Author: Kathleen

Happy New Year! The Christmas cactus bought almost three years ago at the suggestion of a friend blossomed beautifully for Christmas. Photographing it in natural light required a lot of sitting and laying on the ground as the flowers droop, but I did manage to get a couple of shots and I’m sure I entertained the neighbors in the process.

During our camping at Stephen C. Foster State Park in GA a few months ago we kept hearing loud thumps on the roof of the RV, mostly at night. We suspected squirrels, but one morning I looked out to see a few pine cones immediately in front of the RV. As I moved all the ones in the site the day before, I knew they just fell. I picked them up and put them on the picnic table. We found it hard to believe the loud noises were pine cones, but we had several very tall Long Leaf pines overhead and they have large pine cones. Each morning I picked up the pinecones that crashed on us during the night, and before we left I decided to photograph the culprits. A closeup of the “Crashing Pine Cones”…

During that same trip I walked along a road and noticed deer walking through the woods. I stopped and watched, and this deer stopped to watch me. I found the “hiding” behind a tree look interesting.

All the best to everyone in 2026. Karl has some ongoing knee issues which reduced our hiking to shorter treks this past year, and may require him to forego hiking for a few months. We plan to adjust our photography accordingly, rather than our long hikes perhaps more single locations.

Visitors to our west central Florida home don’t expect to awake to 39 degrees during their visit, even in November. Within a day or two it warmed, but still far below the temperatures the same time of year in prior years. As the sun came out, we decided to walk the beach. Although far too cold (we thought) for sunbathing, we did see some in their swimsuits and others wading in the water. Mostly, Karl and I enjoyed the walk and took a few photos, and our visitors collected a few shells.

We spent some time camping in Georgia in October, mostly at the newly opened campground at Stephen C. Foster State Park in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp. The new campground is much more open than the old one, and for those in RVs the sites are flat and easy to access. We saw many more campers than usual, and more families. Our favorite site retained its old charm, though we appreciated the new grading and flatter area.

Our first visit was to the Savannah Sill, always a favorite and surprisingly empty. As we approached, we saw a flock of turkeys on along the water. As we slowly approached, they noticed the car and began to march slowly, mostly in single file, up the slope and across the road. We stopped the car to watch, then slowly drove by as the last one entered the woods. The area has experienced a drought, and it shows along the banks of the sill.

Mornings this past week leading up to the start of Fall remained cool, which here means it was in the low 70s with about 90% humidity at 6 a.m.! I stepped outside one morning to this sight, a waning crescent moon with Venus to the right. I went back in for my camera. The small light dot below and to the right of Venus is a passing plane, Karl warned me just before I snapped the shutter but I didn’t want to lose the shot.

We took a short hike at Brooker Creek Preserve on Saturday, and saw more signs of the changing season. The holly berries on a tree near the creek stood out nicely in the morning sun. In the swamp area we saw a hawk sitting with its back to us. I took a quick shot, and of course with their sharp hearing it turned to check out who made the noise, looked for a moment, and turned around again.

In a couple of weeks we start camping again. We are both looking forward to hiking and photography again after what felt like a long, hot summer.

The mornings are just a bit cooler, though the humidity remains high. We took some day trips and one overnight trip recently. I’ve always found the summer sky in west central Florida toward the Gulf fascinating. From a blue sky, maybe with a few clouds, the clouds on the horizon start building, and taking on the look that soon the rain will start.

We spent a night in the camper at a commercial park not too far from us. The ‘small town’ we used to know has grown incredibly, just like most of the area. A small wetland/preserve bordered the RV park about half way around, the other half appeared to be country road but based on the traffic it is either a short cut or there are housing developments further up. I walked along the small preserve, hearing frogs and birds but not seeing much. It amazed me how peaceful the two ponds looked, when I could glance over them or to the side and see traffic and shops all along the road.

Hot, humid, and very wet describes the last week. Three days in a row we woke up to rain, had rain off and on through the day including some heavy thunderstorms, and fell asleep to rain. Desperate to get out, we saw some clearing and took an early morning drive through a local preserve. A flock of Jakes walked through the wet underbrush, and tolerated me getting out of the car and photographing them. Further on, a doe with two fawns froze as our car approached on the road. I took a shot out the window. By the time I exited the car the fawns wandered further away.

With few clouds in the sky we decided to take a walk. A very short walk, as Karl was swatting mosquitoes as soon as we started on the trail. The sun lit up the leaves of a wild coffee plant, and I stopped to photograph it causing the mosquitoes to find me! Back to the car, we left as it darkened up again, and rain started before we arrived home.

Our photography exhibition at Brooker Creek Preserve, “20 Years At Brooker Creek Preserve: Photography by Karl and Kathleen Nichter” ended July 27. Thank you to everyone who came to see our work and attend the two programs we presented.

Special thanks to the Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve for the opportunity to do this exhibit, all the gallery volunteers, and to the staff at Brooker Creek Preserve for all of their support during the exhibit.

We presented a photography program in the morning, then stayed as gallery volunteers for the afternoon. For the past several days we experienced high heat warnings from late morning to late afternoon, and today followed suit. The heat built as the day progressed, and just walking outside felt like hitting a hot wall. We sat in the lobby, and through the glass doors I watched the activity in the wildflower garden.

Early that morning the garden volunteers worked to clear and maintain the garden. As I watched butterflies took advantage of the flowers and their work. I noticed a new butterfly with a bit of light orange flying around, and went outside to see. At that point three butterflies worked the flowers, a Gulf Fritillary, a Sooty Wing, and the one I spotted, an Orange-barred Sulpher. The Sooty Wing flew quickly about landing and taking off, and often landing where one of the others already sat, seeming to bounce off them as they also took off. The activity continued for several minutes, then calmed down, the ONLY activity we saw on this very hot afternoon.

We decided to take a short mid-week break and headed toward mid central Florida. Summer started later in the week, but as usual the summer heat and humidity arrived long before that. Our hike, on a trail with no shade, started about 7 a.m. and by 8:30 we were back in the car with the air conditioning running. The predicted high temperature for the day was 94 degrees, and the humidity high, so we knew the hike would be short.

The above juvenile Purple Martin, identified as such as he sat on a perch with adult birds I assume were his parents, watched us walk by. The bird below provided such a nice contrast to its background and the spray of branches I couldn’t resist the shot.

Our Spring weather suddenly turned to hot, humid summer weather a couple of weeks ago. We hoped for a reprieve before summer actually starts, but it appears to be here to stay. The opening of our exhibition went well, and we were very pleased to meet so many new people and see so many friends stopping in.

We decided to do two programs during the exhibition. The first, this Saturday June 7, is a Gallery Talk about the photographs on exhibit including the cameras used, settings, places, and whys of why we did it the way we did. This is the first time we will be discussing our entire process, from why we decide to go where we go and the shots we take, right through to choosing what to print, which paper to use, ink settings, matting, and framing. We decided when we started 20 years ago that we wanted to control the entire process and we still maintain that.

The second program will take place on July 26, just before the close on July 27. That program, Landscapes and Wildlife, is a program we intended to do in February but had to cancel due to illness.

We hope to take a few short weekday trips this summer, but won’t be doing anything longer until after the exhibit closes.