Nichter Photography PLUS

We had quite an interesting sky the other morning as a cold front moved in. I tried tracking the movement of the clouds with little success.

Since we led our first hike, and people showed up to hike a nature preserve in flip flops and sleeveless tops, we mention before starting that nature is not “(insert name of theme park with cartoon mouse)”. Any time you hike in a natural area, no matter how close to an urban or developed area, something else lives there. Sometimes they are not cute little squirrels or rabbits, but snakes including the venomous kind and maybe even alligators. We generally get a laugh.

I’ve seen many versions of warning signs before, this is the first I have seen that gives visitors who may be new to wild areas a comparison. I like it.

 

The ranger told us that the La Chua trail boardwalk remained open, but the rest stayed closed. We parked and walked down the paved walkway, crossing over the Gainesville-Hawthorne bike trail and through the wonderfully cool and definitely damp stone stable. We passed many people, definitely the place to visit on this Veteran’s Day holiday.

We heard and noticed Limpkins, a lot of Limpkins. Then we saw the pink egg sacks of the larger, invasive Apple Snail, the Limpkin’s favorite food, and knew why. In fact, once we started looking, the pink eggs sacks were everywhere.

As we walked along we saw a Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, and Snowy Egret immediately. The Snowy egret stepped along deliberately and careful, apparently fishing. The Great Blue Heron stood majestically, watching. White Ibis mixed in with the herons, foraging with their curved bills. We saw a Red-shouldered hawk sitting in a trees, take off and land on some vegetation, and then take off again when a nearby Limpkin rushed toward it and let out the loud cry for which they are known. We stopped to talk to a fellow photographer, and noticed something come out of the vegetation, look around, and when noticed quickly duck back down. The Anhinga, also called the snake bird because of the long neck and bill, certainly demonstrated its name that time.

We noticed some larger birds perching in the distance, and as they flew realized we saw Northern Harriers, a winter bird. A Common Gallinule walked along the vegetation as we passed.

Reaching the end of the boardwalk, we didn’t really need the closed sign to understand why. The rest of the trail stood underwater.

 

We braved the mosquitoes on Paynes Prairie for a while, watching this family of Bluebirds. It seemed a little late for a baby to still be in the nest, but according to the Stokes Behavior book I consulted in this part of the country they can raise more than one family during the nesting season.

The two birds outside the nest, the parents we assume, flew off to catch food and came back, perching at the outside with head inside.

Karl took this beautiful family portrait.

Happy Thanksgiving from Karl, Kathleen, Sassy and Midnight

We hiked the Bolen Bluff trail for the first time in at least four years. Last November we came for a week, without a tow car which limited our visit to those places in the park itself within walking or hiking distance, and remembered why we used to visit so often. Due to Hurricane Irma, which passed by in September of that year, the prairie and even the road U.S. 441 remained at least partially flooded. Exactly a year later, we came again.

The wet summer this year kept a lot of the prairie flooded. Our hike at Bolen Bluff came to an abrupt stop within a hundred feet of entering the prairie. The trail ahead looked flooded, and we did not see a way around. In spite of that, the beautiful day encouraged all kind of bird and insect life. Unfortunately, one of the insects, the mosquito, proved the most bountiful and for a change they swarmed Karl rather than me.

We stood and watched as a Great Crested Flycatcher, several Blue Jays, Sparrows, Palm warblers, and a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker (with the brownish/black head) flew back and forth between the trees on either side of the trail. We did not see the wild horses or bison, though we did see signs on the trail that the horses went through recently.

The mosquitoes limited our time standing still to observe. We walked back to the car, and decided to go on to the La Chua trail on the north end of the Preserve.

From our Dolphin Cruise aboard Odyssey Cruises. Part 1 just before this.

 

We took a wonderful two-hour dolphin cruise, including a 30 minute stop on Anclote Island, with Odyssey Cruises in Tarpon Springs. Our photography club decided to do this outing, and we decided to go.

The 10:30 a.m. trip started with an introduction to the area by the boat’s naturalist, a certified Florida Master Naturalist, including history and nature. We love hearing commentary and presentations from our fellow Florida Master Naturalists since we know the time and effort, and continuing education, it takes for that certification. The trip out along the river took us by the working fishing boats, the marinas, and the businesses. Sometimes it feels like tourist country when you visit, but this is a working town.

We arrived at the tip of Anclote, and the boat drove up on the beach. Sea birds rested everywhere on the spits of sand, suddenly all taking off and landing again. A variety of gulls, skimmers, pelicans, and others crowded the area. Many people sought out shells, I walked and took some photographs and just marveled at the difference just a short boat ride out. After 30 minutes we boarded again, and set off back to the dock.

The captain and the naturalist both told us to look out for dolphins. Naturally, they cannot guarantee a sighting.

About half way back we saw them. A family of dolphins, four by our count, swam around and played. One swam on her back, we saw a tail wave, and enjoyed the sight (taking photos of course) for quite some time before we needed to head back.

I carried my Canon 7D with the 24mm – 70mm lens. I had the 100m – 400m in my pack but decided to go with what I had on the camera. More of the dolphin shots appear in the next blog post.

I pass this tree and bench often, walking along the trail to the left of the tree. This time I noticed the bench next to the tree, just waiting for someone to sit down to rest, or contemplate, or like me change the lens on the camera.

The histogram on this shot, as done, showed near perfect. I adjusted a little to the darker edge, just my preference.

The salvinia growing over the water made this very much a green on green landscape. We noticed that the wetlands area along the boardwalk seemed brighter earlier this year. Usually we wait until the cypress drop their needles for this kind of light, but not this year. I asked around if anyone else noticed and most said yes, they noticed too.

We discussed and and wonder if the damage, or clearing out, that occurred last year when Hurricane Irma blew through in September resulted in this more open view. No one can say for certain of course, but those of us who saw the downed trees and branches after the event surmised that as the probable cause.