"Rocky"

Meet "Rocky" one of my friend's Great Dane. Rocky is very camera shy, even though his "daddy" is a photographer. He just doesn't like the camera at all.

This photo was a sneak shot. I love his different colored eyes--blue and brown, and felt the need to capture them in this image.

Monday evening, he was sporting his brand new bandana. He was really proud of it so I thought I'd let everyone see it. :)P

Reflections

Last night was our monthly meetup at the Safety Harbor Marina. I think since April our group has photographed every blade of grass in that city. It's so much of a challenge to come up with different photo everytime we go there.

When I got to the marina, I couldn't help but notice these reflections. Other than this one spot, the water was a calm and quiet as glass. The only thing I could see was these reflections.

I can only hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed capturing them.

Florida State Fair

We went to the Florida State Fair last night for another Meetup with my Photography Group.

It was pretty warm when I got there, so I left my tripod and jacket in my car that was parked really far away from the entrance thinking I'd go back for it later. During the day it was too crowded to get many photos of the rides, so we waited until after sunset.

It began to get cold, and dark and I didn't feel like walking way back to the car, so I told my friend Dave that I'd just make a couple of shots of the rides and leave. Well, a couple turned into a lot!

This shot is one of my favorites, since I shot it handheld and without a tripod. Most of the shots I took weren't bad at all. I was surprised to see how well I as able to do with my fast F2.8 Tamron 35-105mm lens.

I'll be posting more once they're edited.

TAG Kayakers Explore Weedon Island Preserve

We had a small meetup today. Weedon Island Preserve was having a birding identification session to prepare for next weekend's Great American Bird Count. This will be my 4th year participating in this event.

We saw a few birds, but most were not close enough to photograph--even with our long lenses.

The day wasn't a total waste though; the TAG (Tampa Adventure Group) had their meetup at the same place. About 50 kayakers and canoeists took place in their event. This is one of the photos from their day.

There are a lot of people in both meetup groups, so I'm sure they'll appreciate some of the photos we took of them while they paddled along in the bay during low tide.

Worthy Building, Springfield, MA

During my vacation, my son and I spent 1 afternoon in Springfield, MA, about 20 minutes from Hartford, CT.

We photographed downtown architecture from the top floor of a garage (we later got stuck in; but that's another story).

This building is the Worthy Building, 1571 Main St, Springfield, MA. It was originally the Worthy Hotel built in 1905 in the Renaissance architectural style. It was designed by Gardner, Pyne & Garner. On 2/24/1983, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is now used for various businesses and low income housing.

Here is a more detailed view. For a 100+ year old building, this one is in beautiful shape.

Oswego, NY Snow Storm

During my trip up north I also stopped to visit my grandchildren. It snowed every day I was there. You can see by this photo how much snow they have. They won't see the ground until May!

I enjoyed the visit, but didn't go outside to play with the grandkids because it was not only snowing, it was very cold. The highest the temperature got while I was there was 11 deg. F. Not great weather for a Floridian to go out and play in.

During the next week, I'll be posting more photos from my vacation, so check back often.

Winter Wonderland

Well I just got back from a 3,000 mile road trip up north to see my kids and grandkids and SNOW.

I got my wish on the snow, that's for sure. This image was taken in S. Windsor, CT from my son and daughter-in-law's home. As you can see, there's plenty of snow.

Since I hadn't taken any photos of snow in many, many years, I had to play to get the exposures correct. It's just like riding a bike, though. Once I took a few shots everything came back to me, including how cold it is.

I wondered what possessed me to go up north this time of year. Oh yeah, I know; I missed my kids and grandchildren. In addition, I got to see my brothers who, we figured it had been 16 years since we saw one another. My visit was wonderful and I really enjoyed seeing everyone and the snow.

I'll be posting more images from up north very soon, so check often.

Lights on Tampa 1

Our regular Monday Night Meetup was held in Tampa, FL last night. Tampa is having an event that they only do prior to the Super Bowl Game when it comes to the city. The last one was in 2006.

This shot is of the Tampa Municipal Building. There are 10 locations in all. Unfortunately, I was only at 2 of them last night, and since I'll be leaving for vacation on Friday I doubt I'll be able to get to see more of them.

I'll be posting the other shots I took of the second place we visited on my next post.

Mabel Orchard Spider

I shot this Mabel Orchard spider while on my meetup in Ft Desoto. These spiders are really tiny, and it's the first time I've ever gotten a shot decent enough to print.

