Photo Miscellanea

Digital Painting

2011-07-03T10:47:00.004-04:00

As I think I mentioned in the last post, this is my new thing to explore. There are so many different ways to be creative with digital painting, and I have barely brushed (haha) the surface of it. Later today I will watch the DVD that came with an instruction book and hopefully learn a lot more.

But in the meantime, I have been playing with it. I decided to apply some painting effects to a photo I took of a friend kayaking in a lake in the mountains. It seemed that a very simple treatment worked well on this. I actually think I like the way this looks better than the original photograph.

I'll be back here later when I have more painting attempts to show. DH is on vacation this week, so we may go somewhere that will yield photo ops as well.

Fun In Photoshop

2011-07-01T14:58:00.002-04:00

It's still hot here, so entertainment is still limited to indoor activities. Such as Photoshop.

I want to learn digital painting and have ordered a program that will work with Photoshop for that. It's not installed yet so I was playing with what I have and came up with this for the first attempt, using a photo I had on hand, taken in Cedar Key a few years ago.

More painting attempts (!) will be showing up again soon.

I downloaded a free triptych action a couple of days ago and have been playing with that. First I used it on a beach photo from St. George Island.

Almost looks like a view out a window. Then I decided to get a bit fancier with it and used a photo taken near Hendersonville, NC a while ago, and added a title.

So that was fun! If the new program will install (I have found that most programs that worked fine in Windows Vista balk at being put into Windows 7, some of them failing completely...), I'll be back with some results from that.

Something to do when it's too hot to go outside...

2011-06-15T16:41:00.003-04:00

I've been wanting to play with photographing water drops for a long time and today was an ideal day to finally get around to it. I needed a clear glass bowl and I have actually been shopping the discount stores to see if I could pick up a cheap one (after all, it's just for this experiment). No luck so I decided to use the only clear glass one I have, which has etched ridges all around it.

I finally, after some trial and error and quite a bit of errant water, got myself set up. I put a piece of stationery under the bowl that was a mottled light blue and white. And I started snapping.

I like this next one because the etching shows up in the drop (as it does in many of these).

This activity is very addictive and hard to quit once you get going. I ended up with 65 photos, which I finally culled down to the ones I am posting here. Anyway, after lots of blue ones, I took that paper out and put one that was black with a green graphic on it underneath the bowl.

I call this next one Birth of a Drop, because of the way it is just emerging from the surface. Note the stripes caused by the etching.

Next I decided to try it with just a white paper under the bowl, to make the water look like, well, water.

I love the way the two drops in that one above look like they are connected by that orange reflection. If you look closely at this next tower of a drop, you will see a little tiny drop inside the top of it!

I was on a real roll now. I went to our spice cupboard and started flinging stuff out of it looking for some old food dye that I was pretty sure was still in there somewhere. I found it, it was green (probably to make frozen daiquiris more festive looking...). First I tried just putting a little where the water drops were falling, but that didn't do much. So I just dumped a whole lot of it in at once. That was dramatic.

After that one, I stirred it up a bit to make the color more evenly distributed. I finally got one with the crown effect.

I got a second, similar one later, with the drops flying farther out from the center.

One last one before I tore myself away to start processing them.

I have several things I want to try, but I wanted to get these posted today. I want to get a bigger bowl and experiment with dropping larger things into some liquid. I also want to experiment with inserting images into the drops--I've seen that done and would like to try it. I can use these images to practice with. I'll be back if I have any luck with that!

Taking these photos was very fun--if you like photography, you really have to try this!

More From the Yard

2011-05-22T18:33:00.002-04:00

I hope to get to a nearby gardens soon to play more with the new lens, but in the meantime I took it outside the other day to our needle cactus, which is blooming. While I did get a photo of a flower from a reasonable distance (I'm sure such a photo will show up here soon), I actually liked this one of the petals best:

On my way back to the house to see how that came out, I snapped this one of some red flowers we have in a hanging pot near the water garden:

Around the Yard

2011-05-01T14:52:00.002-04:00

I decided to take some photos around the yard, now that things are in bloom.

First, every year we get a lot of caterpillars on our fennel plant, swallowtail butterflies to-be. We have only once been lucky enough to find a crysalis and see it open.

I took this one of a gardenia....the photo itself was kind of boring so of course I had to tinker with it. It's now either dramatic or still boring, depending on how you see it...

And then to the needle cactus, which will be bursting with yellow flowers soon.

And the gerber daisies...

...and finally, the hydrangea.

I hope your spring is going well!

Dog Agility Trials 2011 -- Part One

2011-03-16T14:55:00.002-04:00

We went to a dog show recently and of course watched the agility trials (after surrounding ourselves with the 45 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that were entered in the show, naturally...we were in heaven!). I took many photos, which I pared down to the ones posted here. The dogs were all beautiful and fun. This is always such a happy event to attend.

These two were checking each other out on the grass before the trials started.

As always, I want to start with the Cavalier that was entered. This may have been Scout, who was pictured in the posts from last years trials.

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The Papillion that was at last year's events was also here, looking as adorable as ever.

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Another dog I want to tell you about is this white miniature poodle. Once this dog got started on the run, its feet barely ever touched the ground, and it was a blur as it ran through the track. I was astounded that any of my photos came out!

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They were all special. Here are the other photos I wanted to share with you:

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Another Papillion:

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Almost out of the tunnel...

And out!

Having a great time!

This was a very cool dog--

We are planning to attend another agility trial this weekend, and hopefully get some more photos!

Spring Forward

2011-03-14T13:06:00.002-04:00

Spring is springing, hurray! I wandered around the yard with the camera to see what I could see. Here's what I ended up with.

The azaleas are starting to come out.

In addition, although it is normally a colder-weather plant, our strawberry plants have decided to pop out some berries for us. They are still green, but getting big!

While I was over there, I got one of the blossoms with a berry started in the middle. I haven't processed in black and white for a while.

And now let's check out the dogwood, which has more blossoms this year than ever before (it's relatively new).

Here's a very typical Florida sight, particularly on warm days. I caught this guy just emerging from between two old pieces of fence.

I passed the birdfeeder on my way back to the house, where an unusual visitor had just alighted.

I guess he decided it was a little unseemly for a woodpecker to be eating at a feeder, so he retreated to a tree.

What a gorgeous day to be outside. We are trying to take full advantage of all these days, knowing that the torrid summer is slowly making its way toward us...

Sawyer's Grown Up!

2011-03-01T14:19:00.002-05:00

I was looking through this blog recently and realized that I had put photos of our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Sawyer, on here when he was a puppy, but I don't think I had updated it as he has gotten older.

I am totally besotted with him, could not possibly love him any more than I do. He's just about perfect. Sweet and funny, and he loves playing ball!

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We have discovered a fenced-in, unused ball field at a nearby school that has become Sawyer's own private dog park. He can run around there without a leash, and he loves it! We took him there recently and I had my little video camera with me and so I got several little snippets of him running around. These are in reverse order--the first two are when he was getting a little tired and was slowed down and panting; the last little piece in here was actually earlier on in the run so he is a little more energetic! I hope this embedding works...

More Agility Trials, More Dogs!

2010-03-15T11:38:00.004-04:00

I was told about agility trials being presented by the UKC, and so of course off DH and I went to see the dogs. We had as much fun at this one as we did at the last one! A few of the dogs were at both, it was great to see them again; there were also a lot of new (to us) dogs to watch. This arena had a slightly different setup with different challenges for the dogs, such as the A-frame, teeter-totter, and hoops.

One of the first dogs was listed as an AMBOR. I discovered that this stands for American Mixed Breed Obedience Registry. (There were also obedience trials being held at this event.) This dog was a sweetie! Here his owner is apparently positioning his back feet for one of the structures (?).

Here he is, looking very handsome, on the walkway (I'm sure the equipment has proper names, but I'm just making these up since I don't know what they are called).

I was on the other side of the arena from the list of participants so I couldn't see it. I'm not sure what this breed is--a helpful comment has just suggested it is a blue heeler. Sounds good to me!

And over the A-frame he goes!

This little terrier needed a little more work in order to excel at agility, but couldn't have been cuter!

And the Cavalier, Scout, was back!

Ok, now I have to show you the cutest one there (well, except for the Cav, of course--I am a bit biased). I just adored this little one. He made it over the first jump....

And confronts the second!

Over the A-frame...

and through the hoops!

When this little one (4 lbs, we learned later) hit the middle of the teeter-totter and started up the higher side, I think everyone watching was wondering "Is he heavy enough to get it to lower down??"

It did lower, though slowly!

Judy's cocker spaniel was back, looking so cute and happy.

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And through the hoops:

Once again I will take a guess at a breed....this looks like an Australian Shepherd (but I could be wrong...)--at any rate, look at this face!

There were a lot of golden retrievers this time. They competed in groups, and it's hard to tell them apart. Here are some photos I got of one group.

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This Alaskan Malamute was simply gorgeous. Someone told me that he was 10 years old--he did a great job for a senior!

There were also a couple of labs there, including this chocolate one.

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And more goldies--look at this beauty!

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And the shelties! They were all fantastic.

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And how's this for a pose?

I'm pretty sure this is Tobey--I met him and his mom between events. One of the most attractive shelties I have ever seen!

While I was talking to his mom after his first run and before his second, he caught a quick nap.

There was a fantastic whippet:

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And another golden retriever on the A-frame.

There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, as there were at the previous event and I imagine at all of these. There was the dog who was enjoying the jumping so much that it hurdled over the makeshift fencing surrounding the event area (and then looked around and realized that all the fun stuff was inside the fencing, so it bounded back in). In the middle of the equipment was the table--the dogs were to jump on the table and then go into the sit or down position and hold it for 5 seconds. Many were too excited to settle down....and then there was one who insisted on crawling under the table. Many were just starting out in agility and so were a bit baffled by the whole thing, whereas others, such as a sheltie named Missy, performed flawlessly. If you love dogs, these events are a guaranteed good time, and I urge you to attend if the opportunity presents itself!

(If you participated in the event and see this and your dog is here and I have mis-identified it, please let me know!)

A Post for Dog Lovers!!!

2010-03-03T20:37:00.008-05:00

We went to a local dog show recently. It was great to see the show rings, particularly the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (our beloved Sawyer is one) and also the French Bulldogs, another favorite. But on this occasion, I was looking most forward to seeing and photographing the agility trials.

These dogs are having fun, they are being dogs, and I smiled and laughed-out-loud my way through the thing, taking photo after photo. It was hard to reduce what I got down to a reasonable amount to post here, and I only partially succeeded. This is a long, image-intensive post....but if you love dogs, and love to see dogs having fun, stick around. Off we go--

There is no real order, so I am going to start with the one Cav that was in the trials. They are not typical dogs for these events--they just aren't known for speed. This one was a beauty.

Next, I want to show you my second-favorite dog in the event, an adorable Papillon. It seemed to be having a simply wonderful time. Here it is emerging from the tunnel:

And looking about as happy and excited as any dog can--

And then on to another Papillon. This was a laugh-out-loud one, since it barked the entire time it was running the course:

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This little guy was having a great time, probably tired of being on the grooming table!

And up he goes for a jump~

and down!

Here comes a little poodle through the tunnel,

and over a jump!

And what about the sheltie? I took a lot of the sheltie, since that's a breed I have always admired. This one did great. I like this first photo since it shows the dependence these dogs have on their owners as they run the course--always checking to see if they did well, and what's next?

Here are some more of the sheltie running the course:

I took this next shot later in the trials...hmmm...might be a different sheltie from the one above!

This little corgi really gave his all for this.

A cocker spaniel made a good showing.

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This little one was like a bullet, it was hard to keep the camera on him!

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I have to tell you about this next one. He (I'm calling them all "he," but I really have no idea if some of these were girls...) was doing pretty well in the first half, and then decided enough was enough, he wanted to go home, so halfway through the course he just veered off and ran to the gate leading out of the arena. Talk about taking control of things!

This was one of the larger dogs competing, and doing a fine job of it:

Here are two more contestants,

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And this speedy one:

This gorgeous Great Dane was with its family in the stands watching the agility trials.

We walked around the various rings and benching areas and I took photos of dogs as we meandered around:

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We had such a great time at the show, it was so wonderful to see so many beautiful dogs. There were 31 Cavaliers entered--I was in heaven seeing all of them. One in particular looked exactly like Sawyer (unfortunately did not place in this event...). It was a fantastic day, I'm glad to be able to share it here.

