Silly squirrels!

The Lubber Grasshopper Nymphs have invaded the Butterfly Garden!

*More information on Lubber Grasshoppers here.

No theme this week. Just a few images that I liked. Enjoy!

I almost stepped on it when I was out walking at Mead Gardens this morning -- which frightened both of us and caused it to hide its head while I swiftly retreated to the path. I couldn't see the total length but the body was pretty thick so it was a good sized snake. I believe it is either a Southern Water Snake (non-venomous) or a Florida Cottonmouth (venomous). To my eye, the coloration looks closer to the Southern Water Snake. Had I been able to see the head, an identification would be easier but I wasn't really inclined to poke at it to see if I could provoke it into showing all of itself.

Earlier today, a 10 year old autistic boy was reported missing in Winter Park, FL, the city that I live in.  The boy was located about 30 minutes ago so the story has a happy ending.  But about an hour ago, the sky around my house was filled with helicopters as the police conducted an aerial search and the local news stations joined them.  I got these shots while standing in my back yard.

Etva and Mal wanted me to post image #2, the artsy version of the Great Blue Heron. So here is that one plus a few others that I played around with. Hope you like them!

I've been taking tons of pictures this past week. Here are a few of the bird shots I got. I was very excited to get a couple of shots of the Common Yellowthroat because they can be very hard to spot. But I hope you enjoy all of these!

On Thursday, my sister and I paid a visit to The Mennello Museum of American Art to catch the Flying Horse Editions exhibition of art prints. Flying Horse Editions is located here in Orlando and has been producing limited editions of fine art prints for many years. We were particularly interested in this exhibit because my niece, who majored in printmaking, worked at Flying Horse Editions briefly last summer.

As Ozzie and I were getting ready to leave the park this morning, I noticed two little birds clinging to a fence. I wasn't sure what they were but I started taking pictures and slowly moving closer. I soon realized that I was looking at a pair of young Loggerhead Shrikes, probably recently fledged from the nest. They were young enough not to be too bothered by our presence so I was able to get some decent shots. I love baby birds!

Just a few images from this past week's walks in the park with Ozzie.

These are for you, etva. :)

I finally got around to processing a few more photos from the last couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy them!

Happy Birthday, 58!

If you ever wondered how lizards lounge, here are a few caught in the act.

I haven't been too active with the camera lately but here are a few from the last week or so. Hope you enjoy them!

My neighbor came over a short while ago to tell me there was an owl in the tree across the street. So I grabbed my camera and trotted on over there. Sure enough, there was a little Screech Owl sitting calmly in the tree. The neighbors thought this might be a baby but it is an adult individual. Screech Owls only average 7" to 10" tall as adults. More information on Screech Owls can be found here.

While I was out there, I checked on the Honey Bee colony that moved into the tree next door last year. The bees are thriving as you can see from the big comb protruding from the hole in the Oak. This shot is for you, etva!

I went back to Kraft Azalea Garden this morning to check on the Great Egret breeding colony and there were babies! Very noisy babies. Some of the egrets are still incubating eggs. And some of the nests had pretty mature young ones. Anyway, I couldn't wait to share so here are some of the shots I got. Enjoy!

I've not been too productive with the photography lately but I did play around with a few shots this morning. Some were taken at the Leu Gardens annual plant sale yesterday and some at the park this morning. I hope you enjoy them!

The last few weeks, I haven't been focused on photography as much as I normally am. So this is one of those Fridays where I simply post a selection of stuff. Enjoy!

Are we civilized beings?  If you pose that question, I think the response you’ll get from most people is, “Yes, of course we are.”  We consider ourselves to be part of an advanced civilization, one in which:

a high level of culture, science, industry and government has been reached.¹

So let’s think about this for a minute.  Are we technologically and scientifically advanced?  Yes, we are.  Do we have a sophisticated level of industry?  Yes, we do.  Is our culture complex?  Yes, it is.  Is our form of government participatory and open?  Yes, in theory.  All these indicators tell us that we are civilized beings participating in an advanced civilization.  This is what most of us are taught from the time we are small.

Here is my Leap Day sunrise from Central Florida.  Enjoy!