While this one isn't perfect, I like it anyway. I'd probably give it a 4 out of 5 stars if I were to rank it. I'd like to have seen a little more detail where his eyes are.

Mabel Orchard Spiders (leucauge mabelae) are in the Large-jawed Orb Weaver family (Tetragnathidae). They are easily recognized by their unusually large, powerful jaws, or chelicerae. They have 8 eyes and 3 claws on each tarsus. These spiders are only 1/2". Mabel Orchard spiders can be found in woodland edges and shrubby meadows from New England to Florida and west to Texas and Nebraska.

This species hangs below its web until prey is detected, or waits on a stem nearby with 1 leg in contact with a web strand.

Orchard spiders differ from other large-jawed spiders in possessing a small plate underneath thath protects the opening of the female sex organs.

Brazilian Pepper Tree

This image of this Brazilian Pepper tree was taken during my Ft Desoto meetup with my group while walking along the one of the nature trails.

Distribution of Brazilian pepper tree throughout Florida is widespread, although limited to the warmer areas due to sensitivity to cold temperatures. Brazilian pepper can be found as far north as Levy and St. Johns Counties, and as far west as Santa Rosa County. It is an aggressive invader of disturbed habitats; this characteristic has led to its placement on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s list of invasive species. Many plant communities such as hammocks, pinelands and mangrove forests are often invaded and dominated by Brazilian pepper tree.

This shrub/tree is one of the most aggressive and wide-spread of the invasive non-indigenous exotic pest plants in the State of Florida. There are over 700,000 acres in Florida infested with Brazilian pepper tree. Brazilian pepper tree produces a dense canopy that shades out all other plants and provides a very poor habitat for native species. This species invades aquatic as well as terrestrial habitats, greatly reducing the quality of native biotic communities in the state.

Brazilian Pepper trees (Schinus terebinthifolius) are native to Brazil, as their name suggests. They were brought here in the late 1800's because of their ornamental value.

Burned Palm Frond

Our group had another meetup tonight. This time we went to Ft Desoto in Tierra Verde, FL. We walked on one of the nature trails for about an hour while waiting for the moon rise.

I will have photos of the moon in another blog; be sure to stop by and see it.

Getting back to the burned Palm frond. Prescribed burns are a way of managing our overgrown forests. The heavy overgrowth and undesirable non-native plants are burned to replace nutrients in the soil and to rid the forest floor of this heavy overgrowth. The burns don't hurt the trees and are controlled to prevent forest fire. Due to the warm tropical climate in Florida, we have a longer growing season, so we have to have these burns every so many years to protect the environment.

This frond will grow again and produce a healthy Sable or Cabbage Palm. I'm not an expert and naming the different Palm species unless I can see the whole plant. Obviously, I'm not able to see this particular plant.

Female Downy Woodpecker

This little female Downy Woodpecker has found a new home, I think. She's been hanging around my yard for a couple weeks now. She was so busy chasing insects that she didn't notice me standing there with my camera; lucky for me.

It's fairly easy to tell the difference between the male and female Downy. The male has a bright red patch on the back of his head, while there's no red on the female at all.

Unlike most woodpeckers, these woodpeckers are small, only about 6" from tip of tail to their head. They can be found in most of the United States except in the Southwest, and are commonly spotted in woodlands, parks and gardens.

Downy woodpeckers are the smallest, tamest (not very skittish around people) and most abundant in the United States. They can be drawn to the yard with suet feeders. They are often in the company of chickadees, nuthatches, creepers and kinglets.

Hernando deSoto Bridge

Yeah, I know, another bridge picture. :) This one is of the Hernando deSoto Bridge in Bradenton, FL.

I wasn't able to find any information on it on the net, but it is part of a series of bridges crossing the Manatee River.

I was covering Manatee Memorial Hospital while a girl was out and I noticed the beautiful sky on my way home from work. I just had to stop and shoot it.

Spatterdock

For some reason, I've always been fascinated by these little Spatterdocks and Waterlilies in general. I like the diagonal composition in this image, and it's all I can really say about it.

I found this little Spatterdock at Sawgrass Lake Park when I went there the other day. They normally aren't in bloom this time of year and there were quite a few in bloom.

Rat Snake

As promised 2 blogs ago, this is the image of the Rat Snake I got. He's about 2 1/2 feet long--they grow to about 5 feet and he was just crossing the boardwalk in front of me.