St. George Island State Park

2009-11-09T17:22:00.002-05:00

I went camping at St. George Island last week. The weather was fantastic and the beach was beautiful, as always. So of course I took a few pictures:

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Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

2009-10-27T13:30:00.003-04:00

It was time again for my fall trip to NC. It was a joy for many reasons, including finally escaping from the oppressive heat we have had in Florida since sometime in April.

I didn't get many photos at all--I seem to have taken them all on previous trips! But I couldn't leave without getting at least one of the mountains (and this is that one):

In the Woods

2009-10-18T15:57:00.003-04:00

DH and I went hiking at Ochlockonee State Park yesterday. This is a great park for spotting deer--tame ones near the campground and timid ones along the hiking trails in the woods.

We were on the hiking trail when we saw this one.

It ran off shortly after I took that photo.

Meet Sawyer

2009-07-22T12:39:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned in my paddling blog recently, we tragically lost our youngest dog (she was not quite a year old; she appears in previous posts in this blog). We were enveloped in grief and inconsolable. The house became a black hole that we found reasons to stay away from.

It's too difficult to live with this much sadness; we had to bring joy back to the house. The best way (in our opinion) to do that when the loss of a pet has taken it away is to get a new pet. Not a replacement, but rather a return to happiness.

After much searching for the right breed (our large dogs are all strays and rescues; we tend to go with specific breeds for small dogs), we settled on a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They are nicknamed "comfort dogs," and seemed right in every way. How fortunate that a litter was available only an hour away!

So here is Sawyer!

Of all the dog beds we have, he chose that one as his favorite, and spends a fair amount of time dozing in it.

He has the trademark "thumbprint" on top of his head, as you can see in this photo.

Here is the story about that mark:

The Duchess of Marlborough is credited with imprinting the characteristic ‘lozenge’ or thumbprint mark on the top of the Blenheim Spaniel’s head. As the story goes, she rubbed a pregnant spaniel’s head with her thumb out of worry for her husband while he was in France, leading his troups to victory against Louis XIV at the battle of Blenheim.

He gets along well with the other pets. Miraculously, when he arrived here at nine weeks of age, he was nearly totally housebroken--I've never experienced such a thing! In a week's time he has had very few accidents in the house, and those were because we were too slow to take him out (he's so good that we forget he is just a puppy and we get lax). He is cuddly and loving and silky soft. He sits on the chair with one of us when we watch TV, and is at my feet whenever I am on the computer. This time around we didn't even attempt to follow proper puppy protocol--he has slept in the bed with us every night from the day I brought him home. He sleeps soundly all night with no problems.

He likes playing in the yard (very closely supervised) with his toys as well.

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I hope that he will make many appearances in this blog as he grows up. He is a pure delight to us and has been a wonderful healing presence in the house. Joy has returned.

New Cardinals

2009-06-21T16:22:00.002-04:00

About a month or two ago or so a pair of cardinals built a nest in a large shrub right outside our bedroom window. Three eggs appeared and the female spent increasing time on the nest. And then one day I looked out the window to check on them and found that they had hatched! Here's the mother with her babies:

I watched them and took pictures every couple of days. The male would fly away as soon as I appeared at the window, but the female did not seem to mind, and pretty soon the babies were looking right up at me. Here are some more photos from their time in the nest:

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And then one day it was clear they were thinking about leaving. Here is one perched on the side of the nest, about 3 hours before it did successfully fly away.

This one left the nest but stayed in the shrubbery for quite a while before taking off. It kept jumping from branch to branch--getting up its courage, I guess. You can see the distinctive crest that cardinals have, even at this young age.

We've seen them twice so far since they left--once I saw them fly over the roof of the house near where the nest was, and DH saw one with the male in a tree in the back yard. I wish them luck!

North Carolina, April 2009

2009-05-01T15:51:00.005-04:00

It was time for the twice-yearly trip to western North Carolina, so off I went.

I went out for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway first thing. It's spring in the low areas and the higher you go, the fewer leaves you see on the trees. Interesting transition time.

Of course when I saw this overlook for Cold Mountain, I had to stop!

I also passed several overlooks with views of Looking Glass Rock.

And I made several stops just to enjoy the view.

I decided to continue on to Graveyard Fields, a very popular spot for hiking and for photographing (and swimming in, weather permitting) waterfalls. I walked to the lower falls and took many photos there and along the path.

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This little stream meandered toward the hiking trail.

On another day, I decided to visit the Nature Center in Asheville. I particularly enjoyed this peacock (they are very strange-looking, don't you agree?). It was roaming free and made a lot of noise, which could be heard from any spot in the center.

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I watched one of the black bears for a while. It was a warm day and this one decided to go for a dip in the pool they had provided.

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On another day I went to do some shopping in Biltmore Village. They were having an Earth Day Festival there, and someone had brought some live birds of prey, which he tethered to perches. It's a little odd for me to take a photo of a bird that is leashed, but I couldn't resist this great horned owl.

Another great trip, and the weather was perfect every day.

At the Horse Show

2009-02-22T15:17:00.002-05:00

I found out about a horse show that was being held this weekend not too far from where I live. I decided to take the camera and see what I could see. When I got there, the kids were doing their jumping rounds.

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These two beauties were waiting for their turn in the ring.

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It was a great day!

Panama City, Florida

2009-02-13T17:07:00.002-05:00

It was time to have a little short getaway to someplace nearby; the cold weather we have had combined with the demands of puppy-raising have kept me at home. So off I went for an overnight in Panama City.

I stayed on the east side, very near St. Andrews State Park. That was my first stop after checking in. The day was oddly hazy and so photos were few and far between during the hours I spent there. I was lucky to encounter some deer that were moving through the park, and I took several photos of them.

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I didn't stay long that day. I went back the next day, which was wonderful--sunshine and blue sky and warm temps. This was more like it! My first stop was a viewing platform that overlooks a small pond. There was a gorgeous great blue heron sitting on a nest on an island in the middle of the pond. Unfortunately it was a tad beyond the range of my lens. There are many signs around this area warning people about the resident gators. If you read my paddling blog, you can understand that I was not interested in seeing gators--I see plenty of them on my paddling trips. I did see something fantastic as I was walking on the boardwalk to the viewing platform. A little brown bunny just grazing away in the sand right next to the boardwalk! It took me a moment to comprehend what I was seeing. A bunny??? I happen to be extremely fond of bunnies.

On my way back to the car, someone called to me "There's a gator over there!", indicating the pond edge. I said something along the lines that I spend a lot of time around gators. I wanted to say "There's a BUNNY over here!" but somehow I had a feeling that would not stand up to the excitement of their seeing a gator. So when I got back near my car, the bunny was very close to the parking area, which was alarming. I thought if I just walked near it, it would run back to the sand (and toward the gator....hmmm, gator or cars, which are more threatening?). It didn't seem to mind my being there. I reached down, figuring that would scare it away from the cars. It held still and I was able to pet it for a moment! Totally strange. I got it somewhat away from the cars, and when I started mine, it scared it back to the sandy area. I have spent a lot of time in state parks--never seen a bunny before.

I went to the beach area and watched the surfers for a while.

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I walked around the beach area, taking photos.

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Before I left, I visited the boat ramp area, where I saw this juvenile brown pelican.

I was away from home only a little over 24 hours, but it was a very enjoyable break!

Fat Hermit Thrush

2009-01-16T21:34:00.004-05:00

I took the new puppy out to the front yard this morning. It's cold here now (in the teens at night...yes, north Florida has winter sometimes!). I saw this hermit thrush perched on a low branch. Didn't have my camera with me at the time. When the puppy was ready to come in, I got the camera and went back out without her. Amazingly, the bird was still there.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

2009-01-04T11:42:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since we have been to the refuge! So DH and I headed out there to see what we could see. As often happens, we left home under blue skies and got to the refuge under dark gray overcast. The sun worked at poking through and eventually made it.

A quick note about these photos. They differed from my usual fare, in part because of the lighting (or lack of it) from the deep overcast. I also processed each of them slightly differently for posting on other sites, so they don't blend as well as usual. But this blog does have miscellanea in its name!

It's always interesting how the bird population changes in the large pond near the lighthouse according to the season. At this time it was filled with widgeons, including this male and female.

We first walked the Cedar Point trail, which has the boat ramp inlet on one side and wetlands on the other. We saw this great blue heron behind some tall grass:

It's a great hike, short and simple with wonderful scenery.

After we got back to the main road that leads in and out of the refuge, we walked on that for a while. This osprey was perched on a large branch in the tidal flats area.

And then back to the lighthouse, where we spent a little more time near the water. A cormorant flew in and landed on a short piling. Given the light, it seemed to work well as a black-and-white.

Of course there were gulls all around. They seemed to blend into the water when they landed.

I took a photo of some people coming in from a fishing trip. It was a kind of bland image and I had not planned on using it for anything. However, I ended up doing some manipulation of it for a fun challenge on a photo website, so I will include it here. It seemed to lend itself to being a photo from early morning.

Before we left the refuge we walked the trail by the visitors center near the entrance. It was fantastic! Only 1/3 mile long but different from the other trails we have walked here. A large portion of it is on a boardwalk and winds through pines and palms. I was amazed that we did not spot any deer!

This refuge is a fun trip any time of year and in any kind of weather.

And Now For Something Local...

2008-12-13T17:43:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in here for a while! I have been out paddling and posting photos from that in the other blog, but haven't been anywhere to take scenics.

I pass by this spot along Hwy 90 not far from where I live, and every time I go by, I think I have got to bring the camera out here sometime! So I did today. Took a few photos--this is my favorite.

North Carolina, October 2008

2008-10-21T16:20:00.005-04:00

It was time for the traditional fall trip to western NC, so off I went. This time I decided to stay in Hendersonville. This worked well for two reasons: it put me near lots of waterfalls and also near where my friends were staying.

I went to Chimney Rock on my first full day, which was unfortunately a bit of a disappointment. I embarked on a very long hike, toting heavy camera gear, to a waterfall. When I got there, it was barely a trickle. No photos, but a great leg workout. When I got back to the parking lot, I took a picture of the view of Lake Lure. Notice how there is little or no fall color at ground level.

It was a pretty drive and so I stopped to take a panorama at a turn-off on my way home.

The next day I had better luck with waterfalls in the other direction. My first stop was Looking Glass Falls, which is right by the road with only a few steps to climb to get a closer view. This was more like it!

A little farther up the road I came to Sliding Rock. Given the cool temperature and day of the week, there were few people there, and none were sliding.

I continued on to the Blue Ridge Parkway, in search of some falls at a turnout known as Graveyard Fields. I ambitiously set out on the hiking trail to the upper falls.

The tree colors at this elevation were vivid and the trail scenery was spectacular. This was the view at one point:

Part of the trail had a long wooden walkway that wound through the brown grasses and bright red bushes.

However, I had a now-familiar experience as far as finding waterfalls went--starting with an extremely long trek. I encountered some hikers coming back on the trail and asked them how much farther I had left to go. They told me I had a pretty long way. I asked if it was worth it, and they said that while it was pretty, there was very little water ("you could take a shower in it") falling. I turned around and decided to explore the lower falls.

This hike ended with many, many steep steps, but a beautiful waterfall. It was very crowded. I took a few photos and then made my way back to the parking area.

On the way back to my rental house I stopped at several overlooks on the Parkway to take photos of the fall color and the beautiful views.

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On Friday I got together with Carol and Larry and we headed out to see Pearson's Falls. They had been there before, but this was a first for me. It was by far the best falls of the trip--and an easy walk to get there!

On the way to the main falls we passed many areas of rushing water and some small falls. I particularly liked this set, which we saw off to the side as we crossed a bridge over the water.

And then we reached the large waterfall (and we were the only ones there for most of the time). I think this type of waterfall is called a "cascade"--the water drops over rock ledges and the flow creates many smaller falls. Carol and I were very busy photographing many of the different areas. Let's start at the top and work our way down:

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It started to rain and so we packed up the cameras and hiked back to the car. This was a fantastic day and the high point of my time in NC! And that was this trip....there will be another one in spring!

Back to Piney Z and Lake Lafayette

2008-10-12T14:06:00.002-04:00

DH and I decided to go for a walk around Lake Lafayette at Piney Z. This is always a good place to walk--great trail, lots of birds and the occasional gator. We walked to the causeway that runs betwen the lake and...well, whatever that other body of water is. The sky was a mix of threatening dark clouds with patches of blue that let sunshine through. Here's the view looking at the other body of water.

It drizzled rain a bit on the way back. This trail is so wild and natural--and yes, this is what Florida looks like in October!

