Eastern Eyed Click Beetle

The Eastern Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus), is about 2 inches long.

The "eyes" are not really his eyes. They are there to scare off predators. Their actual eyes are located at the base of his antennae.

Eyed Click Beetles get their name from their habit of fending off danger by turning on their back, then bending their head and pro-thorax backward and snapping open when straightening out. This produces a loud audible click.

Eyed Click Beetles can be found in the Eastern United States as far west as Texas.

Sawgrass Lake Park is located in St Petersburg, Florida. Visitors there can be reasonably sure of seeing American Alligators in the wild.

Great Horned Owl

While at Taylor Park, we spotted a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Great Horned Owls can be found throughout the Americas in forests, deserts, open country, swamps and city parks. They are fairly common.

They feed on Grouse, rabbits, beetles, lizards and frogs.

They are the largest of American "earred" owls.

Tampa Skyline - Blue Hour

A couple nights ago, members of my photo group went to Ballast Point Park in Tampa to make photos of the Tampa skyline from a different vantage point.

We took many photos, but after going through all of them, I liked this one the best. Tampa is a beautiful city.

Getting Cozy

Earlier this month, I went on a meetup at Honeymoon Island to shoot the sunset.

There weren't enough clouds in the sky to make an interesting sunset and I didn't want to come away with nothing, so the challenge was to find and create decent shots.

As you can tell by the way these two are covered up with their blanket, the weather wasn't too warm. It doesn't seem to be bothering them at all, though. Maybe it's just what they needed to get nice and cozy together.

It's really good to be coming out of my shell and getting out shooting again. Now if I can only get back into the swing of things and get caught up on my editing...