Rat Snakes are constrictors and crush their prey before they eat it. They prefer small birds and rodents. They're coloring differs depending on where in Florida they're found. This race (yellow with 4 black stripes) is the most common and can be found throughout the peninsula. In the Panhandle, they are gray with white blotches and no stripes, and in the Everglades, they are orangish with faint stripes.

By the way, if you noticed my new bio picture, it was taken by my boss, Michelle Alfonzo. I think she did a great job.

Red-shouldered Hawk

As promised, here is the photo of the Red-shouldered Hawk. I like the way he seems to be looking down his nose (beak) at me, like he's so superior.

I would've missed him if someone on the trail didn't point him out to me. He was right at eye level sitting on this branch. That's a place we never think to look for birds, since they're usually overhead.

With the way I love to take photos of birds, I have a hard time splitting my view between up in the trees and down on the ground. This guy was easy. I can't believe he just stayed there and let me make all the photos I wanted. He didn't seem afraid or bothered at all.

He sure is a beauty.

Today was my day!

Wow! Today was my day for photos! This afternoon I got an amazing shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk close-up then I got a shot of Rat Snake; both shots were made at Sawgrass lake Park. I usually don't go out in mid-afternoon shooting because the lighting is too harsh and the wild life isn't moving around, but today I just felt the need to go out for awhile, not expecting to see a thing because of the time.

The Red-shouldered Hawk was just sitting in a tree eye-level and sat right there letting me make all the photos I wanted. About 10 minutes later, a Rat Snake crossed the boardwalk directly in front of me. It was the first Rat Snake I've ever seen in the wild.

Tonight, about 10 minutes ago, I was outside and saw something white move on the electrical wire right in my front of me. It was pitch black and I couldn't tell what it was, so I got my camera attaching my long zoom and a flash hoping I'd get a better look.

It was so dark, the lens wouldn't focus on auto-focus, so I focused manually on the wire. I still didn't know what it was. I was hoping it would be in focus enough to tell what is was. To my surprise, the focus was nearly perfect and I caught this Eastern Screech Owl. He only stood still long enough for me to get 4 shots; this was the only one full face. I've only seen an owl in the wild twice before in my life. This one is very special.

I'll post the Red-shouldered Hawk and the Rat Snake at a later date. Watch for it!

Christmas in Straub Park, St Petersburg, FL

Every year I look forward to the Christmas lights in Straub Park, in downtown St Petersburg. Last year, due to budget cut-backs the lights were scaled down a bit. This year, they were scaled down so much that they were no longer such a big deal.

It's so sad to see everything around us just falling apart. These times certainly are tough! Hopefully, for us all, my Christmas wish is that things will
turn around quickly.

White Ibis Fighting in the Air

I went to Lowry Zoo today with my friends, Kathy, Gary and Frank. I was lucky enough to spot these two Ibis fighting in the air.

I just held the shutter button down and hoped I caught them. What a surprise when I saw this image!

The squabble didn't last very long, but it was exciting to watch them. Nothing became of it. They just landed and each went their own way.

It's really something; I have flocks of White Ibis in my yard all day, and I go to the zoo to photograph them. :) Actually, we went to the zoo today because it was the first day the baby White Tiger cubs were outside. They're about 2 months old. The mother had a female and male. This shot is of one of them.

You can see the mother here: Aren't they just adorable?

Fountain

This is a very old fountain found on the wall of the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Tampa, FL. If you click on the photo, you can see the amazing detail and all the work that went into creating this fountain.

Throughout Ybor City, one can find some amazing Cuban relics and ornate decor from beautiful mosaic tiles along with sculptured stonework and fountains like this one.

We had a meetup on Monday to do an Ybor City walk-around. For Florida, the weather was quite chilly (60 deg. F)--especially for this time of year. Yet, 23 members showed up for the walk. We split into groups of 5 or 6 and wandered around the city looking to photograph anything we spotted that might be interesting. For me, the most interesting thing I noticed is that the streets were virtually empty. Ybor is one of the busiest places I can think of in the area. The night life is usally blazing with crowds out having a good time.

Most of you from the North would think that 60 deg. is fairly warm, but with us surrounded by water, it really is very chilly. I can remember my daughter visiting one April from upstate NY and it was about 64 deg. F. She was so cold, she went out and bought some sweats to wear. She couldn't believe how cold 64 could feel when we're so close to water.