Cedar Key!

2008-09-28T20:58:00.002-04:00

Ah, back to one of my favorite spots!

As described in Paddle Tales, I was back in Cedar Key again, hoping for cool weather, which I found. However, it was very windy for the first couple of days, so I headed over to the wildlife park in Homosassa Springs and walked around getting some photos. I don't normally take a lot of photos in parks like this since I am uneasy around captive animals. However, the birds here (in the area in which I took these photos) are free to come and go as they wish.

Flamingoes! A Florida bird, but not found in my usual stomping grounds, so I love photographing them.

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I don't know what these ducks are, but they were in the same area, and very cute.

And sandhill cranes! They spend time in the field behind our house during their migration, but of course you can't get too close to them, particularly on foot. So it was nice to see these. This one was making their unique sound, possibly fussing about some buzzards that had landed nearby in their area:

Here's a close-up of that one.

Nearby were some whooping cranes, which are very similar to the sandhills, although they have white feathers.

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That one was busy grooming itself~

These owls were so cute--the one on the right seems somewhat bored, though...

Of course I had to take a few photos of the roseate spoonbills--a bird that eludes me here at home while posing so nicely for other local bloggers (you know who you are!).

I have always been very fond of swans, and they had some real beauties swimming in their waterways.

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The next morning I sat on my balcony having my muffin and coffee for breakfast. I was joined by a seagull, pictured on the paddling blog site, as well as a few boat-tail grackles, who were so happy to share my muffin with me.

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I had another good day on the island, and drove over to the other side that evening to catch the sunset.

A fantastic trip to a wonderful part of Florida. Visit there if you can.

This and That

2008-09-06T17:52:00.002-04:00

I thought I would take a drive to see what Letchworth-Love Mounds State Park had to offer. I'm afraid I was monumentally underwhelmed, although I'm sure there would be those who would appreciate it.

I continued east on Hwy 90. This would take me over the tip of Lake Miccosukee, offering a possible photo opportunity to make up for the lack thereof at the state park. When I got there, this woman was fishing from the walkway that is over the run-off area.

The water was rushing over the short retaining wall and under the highway bridge.

Before I left, I took a photo looking toward the lake. In normal water-level times, there is only a very narrow passage leading from the nearby boat ramp to the lake itself.

After that I decided to explore a photo opportunity that I discovered many years ago, before I was taking many pictures. I used to travel a dirt road to get to a friend's house, and every time I came to this one section where the trees form a canopy overhead, I would think that would make a nice photo. I decided to finally go take that picture.

On my way home, I passed a guy baling hay in a field so pulled over and took a few photos of him as well.

(I just can't resist those big skies when they are so blue and white!)

Hagan's Cove, Taylor County, Florida

2008-09-01T13:21:00.003-04:00

We decided to go back to Hagan's Cove on a sunny Saturday, giving me a chance to get more scenic photos to play with!

The tide was in, filling the flats with water. I feel certain that later in the year (basically any time except summer) these areas are filled with shorebirds when the tide is out.

We climbed the little viewing tower they have there. You can see the tops of some of the picnic shelters over to the right, near the water.

We walked to the other boat ramp area, passing by a piney flatwoods area. The photo was a little boring so I tinkered a bit with it.

We set our chairs up and sat by the inlet for a while. It's a great place to spend an afternoon.

Interestingly, while this was the view in front of us, dark gray clouds were coming up behind us, which produced a very heavy storm about 10 minutes after I took this photo.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

2008-08-17T13:03:00.002-04:00

We had our hearts set on getting to the refuge today and then heading over to My Way seafood market to get some shrimp to have for dinner. The fact that it was drizzling and solid overcast when we left home did not deter us....much, anyway.

When we got there the skies had lightened somewhat and so there was hope that the day would not be lost. We started walking along the water. The pelicans and cormorants were in their usual spots on the pilings.

The sky was definitely clearing and the sun was coming out, a welcome sight. (Unfortunately, August sunshine after August rain leads to intense August humidity, but you can't have everything...) When we got to the picnic shelter we sat for a while. As the sky got clearer, I decided it was time for some more big-sky photos, although this time I decided not to go the HDR route, which requires taking five photos of each scene. One of each view was enough.

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We walked down to the water to watch the sand crabs scatter and to do a little wading.

We circled the center pond. This little bird (I still do not have my sandpiper species sorted out) was all by itself, making for a photo singular here in its simplicity.

And then off to get shrimp and head back home. It's always a joy to visit the refuge, no matter what the season.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

2008-08-10T18:09:00.002-04:00

I've been playing with scenics lately so I can tinker with HDR. I see why some people don't care for it, either to produce it or see it. I'm not sure yet whether I will do much of it--when it works, I like it a lot, but when it doesn't, your photo is far better off without it.

I spent a lot of time with this photo, taken on a road near my house and it always was better with HDR.

On the other hand, I could not get proper sky color with this one. I went back and made some changes to the settings and ended up with a sort of odd, quasi-HDR photo, but I like it.

I think the subject matter is very important if you want to play with this. It's useless with my bird photos, but has potential with some scenics.

Shell Point

2008-08-10T11:47:00.002-04:00

We went to Shell Point recently, a town along the Gulf. A storm was threatening in the distance but the sun was shining and it was nice to sit by the water for a while.

Lafayette Park at Piney Z

2008-08-03T11:27:00.002-04:00

DH and I had some errands to run in Tallahassee and decided to first take a short walk around the lake from Lafayette Park. I'm still testing out my new lens to see if I want to take it paddling, so I hoped for a chance to get some photos with it.

We walked out on one of the "Fishing Fingers" behind these folks with their fishing gear.

On the way back to the trail around the lake we spotted this egret.

We walked around the lake to the left from the parking lot. It was too hot to consider making the full circle around it, but we did get to the pretty little inlet area across from the parking lot.

This green heron was fishing nearby.

There was a fair amount of water in the lake, certainly enough for paddling, so we walked back to investigate the boat ramp. On our way there we encountered a couple with a wonderful dog--part cocker spaniel and part afghan. We used to have a purebred afghan hound and I have always had a soft spot in my heart for them, and I clearly saw the breed in this dog.

We ended up at the boat ramp together, where the dog was playing in the water and chasing sticks they were throwing.

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This is, however, a VERY BAD IDEA at this lake. There are many gators in this lake, and gators are very fond of dogs as a meal; they are known to actively pursue them. We mentioned this to the couple, who continued to throw sticks into the water for their dog. A small gator head appeared some distance away. The guy seemed totally unconcerned, the woman only marginally less so. And then the guy threw a stick about 10 feet into the lake. The dog went after it and the gator began swimming toward the dog. This got the woman's attention (finally) and she went on full alert, frantically calling the dog and telling her companion to throw something at the gator. The dog made it back, they leashed it, and the woman announced that it would not be going in the water again. Crisis averted.

So far so good with the lens.

Lens Test

2008-08-01T22:43:00.003-04:00

So I got this new camera lens today and I went out to test it, as one always should when one gets a new lens. Make sure there are no flaws--take the time to check all the corners of your photos on your computer screen. That seems to be a hot area for lens flaws.

It was raining a tiny bit, not enough to damage the camera or lens. I wandered around the yard, zooming in and out to test the whole range. I got this and that, and was returning to the house to check out the photos on the computer when I spotted this dragonfly on a plant. It just sat there so this seemed to be a good opportunity to test the close-up capability of the lens.

I intended to discard all the photos I took since they were just to test the lens. But I liked this one, so I am posting it here.

Not a bad lens; I think I'll keep it....

Pink

2008-07-13T11:36:00.001-04:00

I rarely take photos of flowers any more, but couldn't resist these pink beauties when they popped out near our pond. We've had the plant for years and had no idea that it ever flowered, much less in pink!

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A Black and White Look at the World

2008-06-15T13:58:00.002-04:00

I went out and about in our yard and area to test some camera settings and liked some of the photos I got--and decided to render them in black and white.

When we bought this house some 25 years ago, this metal drinking cup was hanging by a nail on this tree. The tree has gradually grown around the nail and is working its way through the cup handle.

Some water drops were on the leaft of the banana tree.

I walked over to the neighbor's vacant property and found this wheelbarrow against an overgrown area.

On my way back home from his place, I passed this little moth/butterfly on a flower.

I always have a terrible time removing color from a photo, but I usually end up liking the effect.

Hiking at Suwannee River State Park

2008-06-03T11:16:00.002-04:00

DH and I decided to go back to the park to hike our favorite trail, the Lime Sink Run trail. Last time we were here was in the fall (or winter?) when there were few leaves on the trees. It was much greener this time! Surprisingly, we were not bothered by insects in the woods.

Some of the areas with little pools look downright magical.

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We cut over to the balancing rock trail and completed the loop alongside the river. It hadn't taken long so we decided to walk another trail. I think it is called Sand Hill or Sand-something; it starts at the parking lot across from the little ranger station. It's a wonderful little trail, very well maintained and wide. It leads to Columbus Cemetery, which served a small community that existed nearby in the late 1800's. There are a few graves there from that era, and the cemetery is also well-maintained and very peaceful.

As we were leaving to continue on the trail (which is also a loop), we heard something moving through the leaves and brush off to the side. This gopher tortoise was on his way to somewhere or other.

I wanted to get a photo of his face head-on (I have no idea if it was a he or a she...just looks like a he to me) but he was adamant about not letting me so I had to settle for a profile.

And then we left him in peace. Later on the trail we saw another of these large tortoises, also moving with great purpose (or so it seemed).

These little white wildflowers are scattered everywhere.

If you find yourself in this park, do take the time to hike a trail or two, you'll be glad you did!

It's a Butterfly!

2008-05-27T09:42:00.002-04:00

Last year we bought some parsley plants and positioned them in the yard near the area where we get a lot of butterflies, hoping to entice one of the swallowtails to lay eggs on or near them. No luck last year, but this year we were delighted to spot 3 caterpillars on the parsley! One of them grew very fast and when it was quite big and fat, it moved to a pipe near the faucet in the garden area and made a chrysalis of itself. We checked on this every day. On Sunday morning DH went out to look at it and it was still green, closed, and attached to the pipe, so he came in to feed the pets. That done, he went back out to turn on the sprinkler and lo and behold! The butterfly had emerged and was drying its wings! He came in to tell me of this great event and of course I went out, camera in hand.

Here is the butterfly, perched right above its vacated chrysalis.

While out there I checked on the one remaining caterpillar that we had been able to keep track of (don't know where the third one went). We had had to purchase two more parsley plants to keep this one eating.

We hope that when it moves off to form the chrysalis it either chooses an extremely conspicuous spot like the last one, or that we happen to catch it while in the process.

DH just happened to be in the garden area when the newly-made butterfly left the pipe and fluttered into the woods--pretty neat to see its first flight!

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

2008-05-27T09:26:00.003-04:00

We headed out this past Saturday, a warm day, to St. Marks to do some hiking around the refuge.

We took the Headquarters Pond Trail, one of our favorites. It's only about a mile long but it passes through quite a variety of landscapes, from sandy tropical through woods and across a section that resembles the African veldt.

We hadn't gotten far on our walk when I spotted movement coming down the trail up ahead (which was upwind of us).

Dum de dum de dum...

He kept sauntering our way.

It is just too hot out here today! I'm gonna find a shady spot and nap.

And then he finally looked up, when he was about 10 feet from us.

WHAT? Are those PEOPLE?

He took an abrupt right turn and walked into the woods. We continued on.

Here's what the more open part of the trail looks like.

This sandpiper was standing near the edge of that stream.

The trail also passes by two ponds, which had stilts and other sandpiper-type birds in them.

When we finished our hike, we drove to the lighthouse to walk around there. I have always found this picnic shelter, which is near the water on that trail, to be very picturesque.

After leaving the refuge we continued west on Hwy 98 and stopped at the My Way seafood market to get some fresh shrimp and fish.

They had just gotten the shrimp in--that was our dinner and it was wonderful!

This is one of my favorite day trips that we take.

Western North Carolina, April 2008

2008-05-05T12:36:00.003-04:00

Off I went for my spring camping trip near the Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina. I am not posting in Tent Tales and will not linger here on the camping experience--I was trying a new place. Sometimes that works out well, sometimes not so well. But I survived. And I was busy this time since every day was beautifully perfect in every way. Get comfortable, this is a long one...

