bee Does Best

While on a meetup at a new place one of the members of my group has discovered, the first thing I saw was this huge Prickly-Pear Cactus at the edge of the parking lot.

These blooms are a Honey Bee magnet. I've never seen these blossoms with no bees busily pollinating these beautiful flowers.

Prickly-Pear Cactus blossoms (Opuntia humifusa) bloom from April through August, and they can be found in sandy pinelands, open dry woods,dunes and pastures. The fruit is edible.