Anhinga

The Anhinga, also known as The Indian Darter is an unusual bird. It is a fishing bird but after it dives it needs to dry its wings before taking off again. It stands like this, turning into the wind to dry it’s wings. This would seem to make the bird vulnerable to predators during the drying process,yet they survive! This one was photographed at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel island in Florida.

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Ahinga...The Indian Darter

Ahinga…The Indian Darter

In Flight

I think most people as children want to be able to fly. We dream about it and some actually jump out of airplanes and off cliffs with the appropriate equipment just to be able to simulate the experience of flight. As a photographer capturing birds in flight has been a goal for decades and I have captured a few. However many times the sky is boring behind the bird so this time I just replaced the sky with one I like better.

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In Flight

In Flight

Will number 2 be Number 20?

The New York Yankees began the practice of retiring number with Lou Gehrig in 1939. To date they have retired 19 numbers but it probably won’t be too long before that number is 21. They have retired more number than any other sports team. For example the Pittsburgh Steelers have only retired one number for Ernie Stautner who wasn’t even on any of their championship teams. My question is which number gets retired first, number 42 (Mariano Rivera) or number 2 (Derrick Jeter)? Comment if you have an opinion. This is Jeter during spring training this year which will be his last season.

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Number 2

Number 2

Garden Sculpture

People visit Bok Towers in Florida to listen to the amazing carillon played by world renown muscians while strolling through the beautiful gardens. The gardens also contain a wide variety of wonderful sculptures by artists from around the world. This one caught my eye and fit perfectly in the garden landscape.

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Bok Garden Scukpture

Bok Garden Scukpture

Sago Palm

After being in Florida for a few months the excitement of seeing palm trees everywhere wears off. This is especially true in Tampa this year where they are literally putting Palm Trees everywhere due to the IIFA being held at Raymond James Stadium. They are trying to make the whole area look like Bollywood. However, I only saw this sort of palm in a couple of places. It is called a Sago Palm and I saw them at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo and this one on a walkway at Bok Towers.

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Sago Palm

Sago Palm

Sam I Am

During our hiatus in Florida we had the pleasure of making a new dog friend. This is Sam, a ten month old Golden Retriever of my Tampa friends. I never knew they came in white! He is the friendliest and mellowest 10 month old puppy I ever met. Our friends are planning to mate him with their daughter’s puppy Rosie who is only six months old so it will be a while. Rosie is a beautiful feisty six month old chocolate colored retriever. They should make beautiful puppies together and we have put our claim on one, but we are not at the top of the list. This is Sam relaxing by his pool.

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Samwise

Samwise

Circus House

The bad part about The Ringling in Sarasota Florida is that there is too much to see in one day. After touring the Circus Museum, The Gardens and The Art Museum finally made it to the Gulf and to Ca’Da’ Zan which is the house that John and Mabel Ringling lived in. We were too late to tour the inside of the house so we will have to return to see it. If the inside is a miraculous as the tile work on the outside, it will be worth the wait.

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The Ringling House

The Ringling House

Shy Wolf Update

For those of you that follow this blog you know that I have been trying to raise awareness and hopefully support for a unique Wolf Sanctuary in Naples Florida. .The Shy Wolf Sanctuary rescue wolves that have been bred or purchased as pets and then abused or abandoned. The sanctuary is the one of the only wolf sanctuaries in the USA where you can actually interact with these beautiful wild animals. The sanctuary is totally supported by donations and merchandise sales. The staff is made up completely of volunteers. Plan a trip while in south Florida for a real wildlife encounter. Buy a T-Shirt, help a wolf!

These are some images that I have not published from our trip there in January 2014.

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Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf

Shy Wolf

Shy Wolf

Petting a Wolf

Petting a Wolf

Volunteer with Wolf

Volunteer with Wolf

Clown Head Variations

The Ringling in Sarasota Florida is a collection of Museums and Gardens not to be missed. There are so many attractions that you will want to return for a second day. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is an excellent art museum providing hours of thought provoking viewing. The Circus Museum has the most impressive model railroad I have ever seen reflecting the Circus of the 1900’s. The museum is also filled with memorabilia like this clown head form the 1800’s. Imagine wearing this in a parade. Notice the air/eye grid in the center of the head.

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Clown Head

Clown Head

Brown Pelicans at Ding Darling

The first time someone ever asked me “have you been to Ding Darling” I thought they were staring to tell me a dirty joke and just said “pardon me?” I later found out they were talking about the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Captiva island in Florida. Turns out it is actually name for a guy called Ding Darling, but that is a whole other story.

It truly is a wonderful spot and even can be appreciated on a gray day like the one we were there. But the rain held off and the birds didn’t really care that is wasn’t sunny. To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

Pelicans at Ding Darling

Pelicans at Ding Darling