Day One

I decided to go see the elk in Cataloochee Valley. I was warned by the campground owner about the road to get there but she also said it would be well worth it (she was right). There is only one way in and out. This one way starts out fine but then deteriorates to a one-lane gravel road that climbs steeply up the mountain (before descending steeply down into the valley) with many blind curves and nothing between your car and the sharp vertical drop at one edge of the road. My palms grow moist just recalling it. This goes on for some 5-7 miles, and seems endless since the blind curves are best driven at about 2 mph. While the Xterra took up entirely too much space on this narrow road, it offered me one great advantage. Its bright yellow color is like a neon sign and with no leaves on the trees, it could be seen at some distance traveling along the switchbacks. I passed one car that had doubtless seen me coming from far away and had time to find a suitable pullover before I got to it.

And then I arrived in the valley, which is breathtaking. Given the early hour and warmth from the sun, I suspected the elk would not be out in the open when I arrived and so I spent some time photographing the Cataloochee River. I very much enjoy taking photos of waterfalls and rushing water using a long exposure time. I don't get a lot of opportunities to practice this here in Florida and so I took many such photos, as you will see. Here's the river as it passes under a bridge.

Given the number of water-over-rocks photos that I got on this trip, I got a tad creative while processing them to avoid too much sameness. I made this one black-and-white, but then decided to put a little color back in. Just fooling around.

I walked through some of the meadows in the valley. I drove to where the road ends. Still too warm for elk to be coming out into the open. At the end of the road was a gate across a wide trail going into the woods. It seemed logical that the elk would be in the woods during the heat of the day, so I wandered down the trail.

Within 50 steps I came to a group of female elk grazing in the woods.

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I encountered three separate groups before turning around to walk back to the car. Of course I had to take a photo of this stream running through the woods...

I drove back toward the entrance to the valley (there is a campground there) and stopped to investigate an open white building in a clearing. It turned out to be an old schoolhouse. I took this as I walked through toward the back door. I call this The Door To Springtime.

I walked into a meadow and took a photo of the mountain backdrop, and then processed it as a postcard:

The prospect of the drive back along that narrow road was weighing heavily and so I decided to head out. I was happy to have seen the female elk, though I wished I had seen a buck. And then as I drove slowly along I spotted movement to the left of the car, where the woods meet the meadow.

(not sure what the deal is with the tongue...)

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So that was wonderful! I made it back safely--only had to maneuver past one oncoming car.

Day Two

Every morning after getting up I would open the back hatch to the car to take assorted things out, and I would leave it open while I had breakfast. Every morning two wrens would fly in and out of my car with thoughts of nesting in it. This one perched on the antenna telling the world about the great nesting spot it had found.

I decided to drive to Clingman's Dome. I had attempted this on my NC trip last fall but daily rain had put a damper on that plan. I got there easily enough.

DH and I lived in Asheville many, many years ago and often took visitors to Clingman's Dome. The half-mile hike from the parking lot to the dome was strenuous back then... I met a woman named Lisa while on the walk to the top, and our chatting and periodic rests along the side made it fun. I also got some short rests when I stopped to take photos of the view along this trek to the top.

I tried to take a photo that would show the incline of this walkway but never really accomplished that. However, here is the view down. The parking area is indicated by the arrow.

We made it to the top.

Here are a couple more photos I took before I left.

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On the way back down I saw some water falling over the rocks by the side of the road, so you know I got out of the car and took a picture of it!

I also stopped at an overlook. Another black-and-white.

It was only about 2:00 or so by this time. I had picked up a map of waterfalls and hiking trails and recalled that Mingo Falls was in this vicinity and fairly accessible (many of the wonderful waterfalls in this part of the state are either on private property or at the end of a long hike). I consulted the map for directions. Here is the last part of those directions: "...Turn right, crossing bridge over a river, straight ahead is a parking lot and trail. Climb 170 steps to Mingo Falls."

170 steps. After hiking the path to Clingman's Dome.

And these weren't your low steps, oh no, these were high and deep steps. Mine was the only car in the parking area; not surprising--the hill of steps was a bit daunting. Off I go. I didn't count as I climbed.

It was well worth it! Mingo Falls is spectacular!

Of course you know I spent a lot of time taking long exposures of smaller areas where the water flowed over rocks and logs.

On my way down the steps I encountered a couple walking up. They looked weary. The woman commented on the climb. I told them I had just come from climbing to Clingman's Dome and she said they had, too. She asked if it was worth it and I said most definitely, so they continued up while I continued down.

I stopped in the town of Cherokee on my way back to the campground and bought a pair of Minnetonka sandals that feel like they were made for my feet. On the way out of town I saw these little horses in a field by the road.

Day Three

My legs were not nearly as stiff and sore as I had anticipated. I had so far done two of the three things I had hoped to do--saw elk and got to the top of Clingman's Dome. The only one left was to return to Mingus Mill, which is within the Smoky Mountains park. The access road had been closed when I passed it en route to Clingman's Dome. When I visited last fall, the drought had prevented the water spill-over as it travels to the mill, something I wanted to get a photo of. I stopped at the visitors center at the park to find out if the access road was open and was told it was. On to Mingus Mill!

The water was spilling over as hoped.

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Here is a long view of the mill--

There is a path that follows the water flow from the river to the mill. Here it is flowing toward the mill.

Needless to say, I took a lot of photos before leaving. On my way out I passed a small bush with many of these flowers hanging here and there--very pretty and spring-like.

I packed up that afternoon and headed home the next morning--the only rainy day of this trip.

I can't wait to go back in the fall.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

2008-04-20T12:42:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to get back to the refuge and since DH didn't have to work on Saturday (yesterday), we planned to take a drive out there. It was overcast here and in fact we drove through areas of rain on the way, but when we got there the sky had some blue in it. It got VERY windy, which makes the Gulf nice and textured, and ultimately we had clear blue sky and sunshine. Perfect day, since the wind kept the mosquitoes off us and cooled the air.

We headed to the lighthouse first and walked around the pond there. These scaups were swimming around

until a sandpiper (I don't know my varieties very well, perhaps Sophie Mae will give a specific ID in the comments...) came swooping over and startled them.

Soon after, this male put on quite a show, as if to say "I wasn't really afraid, of course."

Later we saw a pair of black-necked stilts, possibly the same ones Sophie Mae photographed on her recent visit to the refuge. These birds are so striking in the water!

The tide was as far in as I have ever seen it here--so much so that it was not possible to walk along the sand near the lighthouse. I still could not resist getting a photo of the pelicans on the pilings, although this time I had to shoot it through the palms along the trail.

We got in the car and drove back slowly toward the entrance, stopping at the restrooms near Headquarters Pond. We walked over to the other small pond in that vicinity. The cormorants were back in their nests and the trees between the pond and the road.

The thing about that spot is the sound. There are the normal sounds that you get from cormorants, but a new one has been added, presumably breeding- or nesting-related. Hard to explain, it's kind of a growl. I've never heard anything like the sounds that were coming from those trees, and you could only hear them from close by--as we walked back to the car, they faded almost immediately. Very neat little spot.

These purple flowers are everywhere along the roadside in the refuge, in varying stages of bloom.

A short distance farther down the road we stopped to photograph this gator, with a tricolored heron behind it.

We decided to walk on one of the walkways scattered throughout the refuge and chose the one adjacent to the Stony Bayou pool. We parked at the gate and strolled along next to the pool. However, that flat, open area was even windier than the more protected spots and after a very short time we decided to find another trail that might be more protected. As we were walking back to the car, a young pool resident began to cross from one side of the path to the pool side.

We stopped. It stopped. We started walking slowly toward the car again, concluding that this gator was probably old enough to be away from its mother's watchful eye. As we got closer, it apparently decided to return to where it had been rather than continuing on and it turned around and crossed back. You can tell how small it was by comparison with the tire tracks on the path.

And off it went.

We decided we had had enough sun and wind by that time and the afternoon was waning. We continued west on Hwy 98 after leaving the refuge and stopped near Panacea to pick up some fresh shrimp to have for dinner. Our usual seafood shop only had shrimp from last week (this is perhaps a mile from the Gulf, we can do better than shrimp that came in last week!), so we continued on to check at other places. We found a small shop that had shrimp that had been brought in the afternoon before as well as grouper that had come in that morning. Better! So we got our shrimp for dinner as well as a whole grouper.

Great day! (And the shrimp was fantastic!)

Cedar Key (Yes! Again!)

2008-04-10T21:34:00.004-04:00

This is such a wonderful place to visit. I was back at Natures Landing condos, this time on the third floor (which is actually the fourth floor if you count the covered parking area). More photos from land and from the water can be seen here on Paddle Tales.

This was my view from the balcony, which I spent a great deal of time watching over:

If I looked to the right, I saw this. That's the Gulf of Mexico in the distance to the right.

One day I went for a walk around town, which started me at the small city park across the street from the condo. It was a beautiful day and there were many people there, and lots of kids enjoying the beach. This little girl was dressed far better than I was and seemed to be having a good time:

Meanwhile, this boy enjoyed the (somewhat minimal at the time) surf.

I walked along Dock Street and then crossed the canal to walk back on the other side. Needless to say, the birds are everywhere. I could just hear the pelicans say Look! The fishing tour is back!

When I got back to the condo property, I went for a walk along the trail they have there that borders the inlet. The needle cactus was flowering.

They have boat slips and a fish-cleaning station available there. I've never seen any boats there, nor anyone cleaning fish, but the pelicans love it! Here's a photo I took from my balcony one day:

Later I walked down and this juvenile pelican was still resting there.

On my last full day in the area I drove over to Manatee Springs state park, where I have often camped. I walked along the boardwalk near the springs. This red-bellied woodpecker was having quite a time flitting from tree to tree.

This was a wonderful trip. More photos from the area and from my kayaking hither and thither on the backwaters can be found at Paddle Tales.

Birdsong Nature Center near Thomasville, Georgia

2008-03-30T13:35:00.003-04:00

My friend Abby recently posted photos of a trip she took to Birdsong, and it reminded me that I had not been there for a while (since November 2006, actually). Yesterday was a warm sunny day so I headed out there.

I first walked on the trail that circles Farm Pond. This gator was sunning along the edge of the pond.

I walked over to Big Bay Swamp. Last time I was here we were in a drought and there was very little water anywhere. Now there's a lot of water! This swamp looks so primitive.

This place lives up to its name, and since they had just done a burn in part of it, the birds were really out and about. Lovely to listen to, difficult to photograph from the trails!

The trees are flowering and everything is greening up so nicely.

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I walked to the Listening Place, which is a lovely building overlooking more swampland. I lingered there awhile and then headed back to the entrance. On the way back I passed the only other people I had seen on the property all day, despite this being such a gorgeous Saturday.

The house at the entrance has a "bird window"--a large clean window that looks out on an area designed for the birds--there are feeders spread around, both manufactured ones and natural ones (seed spread over a tree stump, etc.). There is a large bathing area for the birds with a misting device at the top that constantly sprays a fine mist of water over the bath. Along the bottom of the window is a gutter that is kept full of food--this window is coated with something that allows us to see out but the birds can't see in very well, so they will come to feed only inches away. While I was there most of the occupants were redwing blackbirds, this one at the edge of the bathing area:

And others looking for food on the ground.

I'm not sure how visible we are to the birds outside--this cardinal did seem to be looking right at me.

Meanwhile, this one was busy splashing in the tub.

Birdsong is a little out of the way but well worth a visit if you are in the area.

True Miscellanea II

2008-03-28T16:35:00.002-04:00

Just some random photos. I wanted to try a new setting I have been tinkering with on the camera with a different lens than my usual. April was lying in the windowsill bed so I decided to start with her.

Works okay. I went to a pond in a nearby town, hoping to get some photos of shorebirds flying to see how the lens does with action shots at this setting. The only birds there were ducks.

And they want their bread crumbs. NOW.

I didn't have any, so I left.

We have an amaryllis growing in our side yard that neither of us remember planting, and which usually gets mowed over before it gets close to blooming (since neither of us remembers that it is there). This is the first year it has made it all the way to blooming (since we have been lax with the mowing, I guess). It's very pretty.

Those are the photos of the day.

Back to Cedar Key!

2008-03-14T09:29:00.008-04:00

I'd been wanting to return to this town ever since I took a daytrip here while camping nearby. There was a bit of a scheduling glitch with my reservations and I ended up in a condo rather than the cottage I had reserved. As I drove from the occupied cottage to the condo, I had my doubts about how well it would work out but in fact it was fantastic. Both the cottage and the condos are managed by Nature's Landing. That website shows better photos of the lay of the land around the buildings than I could get. I was in a room on the first floor, directly over the pool, with a perfect view of the channel right in front of the property. (I have already made my reservations for a return visit, next time on a higher floor. When it comes to this particular property, I am a condo convert, I guess.)

