Right On The St. Marks - Gulfapalooza 2011 Winding Down

 We have reached the final lighthouse of Gulfapalooza 2011.  This is the St. Marks light, on the Gulf of Mexico about 26 miles south of Tallahassee, Florida.  It lives in the wild and spectacular St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, on a warm and windy peninsula.  The shot above is what happens when one tries to photograph a tall lighthouse from too close.  If I had backed up any farther, I would have been in the Gulf.

 This shot required some trudging around the swampy edge of a potentially gator-infested pond, but it was worth it.  And [Maris] kept an eye out for wildlife.

 Ah, the US Coast Guard.  Not sure what all that gear is listening to - or for - but they sure know how to make a mess of a cupola.

 That's a little better.

 So, I'm in the swamp, shooting the lighthouse.  I turn around, and look who's been coolly watching me from about 25 yards away!  It's (I think) a great snowy egret!

 Another salty pond, another bird.  Not sure what this too-big-to-be-a-sandpiper thing is.  Anyone?

 The skyline of the downtown St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge...

 I like that there is a variety of tropical foliage, but it hasn't been planted in neat rows and groomed and carefully tended.  It's wild.

 And just ever so slightly primordial.   Or something.

 Another bird.  Judging by the various songs and calls, I was tempted to say it was a mockingbird, but I really don't know.  I do know that it and its buddies dropped a lot of those berries on the hood of my poor car, while [Maris] and I talked ourselves out of heading home, and instead made a reservation in Kill Devil Hills, NC.  We just weren't ready to end this vacation.

We still aren't.  

Hope you enjoyed this one.  I have a few odds and ends from this trip, and then . . . nothing.  I'll have to take more pictures.

Port Saint Me!

 And we're back!  Where was I?  Oh yeah.  Gulfapalooza 2011.  October.  Florida panhandle.  This was a really, really good day.  I'm still a little groggy from 30 days of Camp NaNoWriMo so I'm starting off slowly.  Here's my next home - although I would imagine that its current residents might have something to say about that - St. Joseph Point Lighthouse, near Point St. Joe, Florida.  The light and lens are long-gone, but it is now a beautifully-restored lighthouse on the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 Butterflies! Ridiculously uncooperative creatures.  Pretty, though!

 Of course, the crabs were totally cooperative.

 Okay, if I can't buy the lighthouse, maybe this little build-to-suit island is on the market.

 Ibis?

 Seeing pines and palms together always intrigues me. I have no idea why.

 Lone palm, watching for hurricanes or exploding oil rigs.

No, Camaro, it's not what you were designed for.  Relax - a little sandy off-road driving won't kill you!

Thanks for enduring a picture-free June.  More coming soon!

Two Tales Of Cape Lookout: Tale #1 - Clouds

It's not super easy to get to Cape Lookout in October, when you're trying to shoot all of North Carolina's lighthouses in less than a week. The so-called ferry services take turns operating, so you have to ask around to find out whose day it is, and the crossing can be rough. But we did it - twice. The second time was made necessary by the thick overcast of our first visit. I'll post those shots later, and you'll agree it was well worth the second trip. Above is the view from the pier.

Fluffy-looking pines and the awesome black and white tower. Those diamonds are aligned north-south and east-west, as a navigational aid.

Lizards! Still a pain to try to shoot, and as cute as ever.

'Sup?

Okay, sometimes clouds are cool.

Big. Large. Grande.

Flora on the island. This is one of the few plants that wasn't 100% thorns and stickers.

Seagull pacing the ferry as we continued south.

Crazy bird. "Look, if you don't have and potato chips, get off my boat, apes."

[Maris] and Joe fly as shadows skimming the waves en route to their next adventure...

Thanks for visiting!

Ahead, In The Clouds

Clouds. With the right lens and a lot of patience (and luck), they can do some beautiful things. That's why my head can so frequently be found among them. The wind shear at the top of the formation above, shot in Kill Devil Hills, NC in 2010, makes it look like a thin veil. Or something.

Right there. Fly through that!

Storm-watching from the comfort and safety of one's balcony at the beach - a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon on vacation.

Whoosh.

Gull adrift in the downdraft at the edge of a cloudburst.

Closer to home - much closer - I shot these frames of a thunderhead roiling and rolling to the north of Germantown, MD in May of 2011. It was different every time I looked up.

"If you'll look out the right side of the aircraft, you won't see the intense storm we're narrowly avoiding."

Mashed potato clouds!

Faces in the crowd.

You missed us this time, Nature. Nice show, though.

Ciao for now!

Of A Feather: Revisiting Some Of My Favorite Birds

By request (sort of), here are some of my favorite bird pictures. I love birds, and although they are truly obnoxious to photograph, I will definitely keep trying to capture more of these animals on film/digital media/whatever. Above - Pelicans (and the requisite sea gull cleanup guy) in Key West, FL in 2002.

Goldfinch! Lancaster, VA - 2010.

Gull pacing the ferry in North Carolina's Middle Banks, 2007.

Snoozing on the beach at Kill Devil Hills, NC - 2009.

Sparrow in dogwood tree - Rockville, MD - 1987ish.

Dinner time! My most-almost-perfectest pelican action shot. Almost. Key West - 2002.

Dinner time for hummingbird - Lancaster, VA - 2001.

"Whot?" Fort De Soto Park, St. Petersburg, FL - 1999.

Pelicans and a few cormorants - Naples, FL - 1999.

Egrets - Fort De Soto Park - St. Petersburg, FL - 1999.

Emu (not Phillips) - Central Pennsylvania - 1998. Scary birds, Emus.

We'll leave off this time with [Maris]'s favorite - a snowy egret at Naples, FL in 1999.

New stuff coming. Thanks for stopping by!