Tag: Florida

Moonrise, St. Augustine

A Christmas Moon sans Santa

Rarely do I venture out to photograph after dark, but I make exceptions while vacationing and seeing things in a different light.

And this particular night was Christmas Eve, spent in St. Augustine, Florida several years ago, when just about everyone is outdoors shooting pictures of the moon while waiting for Santa to fly by with Rudolf leading the way (not!).

But to my disappointment, Santa didn’t show, which didn’t make me question whether he really exists, but only if Rudolf had made a wrong turn and delivered my new lens to someone else on the planet!

P.S.  I know my Santa ordered it since I found the Amazon receipt!

Fish and Chicks

A Snowy Egret Delivering a Mouthful of Fish to her Hatchlings

Down South, if you order fish and chips, you may be surprised to wind up with hushpuppies, or grits. But apparently these baby egrets knew they wouldn’t need any sides when mama delivered this “mother-load” of fish for them.

And you should have heard the noise when she approached! We could relate after ordering Alligator Tail (no kidding) at a local restaurant though. As we yelled for more we heard nothing but applause from the locals who when told we lived in a place called “Sequim” knew we could handle just about anything!

Far Away Florida

A Male Brown Anole Extending Dewlap, Flamingo Gardens, Florida

After spending two warm weeks photographing birds, bugs and reptiles in Florida, I’ll be spending the next two weeks filtering through my collection of images and along the way, giving you a glimpse of what I came home with. I hope you’ll seeing enjoy them as much as I enjoyed capturing them.

Although reptiles aren’t my favorite subject, this tiny creature surprised me by interrupting a butterfly shot, and because of his colorful dewlap, which is a fold of skin that when extended indicates that males are available for mating, I couldn’t help but turn my focus to him.

These guys are highly invasive though and Wikipedia says they were introduced into the U.S. via the importation and exportation of plants years ago. And although it’s a bit too cold for them here in the PNW, they are moving northward and although cute and fun to photograph, I can only hope that there isn’t one, or heaven forbid two, lingering in my suitcase…