I was invited to a "Low Country Boil" scheduled for the day after I got there. It was held in the park, which is right across the street from the condos, and of course situated on the Gulf. It sounded like fun, and the tide was too far out to easily launch the kayak, so I planned to go to the boil. In the meantime, I walked along the inlet and watched the birds fishing in the very shallow low-tide water.

The low-country boil was great! Fresh clams steamed open and poured over corn on the cob, potatoes, and sausage.

That's JD, property manager extraordinaire (I assume property manager is the correct term?) lifting the steaming clams.

The clams are open!

Cedar Key is a very cool little town. Many of the locals get around in golf carts. Here's one you often see--a very sporty cart with a comfortable passenger (the driver was nearby at the boil when I took this).

The gulls were also interested in the clams, and are regular daily visitors to the park.

By the time the tide had come in sufficiently to get out in the kayak, it had become too windy. So I decided to stroll around the town to walk off all those clams. This egret must have also been walking off a large meal...

I went back to the condo to read for a while on my balcony before dinner, watching all the pelicans and gulls and egrets (and an osprey) fly by at eye level. In fact, I noticed just how many pelicans fly by--I estimated from 1-3 pelicans every five minutes. I didn't get that much reading done, I preferred watching the birds. Here's one that passed by me as I sat there.

One of my favorite restaurants, a very short walk from Nature's Landing, is Seabreeze. It has a large dining room right over the Gulf and a full menu. After dinner (stuffed shrimp) I walked some more near the water and then circled back on the other side of a channel to return to the condo. The restaurant was looking picturesque from this perspective. The Gulf is on the other side.

There is a walkway at the condo property that is adjacent to the inlet and provides access to some docks and a fish-cleaning station. Beyond that it continues through the mangroves to more open water. I walked out there as the sun was setting. Here's the view looking back toward the condo property (you can see the roof of Building C just over the trees on the left).

I'm looking forward to my next stay there. This is also a perfect paddling destination, and photos and more info on that can be found on Paddle Tales.

St. Marks Lighthouse

2008-03-05T16:25:00.004-05:00

I was recently at the St. Marks NWR and took some photos. Everyone who goes there takes photos of the lighthouse, and they all look basically the same.

Lately I have been having fun experimenting with making gallery prints. I decided to do some manipulating of the lighthouse photo I took and then present it in gallery print form.

Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, Florida

2008-02-17T14:42:00.004-05:00

DH and I have been talking about going to see the mission for a long time. It's right there in Tallahassee and easy to get to. We finally picked our day to go.

It was really great! Several people are scattered about on the property in period dress and with knowledge of the history of the mission and the reconstruction. Needless to say, I took quite a few photos, so let's get started.

The first stop after the visitors center is the friary.

There was a very helpful friar there to answer our questions, when he wasn't being pensive.

The friary building included sleeping chambers, a dining area and food service area, and a wine storage room. The food for the friars was prepared in a separate building that was accessed across an outdoor walkway. The cook was in the food preparation area, stirring something on the stove.

She was very helpful and informative. The various herbs used for cooking, as well as corn and ground meal, were kept on a table in the same room.

Next to the friary and kitchen was the actual church. You can see the friary to the right.

The next stop was the council house, a huge structure that was unfortunately closed to the public on this day. There was a gentleman outside it that explained how the original was built, which was an amazing feat given that there were no cranes or other hoisting machines. If you visit this exhibit, be sure to get the story on the original construction as well as how the reconstruction was accomplished.

We followed the path toward the next building. We passed these carpenters working on some sort of structure.

The next building turned out to be the home of a merchant responsible for acquiring goods for the mission. His wife met us in the doorway.

She was a fun and well-informed woman who welcomed us into her home (it's very easy to get into the whole time-warp thing, particularly when there aren't many other visitors so there are more people in period dress than not. And this woman was excellent at staying in character). The walls of the house were made of clay (as were the walls in all the buildings we saw), with only one window. On this warm day it was noticeably cooler inside the house. The clay was mostly white, with spots here and there showing that it was mixed with red clay. The floors of all the buildings were dirt, with straw mats scattered here and there. This is her dining room.

They were fairly wealthy and the size of their house reflected that wealth. They had a separate bedroom.

Her garden, behind the house, was just starting to show some greenery.

We stayed with her for quite a while before moving on to see the fort. On the way to the fort we passed two women trying to round up a turkey, perhaps to cook for dinner for the friars...

The mission and outlying areas were occupied by both Apalachee Indians and Spanish explorers, who lived peaceably together.

This woman was enjoying the warm February sunshine and was weaving a basket.

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Another mission woman joined her.

We reached the fort.

We had two guides at the fort, both of whom met us just inside the gate.

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I believe the fort housed at most 45 soldiers, though I could be wrong. There was a long dining area.

The fort has a second floor accessible by steps, but there is a small building code issue that has to be addressed before they can open the upstairs to the public. The downstairs area included a few sleeping quarters and several storage rooms. The walls were also mottled white. This bench and flags were against the wall in one hallway. The door on the far side of the flags leads to a sleeping quarters.

These spears were stacked and ready for use to the left of the fort's inner doorway.

The fort was our last stop.

I recommend visiting the mission if you get a chance. They are continuing with the reconstruction, with more buildings planned. The buildings they have are all situated on the spots where the corresponding original buildings stood, with a few minor adjustments to accommodate future archeological activities at the sites. It's an interesting place. There is no admission fee, although they do welcome and encourage contributions inside the visitors center.

Lake Frances, Madison, Florida

2008-01-04T21:08:00.001-05:00

Last time I went to Lake Frances (which is kind of more a large pond than a lake), I got such good bird photos I posted them on my paddling blog. I went back today and took about 60 photos, out of which I got one that I liked (so it goes; and the sun was low and bright and the birds were in the wrong place) (well, for photos....I'm sure it was the right place for them...)

Anyway, as before, there were wood storks and egrets and ibis and great blue herons there. The one photo I liked was this one of a great blue heron near the shoreline.

Lime Sink Run Trail at Suwannee River State Park

2007-12-25T12:19:00.001-05:00

'Twas the day before Christmas and so we decided to take a hike somewhere. St. Marks NWR was a bit far since we had waited until after noon to decide this. Suwannee River SP is only about 30 minutes away and we have only hiked there once on one trail so off we went to the park.

We decided to try the Lime Sink Run trail as it was the one designated as most "strenuous" and the one that took the most time (at only 30 minutes--lots of short trails there).

It was fantastic and is our new go-to hiking place. Once you veer off from the river and enter the woods, it's magical. Of course we had it to ourselves--it's been my experience over years of camping in state parks that very few people hike the trails. I'm not sure I have ever encountered another human on any state park trail. Of course this could have a lot to do with timing--I'm always there in the middle of the week when kids are in school and many hikers are at work. But I digress.

It's clear that the river at one time was high enough to run through this area. It's very hilly--much of it reminded me of the Eagle Trail at Three Rivers SP--and there is a deep eroded run of rocks and tree roots that has been carved by the water flow. Of course there is no water flow now.

But there are many pools of water deep in the woods. Some are as large as ponds, some are just large puddles. Some are clear, others are covered with algae. This was the first that we came to, a larger one with a clear surface.

During this hike we frightened off what we estimated to be about 100 wood ducks in total. Each time a pool would come into sight, the air would fill with wood ducks flying away. We got wise after about the second pool and tried to sneak up on them, but they invariably saw us before I could possibly get a photo.

Here's a very small puddle of water with green growth on the surface.

I was a bit surprised that we did not see any deer on our hike--maybe next time. There's not much green on the trees this time of year, but the woods near this trail still show some color, mostly from the saw palmettos.

Here's a view of where the water had once flowed through the woods but now only limestone rocks are exposed.

You may notice the strange coloration effect on that photo, with the bottom showing color and the top seeming almost black and white. I'd love to take credit for creating that in Photoshop but in fact it came out of the camera like that. I have been playing with the "dynamic range optimizer" function in the camera and had it turned up a bit, which may explain why it picked up the colors in the foreground and faded those in the background. The tree trunks are in fact mostly gray in color, which may also have fooled the camera. I don' t know how it happened, and only to that photo of all I took, but I kind of like it. Can't take credit for it, though.

We hope to get back soon. One plan is to take a lunch and settle near one of the ponds and be quiet and mostly still. We will still scare off the wood ducks when we arrive but eventually they would likely return. I'm sure deer and other woodland creatures come to those ponds for water, so patience might result in seeing them as well. And there could be worse ways to spend an afternoon...

Foggy Morning

2007-12-17T18:28:00.000-05:00

Well, we had summer weather last week, but that came to an end over the weekend. It got colder and rained for most of Saturday night (great for the drought situation, though it's going to take a lot more than one night of rain to make any difference). The front yard was misty with fog on Sunday morning.

It was very cold and breezy today. So, while I finally have my #1 camera back, it's too cold to go paddling!! Maybe later in the week...

Cedar Key, Florida

2007-12-14T12:11:00.001-05:00

I was camping at Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland and decided to take a day trip down to Cedar Key, an area I have long wanted to visit. I knew that one day wasn't going to suffice, but this would give me a chance to suss out the accommodation options for a longer stay.

I had lunch at Tony's Seafood Restaurant (very good!) and wandered the shops, picking up a few Christmas gifts along the way. This shiny tiled statue and mural are between shops near Tony's. Behind the wall is a large pink tiled fish statue.

Then I walked across the canal to the various shops and restaurants and lodging on the Gulf. I decided it would be appropriate to have a piece of key lime pie, so I went into a place that had a back deck looking over the water (called "Ann's Other Place"). I should mention that we are having unseasonably warm and wonderful weather with temps in the 80's with soft breezes, so it was a joy to sit out on the deck and have my pie. Here's what it looked like--the arrow points to where I was sitting. The small arrow on the right points to the kayakers that are mentioned further along in this post.

So while I am sitting there sipping on water and waiting for my pie, with my camera beside me, two dolphins go swimming by in the near distance! Very cool. First they passed from right to left

and then circled around and headed back to the right.

With a bit of over-cropping and over-enlarging, I discovered that the face of one could be made out in one photo.

Shortly after the dolphins left I saw these kayakers go by, probably heading to a nearby island that is a national wildlife refuge.

I lingered at Ann's for a while enjoying the view.

While I was walking along the road next to the Gulf checking out motels and inns for a future stay, I spotted this dilapidated boathouse/fishing shed, which looked somewhat picturesque. As I tend to do, I decided to make it (almost) black-and-white for posting here.

I hope to get back to Cedar Key again after the holidays to spend more time getting to know the area.

St. Marks NWR

2007-11-11T16:28:00.000-05:00

I stopped here on my way home from a camping trip at Ochlockonee River State Park. I wasn't expecting much--last time I was here not only was there no water, but no birds to speak of either. This time was a little better, and I met some nice other photographers while I was there, one a newbie and one very accomplished. That's always fun.

Last time there were no pelicans in sight, this time they were lined up on the pilings.

I moved in for a closer view.

This park recently had its Monarch Festival. This is the tail end of monarch migration time, and this refuge is a regular stopping point for them. While most have moved on, I did spot a few here and there.

And of course the Gulf Fritillaries were out as well.

I walked around the now-dry lighthouse pond. It isn't completely dry, actually; there are small puddles of water here and there. And a few sandpipers in them.

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This great blue heron was crouching in a strip of grass in what used to be the pond.

I continued on the walk between the Gulf and the pond area to the end. This is the view looking back toward the lighthouse:

And here's what you see if you pivot 180 degrees:

I decided to walk back to the lighthouse--there is a fair amount of water in the marshland near it, particularly at high tide. These snowy egrets were in the grasses in the middle.

This lone egret was near the shoreline, along with a tricolored heron.

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I watched the tricolored heron for a while as it hunted for crawfish or other goodies under the water. Ah, it spotted something.

It goes after it

but misses.

It had better luck a few minutes later, though, after I had moved off a bit.

Three little grebes were swimming around. I do love grebes--so cute!

I then left that area and drove over to the boat ramp to see if there were any interesting birds over there. Nope, only the typical gull perching on one leg on a piling:

I was glad I stopped. You just never know what you will see when you visit this park. There were two bald eagles in their usual spot (too far for a good photo), with one of them swooping down to the ground periodically to gather something for the nest they were building. It's always nice to see eagles!

Kite Surfer in the Gulf

2007-10-25T18:12:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a camping trip to St. Andrews SP in Panama City, Florida. It pretty much rained the whole time, but surprisingly, when I went to check out the Gulf in between drizzles, I found that there were many kite surfers out there. Some of these guys were being lifted VERY high up by the kites and they weren't that far from shore...seems like a risky sport but probably fun when it goes right.

So I got some photos of one guy (totally random, he was one of the ones closest to where I was standing) as he was lifted off the water. It wasn't until I got home and looked at them that I noticed that he was having a problem with his right foot having come out of the footholder thingie (can you tell I don't do this sport?) and for the entire time he was up, he seems to be mostly just working at getting it back in, which would be no small feat (no pun intended).

Therefore, the photos had a common thread running through them and so instead of just posting a few of them, I put them all together in a slide show. This is very much not my forte and I only have very rinky Windows software to do it. I didn't even add music. (It's not all that long, only 9 photos.)

Camping info and bird photos will be posted on the other blogs (Paddle Tales and Camping Tent Tales) tomorrow when I am a tad more awake and alert.

So here is our kite surfer with the wandering foot:

Lights Out

2007-10-19T21:38:00.000-04:00

As often happens when one lives in a rural area, the power went out tonight for well over an hour. As I was sitting at the dining room table having my dinner by candlelight and reading a magazine (by that candlelight), it occurred to me that the candles were very pretty just glowing away on the table. So off I go to get the camera.

Here's my view while I have dinner:

And a slightly closer view of two candles.

And then the lights came on. One dog is presently freaked out by all this but no harm done. Just all part of living in the country.

Flowers in the Yard

2007-10-19T11:17:00.001-04:00

We are having too much rain to go paddling these days so I am using the camera elsewhere. A few days ago I pointed it here and there in our yard.

We planted some October daisies earlier this year for the first time and we are loving them! A nice addition to the garden on the side of the house. We have heard that they will spread, which is just fine with us!

Here's a closer view of one of them:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the house we have some husk cherries growing for the first time. So far so good; we are curious about what they taste like and eagerly await their ripening.

Someone gave us some seeds for a variety of mums, which we set in the ground. They are blooming now and are very pretty. They are a bit tall for where they are and so we plan to move them after they are done blooming.

It's pouring rain outside as I write this, which can only help all of the above plants, even if it keeps me stuck inside...

Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina

2007-10-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a rainy trip to the Smokies. Despite the daily downpour, I managed to get out and about and get some photos (what a surprise!).

I got to the campground and set up and was free to drive around by about 3:00 (campground info and photos at Camping Tent Tales). I decided to visit the Deep Creek recreation area, which was nearby, and which had several waterfalls. (Here's a little something about the area.) I hiked up to Juney Whank falls, which was a good workout to get to a fairly minimal waterfall, but perhaps the drought conditions have made it less than usual.

I visited the campground there and made note of a few good tent sites, just in case I need an alternative to where I was this time (which was ideal). While there I also walked around and enujoyed the stream views.

That was about as far as I got that day, which was the only day with sunshine.

The next morning I got up and decided to take a drive into the Smokies. I have been talking about going to Clingman's Dome, a very high spot, for a long time. And what's a visit to the Smokies without at least driving through the town of Cherokee?

I stopped at the visitors center to get a map, and then continued on. This was the trip on which I was going to practice long exposures of rushing water, and so when I saw a river rushing over rocks, I pulled over and set up the camera and tripod.

Next stop was Mingus Mill, a working gristmill.

As I was walking back to the parking lot, I spotted another small water-over-rocks area.

Nearby was a trail disappearing into the woods.

I stopped at a long pull-out place to photograph this part of the river. This one crow would not move, no matter how close I got, so it ended up in every photo.

And then I turned the camera on the bird itself.

I continued on my drive. But the higher I went, the closer I got into the clouds, and the more mist and rain there was. I had this goofy idea that maybe Clingman's Dome would actually be above the clouds, which would be very cool. So I pressed forward. Unfortunately, when I got to Clingman's Dome, it was socked in with fog from the cloud that surrounded it and I could see nothing. It was cold, wet, and drizzly. The Appalachian Trail passes right by there and I was going to get a photo of it and maybe leave some sort of rock formation for Stacie, just in case she gets to this point on a hike some day, but the short walk to the trail seemed fairly treacherous/slippery under such wet conditions so I passed on that plan. I drove back down the mountain and back to the campground to see what I had forgotten to put under cover and that now would be soaking wet. I stopped on the way to get another bath towel to replace the one that was "drying" over the back of my lounge chair.

The next day I got out and about before the rain came, this time to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was able to get some mountain vista photos.

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I turned around, not wishing to get back into the same driving-in-the-clouds deal of the day before.

I was too early this year for any fall color, except for this little spot along the drive back down the mountain. I pulled into the overlook and then walked back to get this photo. (It would be so nice if even one photo had blue sky instead of white or white and gray...)

Here are the rocks on the other side of the road.

When I got near the bottom of the drive I was able to get one more photo of the cloud effect that sets in whenever it rains.

So, while the weather made this a less-than-ideal trip this time (I visited this area last October and it rained solidly for 4 of 5 days, I sense a trend), I had a great time and enjoyed the scenery immensely. I'm not sure if anyone out there is patient enough to wait for all these photos to load, but thanks for stopping by, however long you stuck it out!

Bart Update

2007-09-22T13:13:00.000-04:00

Well, Bart (all three of them) are still living on the property, although Bart sightings have become fewer and farther between. We hear them a lot and know they are close by but have not seen one except the flapping of large brown wings (speaking of which, we found a Bart feather on the driveway recently, how cool was that?) when one was near the house and we startled it. Today at lunch, however, DH was out feeding the fish in the water garden and called to me (through the delightfully-open windows...fall may be on the way after all) to tell me Bart was watching him from a nearby tree. After he came in (having both of us out there at once seems to make the Barts nervous) I went out with the camera. Bart actually stayed right there for three successive trips as I try to get the exposure setting right for a bird sitting in the shade in a tree.

As I type this, he is still on that branch. We think this is Baby Bart, who has always been less shy.

St. Marks NWR

2007-09-19T15:08:00.001-04:00

I decided to take a drive out to the NWR to see what was going on. BAD decision. REALLY bad decision. It seems that because of the drought conditions or heat or some other cause, the sand fleas or black flies or whatever the heck they are are out in huge swarms! And they bite! I was wearing the usual summer garb of shorts and a tank top and at the Gulf end of the road I could not even walk around the pond (which was, of course, bone-dry). There was a super photo opportunity of the sky and water that would have required changing lenses. Stopping forward movement resulted in about two dozen of the biting flies landing on my legs alone...not good.

So I got back in the car (which was of course covered with love bugs, the bane of motorists this time of year in this area), and drove out. I discovered that there were fewer fleas/flies as I got farther from the Gulf, and I was able to get three scenic photos without undue loss of blood.

I believe these trees lost their leaves in a controlled burn. I could be wrong but I'm not sure otherwise why they are so bare at this time of year.

I stopped at one of the pools next to the road and took this one.

In that same pool I got a photo that I prefer as a black-and-white.

Now I know why there weren't any cars at the visitor center or lighthouse...

Withlacoochee River--er, Meadow

2007-09-04T17:14:00.000-04:00

We went back out to our property on the Withlacoochee yesterday to hang out on the deck and quaff a few cool drinks. The view of the river is now a view of water hyacinths almost as far as one can see in either direction.

While we were sitting on the deck quaffing, a butterfly came flittering by and landed on DH's hand.

It then moved over to his arm, apparently liking that better.

Maybe it was just thanking him for putting in all those lantana plants out there, which butterflies really like.

Deer At St. Marks NWR

2007-08-30T21:59:00.000-04:00

Summer Days..

2007-08-23T15:08:00.000-04:00

It's still midsummer here and hot, hot, hot!

This morning I looked out the back window and saw Bart at the kiddie pool so of course I whipped out the camera. He's looking good today.

And then around noon the friendly neighborhood UPS man delivered two new camera lenses I had ordered. Unfortunately, the one I was most excited about, a 100-400mm, was cracked along the focusing sleeve area and so it got packed back up and DH took it to the PO on his way back to work after lunch. That was fast! The replacement should arrive next week.

Meanwhile, the 28-300mm one is very nice and I am very pleased with it. This will replace the 75-300mm lens I have been using for most of my photos. It has no more zoom than that one but allows me to back out for a wide angle scenic without having to change lenses, which will be fantastic. I took it outside to test it. There's not much color except green these days since few of the flowers we have planted can survive this kind of heat on such a longterm basis, but the lantana was of course thriving and covered with butterflies.

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I like this lens; I think I'll keep it... It will be particularly handy on trips to places like St. Marks NWR where I need both zoom and wide angle. Assuming, that is, that it ever cools down enough to actually want to walk around outside...

Cardinal(s) in the Birdbath

2007-08-11T15:50:00.000-04:00

It's hot all over for everyone. I noticed that a cardinal (and then another) came to visit the birdbath in the front yard. In the last photo, a finch has joined the somewhat wet male cardinal...

I was going to provide captions but you can imagine what they would have been...

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Bart Bathes

2007-08-08T14:18:00.001-04:00

We finally got around to naming the barred owl that was born near our house several months ago and has been hanging around with his folks in our trees ever since. He sits low in a tree sometimes and whistles back and forth with us (he whistles a lot--we call it whistling, some barred owl sites call it wheezing or hissing). We suspect that one member of the owl family is the reason we are missing a goldfish from a pool in the water garden; I recently spotted Bart sitting on the picket fence that surrounds the water garden area. I was about 7 feet away looking out the bedroom window down at him. He couldn't see me because of reflections, but when I moved to another window for a closer look, he did spot me and flew off. He's been back at least once, though, waggling his head around as he looks into the pools.

Bart (he's getting big enough and getting adult color to the extent that we can't be sure from a distance if it actually is Bart or one of the adults, so we have named all three of the owls Bart) likes to bathe in the kiddie pool we have in the back yard for the dog (who drinks out of it but isn't much for getting into water). I took the screen out of the kitchen window to facilitate photos of this event. I missed him in the water this morning since the camera was in another room and he was out by the time I got back, but I did get him sitting on the edge drying off.

I'll get him in the water sometime. I also took a screen out of the bedroom window in case I can catch him on that fence again.

Withlacoochee River/Meadow

2007-08-05T12:46:00.000-04:00

We went out to our little-piece-of-heaven property on the Withlacoochee River yesterday to do some much-needed mowing. We hadn't been out there for several weeks--this is not the time of year in Florida to enjoy sitting on a deck overlooking a river. It's just too hot (we hit 100 degrees yesterday) (mowing was a joy...). So our visits over the summer are strictly in and out for maintenance.

The drought has kept the river level very low and there is essentially no current. About a quarter-mile downriver from our place is a natural dam made of fallen tree limbs and other debris that has gathered over the years. Normally the river flows over all this stuff, but it's too low right now.

The water hyacinths have taken over the river from that dam area to our property. I'm sure that in another month they will have taken over more river. Of course I walked down to the river from our access with the camera to document how bizarre this looks:

For comparison, here is how the river looked last December from nearly the same vantage point:

Frankly, I thought it looked really pretty, but I'm sure this is a bad thing on a lot of levels. When the water level rises sufficiently, all those plants will flow merrily downstream. I wonder where they will all end up?

Ashford Manor in Watkinsville, Georgia

2007-07-26T14:31:00.000-04:00

This was my overnight stay on the way north to North Carolina. Their website does not do them justice; maybe they just don't need the publicity. It is a huge, sprawling place with impeccable gardens and unique furnishings. I have never been any place like it; it would be at the top of my list of favorite bed and breakfast inns except for the fact that I never met the owners. That made it a tad more like a business than an inn. Other than that detail, everything was perfect, and there are many restaurants right across the street so you don't have to get back in the car and drive thither and yon to find someplace for supper.

I was in the Safari Room, which is attached to the main house but not inside it. This gave me my own patio with wicker furniture and a bench swing, as well as a private entrance. I was the only guest at the time so I was allowed to view the other rooms. I imagine I will be back here sometime, and would like to stay in the White Room. On this trip I was very pleased with the Safari Room. Here's what the bed looked like:

(Safari Room, as in Africa.)

Here's one of the bedside tables.

The bathroom was a real work of art. For example, the sink was an antique mixing bowl that they had managed to put a functioning drain into (I'm sure they weren't the first to do this, but I had never seen one before). I took a few photos of it and I like this one taken without a flash since it gives it that shadowy, arty look.

There are acres of land surrounding the inn buildings (they host music concerts fairly often for the public). There is a swimming pool and and several water gardens and perfectly-tended flower beds. I got there early in the afternoon and so after a brief swim I walked around the property with the camera. Here are some photos I took:

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I liked this seating area by the pool because of the overhead lighting--you don't see that very often outside!

I took this one for Sophie Mae (hope you are reading this!)--look, the house has a yellow kitchen!

I did not stay long enough the next morning to have breakfast there (they provide coffeemakers in the rooms so I just had coffee before leaving), but the room's guestbook indicated that they make wonderful breakfasts for their guests. Next time...

A great place to stay--I recommend it highly!

True Miscellanea

2007-07-09T18:30:00.000-04:00

You can always tell when I have too much time on my hands... I start playing with photos. We'll get to those in a moment. First, a couple of legitimate ones.

Our hosta plant on the front steps (in a container, of course, not just on the steps) has finally decided to start blooming!

So there's that.

Dear Husband was on vacation last week, and on Saturday we went to St. Marks NWR, as we like to do now and then. Of course I took the camera, but it just wasn't a great day for photographs. The only one I really liked is a panorama I took of the marshy area near the lighthouse. The water winds around through the grassy islands for a very long way.

And that was all I got that I was really happy with. Well, I find that the best thing you can do with so-so photos that you don't want to abandon forever is to tinker a bit with them. This photo of a sailboat in the Gulf was kind of boring. However, I think it makes a fine painting.

Here's another picture of the marshy side of the roadway leading to the lighthouse that turned out more interesting as a sketch than as a photo.

And last but not least, this bird just didn't sing to me as a photo. I'm not actually entirely sure what you would call this final product, but at least it is different...

So there you go.

Visiting the Ducks on Lake Ella in Tallahassee, Florida

2007-06-20T18:28:00.000-04:00

I was in Tallahassee running some errands and decided to see what kind of ducks are residing on Lake Ella, which is actually more of a pond right next to one of the major thoroughfares of this capital city.

The ducks don't seem to mind the proximity of such a degree of civilization.

I got there at bath time, and several of them were dipping and splashing and then waving their wings around.

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It turns out that this is also baby time for the Lake Ella ducks, and several families were swimming near the shoreline and walking along the sidewalks.

I'm not sure what's going on with this bright yellow one in this bunch--maybe that's normal for this kind of duck.

This family was in the water.

I spent a lot of time near the little ducklings, which are fuzzy and absolutely adorable.

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There are more conventional-looking adult ducks on the lake as well.

It was a nice place to visit. I also saw a green heron along the edge of the pond. There's a gazebo that sticks out into the pond and is surrounded by colorful flowers, and there are two fountains.

It Rained!

2007-06-18T19:07:00.001-04:00

What a downpour and how welcome it was!

Here's some raindrops on our pond plants.

In the Garden

2007-06-10T18:39:00.000-04:00

Our shrimp plant is blooming again. I think these are interesting flowers.

The Town of Madison, Florida

2007-06-01T18:40:00.000-04:00

I had to run some errands in Madison, a town near where I live (home of Lake Frances, with wood ducks), so I decided to take the camera and get a few photos to post here.

Madison is an interesting town with buildings of various architectural styles and painted various creative colors. Here's a small Mexican restaurant that is easy to spot despite its size.

I didn't see a date on this building, but I imagine it has been around awhile and just has a colorful facade to update it (someone really needs to clean that awning!).

Meanwhile, this cafe doorway is very inviting.

Madison is the county seat and so is home to the courthouse.

I decided to take a drive down to see the Amtrak train station. I would say it's fairly modest and understated...

On the other hand, there is a decrepit, abandoned building across the street from the tracks; I wonder if it was once the train station or a freight depot. I can just see passengers waiting on that platform in front.

(or of course I could be wrong and it used to be a hardware store...)

In addition to the various styles of business buildings, Madison has a wide variety of residential housing. Some people live in houses like this

(that's a house, not a bed-and-breakfast inn), or this

or this.

And some people live in houses like this

or this

or this.

And speaking of bed and breakfast inns, I found this to be interesting. Not sure if the sign is just poorly placed or they are actually referring to that house.

Madison is a very old town, and it has a wonderful old cemetery. My husband and I found a stone here for a person born in the late 1700's. I couldn't find that one today, but I did find these, all for people who lived the entirety of their lives in the 1800's.

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(that one is hard to read--1826-1856)

Born in 1825! This cemetery has stones from that far back and from last year. It's a fascinating place to visit if you like that sort of thing.

So that's a very mini-tour of Madison, Florida!

Barred Owl in the Yard

2007-05-29T13:10:00.001-04:00

We've been hearing young barred owls whistling for a few nights, and this morning I could hear a young one and an adult calling, so I grabbed the camera, bundled up against the yellow flies (which are biting fiercely these days), and wandered the yard looking up in the trees.

I found the adult in a tree, framed by branches.

Birds on Lake Frances in Madison, Florida

2007-05-28T22:31:00.000-04:00

This small lake in the middle of town is becoming quite a hotspot for birds!

The wood duck pictures that appear on my paddling blog are the result of about 80% luck and 20% skulking and being stealthy. Wood ducks that live on an unpopulated river are very skittish. While the photos are a challenge to get, they are very satisfying.

Getting a photo of a wood duck on Lake Frances is far, far easier. While they aren't tame ducks that come up for a handout, they are not nearly as afraid of humans as those in more remote areas.

The challenge becomes making such an easy shot interesting.

This male was sitting on the fishing dock, very near the road that circles the lake.

And a little farther down that rail, I saw a male and female pair. The female (standing on one leg) had been dozing till I got close.

The wood ducks here have babies, just as I have encountered on the Wacissa and Wakulla rivers. These, however, can be photographed by simply walking out on that fishing dock.

I walked around the lake (which is really more like a large pond). As in a recent post in the paddling blog, there are wood storks here, which is wonderful. They are an endangered species and so always a thrill to see. This one was looking for a meal near the shoreline.

There were two on the lake. This one came swooping over to see if the other had found a good fishing spot.

This lake also has egrets, like this one that watched me as I approached from the shore,

and also a great blue heron.

I find it surprising that there are so many wonderful birds there, and most of all the wood ducks! There are at least 6 pairs, possibly more. I also saw three mallard ducks and some common moorhens. Now I know where to go if too many paddling trips go by with no wood duck photos! I'll be posting the lake ones here.

Another Hummingbird

2007-05-13T14:29:00.000-04:00

My continued stalking of the hummingbird feeder and area resulted in a photo of a male ruby throated hummer!

Around the Yard...

2007-05-11T17:30:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in this blog for a while, seems all my trips have been on water in the kayak and so they end up on the paddling blog.

After lengthy and ongoing attempts to photograph the hummingbirds around the yard, I finally managed to get a photo I like!

Meanwhile, our prickly pear cactus is blooming and the flowers are stunning.

That's all for today!

Maclay Gardens State Park, Tallahassee, Florida

2007-03-28T18:49:00.000-04:00

I took a walk through Maclay Gardens today. Fewer flowers were blooming than I expected--mostly there are the last of the azaleas, the last of the camellias, wisteria, the last of the dogwoods, and petunias. I was surprised that there appeared to be no rose garden area, and in fact none of the more exotic plants that I recall seeing there were in evidence, blooming or not.

Nonetheless, I got several photos of flowers and the pathways that run among them--and one very large live oak tree.

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Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida

2007-03-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

I was in Melbourne, Florida, for a short stay and decided to visit the Brevard Zoo. Took the camera, of course.

I highly recommend visiting this zoo if you are going to be in the area. It’s a habitat zoo, which means that most of the animals are in their natural environment, if a somewhat smaller version of that environment than normal for them. It’s certainly photo-friendly.

It’s hard to know where to start, and if you are on dial-up, you probably have time to go out and have a meal, see a movie, attend a symposium in the time it will take this post alone to load. You have been warned…

I will start with the open aviary since I took many photos there. This is a very neat area—you walk into a large room, much like you find with butterfly exhibits. The birds are just flying around and perched nearby, and you can feed them from small cups provided by zoo personnel. So let’s start there. Here are the photos I took in that exhibit:

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You can feed the birds in this aviary, and one young visitor offered a small cup of food to these colorful friends:

This cute little duck was in a pond in another area of the zoo.

The kangaroos were of particular interest on this trip. They seem very laid back. This photo of a male seemed a little like what I would call ’roo porn—and since this is a G-rated blog, I have blurred out the naughty bits… I was tempted to add a cigarette, martini glass, and lava lamp to the photo.

This must be that 'roo's significant other, looking long-suffering...

I was extremely happy to see African crowned cranes there. I have a Webshots wallpaper picture of one of these birds that is a favorite, so it was nice to take some of my own, even if I didn’t travel to Africa to get them.

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There were flamingoes,

an emu that didn’t seem to want its picture taken,

and this bird that looks like the guy at the office with the really bad toupee--

As well as this one that looks like a really crabby neighbor we had when I was a kid.

They say that everything is beautiful in its own way...

Capybara, it turns out, are the largest rodents in the world (not this particular one, but these in general).

Here’s a small African impala-like goat-sized animal (don’t remember what it is, but it was cute)

There was an impressive jaguar exhibit.

There are a lot of primates at this zoo. I like this picture, even though it doesn't really show the animal. So I include it here.

This is some kind of crane (I’m guessing…)—its tail feathers were like long ribbons, waving in the breeze.

And of course, a blue parrot.

What a day! Again, do visit this zoo if you get a chance!

Spring Has Sprung!

2007-03-11T20:14:00.000-04:00

It's nice to see all the new flowers and buds and leaves!

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Cape San Blas

2007-03-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

I stayed a couple of nights at the Cape San Blas Inn, located on St. Joseph Bay across a channel from Pig Island. This is a very nice inn run by a very friendly innkeeper who is knowledgeable about the area and helpful to his guests. My room overlooked the bay.

There is a deck up by the house and a dock that extends into the water. Here is the view from the deck.

There are grapefruit trees producing fruit and several flowering plants around the inn, including a hibiscus.

You can walk across the street and along a passageway between houses and be at the Gulf of Mexico as well. St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is about 3 miles down the road. The town of Port St. Joe is 15 miles away. (There is a wonderful restaurant there called Sunset Coastal Grill that I highly recommend for dinner. It is located on the Gulf side right at the water; if you get there early enough you can get a table by the window and watch the sun set over the water. The food is excellent as well.)

I went to the state park twice on this trip. I had camped there before so I was familiar with it and wanted to visit the beach there (voted Best Beach in America back in 2002) and walk the trails. First stop was the beach, where I sat on the sand and watched the surf and the sandpipers for awhile. I had my camera with me (of course) and when this sandpiper walked right in front of me I took this picture.

There are many natural sand dunes along this beach.

This shell was resting in its little depression in the sand so I took a photo of it to use as computer wallpaper--here's a small version:

I enjoyed walking the trail and was pleased to encounter a deer—I haven’t gotten a deer photo for a while.

I enjoyed my stay there. On the way home I stopped at St. Marks NWR since it was on the way. This pair of blue winged teals were enjoying the sunny day.

It was a good trip.

Tallahassee Museum of Natural History and Science

2007-02-22T18:47:00.000-05:00

I decided to go to the Tallahassee Museum of Natural History and Science (which used to be called simply the “Tallahassee Junior Museum” and for which I am utterly puzzled about the “museum” part of the name, never mind why it was previously only a “junior” museum, but I digress) to see their new guest exhibit of macaques. Here’s one of them.

It’s a nice place, filled with assorted animals in natural, if spatially limited, environments. I was also interested in seeing the waterfowl exhibit, which purportedly had wood ducks. It turned out that the waterfowl environment was roughly the size of the largest puddle in my driveway (due, no doubt, to our dry summer), and thus there were no waterfowl to be seen. But it was fun to tour the rest of the place.

This red wolf was looking magnificent

and they had Florida panthers there as well.

The only other place I have seen white squirrels was at Ochlocknee River State Park—perhaps this one was brought in from there.

Finally, I spotted this red fox snoozing in a tree, looking very cute.

It’s a nice place. I wish Tallahassee had more wildlife or other animal exhibits like this, as you might expect from a capital city.

More Sandhill Crane Photos!

2007-02-04T20:27:00.001-05:00

My attempts to photograph the sandhill cranes that spend the winter in this area continue… A group of them was in a field nearby and we were able to drive fairly close to them. Getting out of the car was not an option since they are very skittish about people on foot, but this group seemed okay with us stopping nearby. As with previous attempts, sunshine instead of dark overcast would have been preferable in this early afternoon (they need to rename Florida "The Constant Overcast State").

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Hickory Mound Wildlife Management Area near Perry, Florida

2007-02-03T21:22:00.000-05:00

We (husband and I) decided to brave the cold (for Florida) and overcast skies and head out to investigate Hickory Mound WMA near Perry.

I imagine this is a wonderful place to go on a warm sunny day. It was a tad dismal today, but I’m still glad we got to see it. And it was of course another opportunity to use the new 500mm zoom lens. (I wonder if any sunny days will present themselves for such an opportunity?)

There were a lot of grebes in the waterways on either side of the road. I think these guys are so cute!

It was very cold today (by Florida standards; with a brisk wind, it felt like about 45 degrees). This egret huddled in a tree.

This was a popular place and time for great blue herons. This one was fishing along the edges of a tidal pool.

The brochure said there were many different birds and ducks here. Perhaps it was the coldness of the day or the lack of sunshine, but our duck viewing was limited to grebes and mergansers. After scaring away many mergansers on many attempts to photograph them, I was able to get this one.

On the way out we passed another great blue heron who was fairly near the roadway. I decided to focus mostly on the head and neck of this one. These birds are so wonderfully primitive looking.

This is a neat place but I’m fairly certain it would be far more impressive on a warm and sunny day. We’ll try it again in a couple of months!

Two Ponds in Tallahassee, Florida

2007-02-02T18:30:00.000-05:00

It’s still a bit cold and/or rainy to be paddling, but I decided to walk around a few ponds in nearby Tallahassee to try out the new 500mm lens. This lens won’t be going paddling with me, but I wanted to see how it did taking photos of birds from a shoreline, which will be its most common use.

I picked a bad day. We had a major heavy rainstorm last night (the outskirts of the tornadoes that tore up central Florida) and so the ponds I visited (Waverly Pond and small Leon Lake) had been stirred up and so were very muddy with a lot of shoreline debris in them. And of course the sky was overcast.

Nonetheless, I like the lens! This pair of hooded mergansers were on (brown) Waverly Pond.

The only other birds in sight were Canada geese, including this one resting in the grass.

This one was relaxing by what we call a “tulip tree.”

On Leon Lake I saw only two cormorants and that was it for its bird population this afternoon. I did get this photo and I am pleased with the detail, considering how far away I was.

I look forward to more play time with the lens under better weather conditions.

No Room at the Feeder

2007-01-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

I guess the title says it all....

Violets in December

2006-12-29T17:54:00.000-05:00

(OK, to be perfectly honest, I don't know that these are violets, I'm just calling them that...)

Saw these in the front yard today while I was tossing the tennis ball for our (tireless) Pomeranian, Cissy.

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Sandhill Cranes

2006-12-26T16:53:00.000-05:00

Every winter huge flocks of sandhill cranes migrate through, and some spend the winter in, Madison County in north Florida. We live very near one of the fields where they congregate. On Christmas morning hundreds of cranes, in several flocks, flew over or nearby our house, making quite a racket in the process (it was very cool). It was pouring rain at the time and so while we suspected they were in one of the fields just through the woods from our house, there was no way we were going to go in search of them.

And then this afternoon we could hear them calling again. So we tramped through the woods, getting snagged on all the briars and brambles as we made our way through the low thickets to the field.

We spotted a small group some distance away near one of the many bound bales of peanut vines that were scattered about. Too far to get a good picture, particularly at 4 pm on an extremely gray and overcast day. Then we saw these four, which were peculiarly apart from the other group.

And then, either because we were spotted and scared them, or just because it was time to move on, the small group by the peanut bale took off. It had not been as small as we thought…

Those dots on the right side are not lens flaws but more cranes in the distance.

They just kept coming and flying past us.

This is just one frame—there were so many cranes that it would take at least two more frames to get them all in. And I wish I could include the sound portion of this display!

I’m going to try to get closer to them another time, and preferably on a brighter day so that their colors show up better.

Earlier this week I was out walking with the camera and this hawk landed on the ground very near me.

Wildlife Around the Yard

2006-12-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

It's a pretty day, the cold weather is letting up some, so I decided to take the camera out and
wander around the yard to see what I could see.

This bird was eating out of the feeder we recently bought at Birdsong Nature Center, which
does a good job of confounding squirrels.

The red-shouldered hawk that has shown up in this blog before was in a tree at the edge of the
front yard. Doesn't look like it really appreciates me scaring away potential meals... Kinda glaring at me...

On my way back to the house, I saw this squirrel watching me.

I like living in the country.

Birdsong Nature Center near Thomasville, Georgia

2006-11-24T19:15:00.000-05:00

We decided to take a drive up to the Birdsong Nature Center today to look around. It was a
beautiful day for it, clear blue sky and warm sunshine. Birdsong is situated on over 500 acres
and offers 11 miles of trails. If you go, be sure to get a map; the trails are not well marked
and it would be easy to get lost! We decided to head out toward the Farm Pond, which a woman
in the office told us was the only pond on the property that currently has water in it.

The main pond was on the left when we reached it. This smaller pond was to the right.

We had the place nearly to ourselves but did encounter a family near Farm Pond. They pointed
out a gator on the other side of the pond near the edge. We didn't have binoculars so
couldn't make it out.

Bushes with little white puffs on them were plentiful along the shoreline of the pond.

The trail was wonderful--well-maintained and very scenic. This tree was showing off the fact
that there is some degree of fall color in south Georgia!

We encountered several other trees showing off fall color. It's too bad the only color in fall down
here is yellow... but it's pretty!

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Soon we came to what the map identified as the "Listening Place." This is actually a wonderful little building. It is completely screened in and has many wicker chairs in it, as well as a fireplace and a camera tripod (!). The brochure for Birdsong indicates that this pavillion looks out on swampland that is home to alligators and otters and shorebirds, but, like the ponds, it was dry as far as the eye could see. But what a beautiful and peaceful view it offers. Here is how it looks as you approach from the trail.

Shortly after we left there and continued on the trail, a large buck deer darted from our left and crossed the trail in front of us and ran into the woods to the right. This was the first time I have ever seen a deer with antlers in a natural setting, so that was pretty neat. I tried to get a picture but it was moving too fast and was behind trees by the time I got the camera up.

The property is loaded with bluebird nestboxes and the woman in the office told us that many bluebirds had been born there this year. I hoped to see one but no such luck. She said the best time is in April, when they are nesting and can be seen near the nestboxes.

Near the entrance is a white house which contains what they call the Bird Window. This is a wall-size window that looks out on a scenic backyard vista.

There is a water "mister" (thing that creates mist) in the rocks, and a shallow pool below. A large bluejay landed briefly on a branch but was gone before I could get a picture of it. I did capture this tufted titmouse nibbling some seed that they had poured onto a stump.

(A less-than-ideal picture since it was taken through two panes of tinted glass.)

This is a great little nature center. Its sign by the road (Meridian) is very small--in fact we missed it and had to turn back. The Birdsong website is http://tfn.net/birdsong/index.htm. They have a cute little gift shop and in fact we purchased a birdfeeder there that might just work to thwart the squirrels that invade our present one. They charge a somewhat hefty $5.00 per person admission to non-members, and yet a single membership is only $25 and comes with two free one-time guest passes. My only suggestion to them would be to put more benches on the trails, since songbird-watching often involves long periods of sitting, and they have provided no accommodation for that.

Lake Frances in Madison, Florida

2006-11-16T18:14:00.000-05:00

I recently got a new lens for the camera and I have been eager to try it out. No paddling trips planned in the next several days. I had to go to Madison, a small town near where I live, to get some heartworm preventative for my dog from the vet’s office and some coffee and salad mix from the Winn-Dixie, so I decided to take the camera and see if there were any ducks on Lake Frances. This is a very small lake right in the middle of town, completely surrounded by homes and businesses. Interestingly, though, I have seen wood ducks (males, no less!) on the lake. While it wouldn’t tell me how the lens will do on paddling trips, it could be a reasonable simulation of one. If, that is, there are still any ducks on the lake. I haven’t been there for a while.

I parked at the edge and started my walk around the lake. Here’s what it looks like.

Notice the line of white birds on the railing of that dock area. Much to my amazement, those are all ibis—the largest bunch of them I have ever seen in one place! And on a lake with constant vehicle traffic circling it. Very strange indeed. I moved in for a closer look and to take a picture.

I walked around the rest of the lake. There were some ducks in the middle that may have been female wood ducks. There were two cormorants as well. And this egret poking its neck out of the grass along the edge.

I didn’t expect to get any pictures worth posting in here today—this was a nice surprise.

I like the lens, but with a possible caveat. It has the ability to go from wide-angle to zoom, which means not having to change lenses, but I sacrifice some zoom power. I’m withholding my final judgment on it until I can get it out on a river under the usual conditions.

Red-shouldered Hawk (Florida type)

2006-10-29T17:05:00.000-05:00

This morning this hawk was surveying our yard and pond from a roost on top of my hanging chair frame.

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Monarch Festival, St. Marks NWR near Newport, FL

2006-10-28T21:41:00.000-04:00

We took a drive over to the St. Marks NWR to meet up with some friends at the Monarch (butterfly) Festival. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cloudless, though quite breezy.

We started with the various displays and vendors near the visitors center. We bought a shrimp plant and cigar plant (both attract both butterflies and hummingbirds) from Purple Martin Nurseries, who were there selling plants.

We joined Wilma and Jim at the lighthouse down by the Gulf and walked along the path. This is the time that the monarch butterflies arrive there on their way to Mexico, and they were there in great numbers!

Several of the butterflies were tagged. I got this picture of one of the tagged ones:

I enlarged the tag area to make it readable--

They were all over the goldenrod and other flowering shrubs that line the path, which follows the Gulf shoreline.

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There weren't as many pelicans as I usually see there, though they could be seen out in the Gulf diving for food. A dolphin was also spotted playing in the waves (which were somewhat choppy fom the wind).

This great blue heron was looking chilly in the wind.

The road that leads to the lighthouse has water on either side of it, either in pools or narrow channels. This egret was perched on a branch as we walked by.

It was a great day.

Dude Ranch in Georgia and Fall Color in North Carolina

2006-10-22T18:51:00.000-04:00

I have an overflow of photos from my recent paddling trip to North Carolina (the others are on the Paddle Tales blog).

The horses at the Southern Cross Guest Ranch are all very photogenic and seem happy to pose for you. This black and white beauty came right up to me as I was wandering around the pasture.

They have several ducks and geese in a large pond in the pasture, which is some distance from the guest house and the owners' house. This Canada goose, though, is somewhat spoiled by getting handouts from the owner at his house, and was hanging out up there this morning.

These horses made a nice pastoral scene as they grazed in amongst the trees.

And the fall color! I hit the timing just right. Here are a few more pictures taken while paddling.

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My Dogs

2006-09-27T17:48:00.000-04:00

I was just sitting out in the yard reading with two of the dogs nearby and so I picked up the camera (I always have it with me out there just in case that red-shouldered hawk shows up!) and took a few photos of them.

Here's Cissy:

And of course a profile view:

And this is Gypsy, our oldest dog and most dear to us:

And her noble profile:

Butterflies on the Lantana

2006-09-24T18:50:00.000-04:00

More garden pictures! I saw the butterflies gathered on the lantana so I grabbed the camera to get a few pictures of them.

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Maclay Gardens, Tallahassee, Florida

2006-09-19T14:32:00.000-04:00

I didn't actually intend this blog to be all gardens all the time... so far it's just worked out that way.

This was a Saturday trip to walk around the gardens (this is less than the ideal time, but we were there) and hike the Lake Trail.

Here's a fountain near the reflecting pool:

And here is the reflecting pool.

There are benches set here and there throughout the gardens.

The brick walkways are very pretty, even with no flowering borders.

A branch of this huge live oak tree extends well out over the walkway.

We stopped at the pavilion that overlooks Lake Hall (this would have been a great paddling day on the lake, it was glassy smooth).

And then on to the hike, during which I was without a camera. I can't wait to get back to the gardens in the spring, they must be fantastic!

Holden Arboretum near Cleveland, Ohio

2006-08-03T08:39:00.000-04:00

I took a trip on a summer day to the Holden Arboretum and took several pictures.

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