Vacation
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Every time I see lupines I think of my BFF from college Eva and the trip we took circumnavigating Nova Scotia the year I started practicing in Newport. Mike and I took a too short trip to Acadia National Park three weekends ago, just before the beginning of the summer season and luckily the lupines were in bloom. So Eva, this Lupine is for you.
Tech Specs
Canon 5DMII, Canon 24-105L f/4 @55mm, ISO 100, Slight brightness and color adjustment with Nik Plugins in CS5 and sharpening done by Tony Kuyper’s sharpening Action.
Tags: Acadia NP, Bar Harbor, Canon 24-105L f/4, Canon 5DMII, Flower, Lupine, Maine, National Parks, Vacation
We saw this female Barred Owl at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. This is after she finished eating a mouse (quite messily) and brought the carcass to her nest (which we couldn’t see). We were packing our stuff up to continue walking the boardwalk when she came back and stared at us for a while before closing her eyes for a nap. Barred owls often nest in tree cavities, often taking them over from crows or squirrels. They eat mice and rodents but will also feed on grouse, hawks and ducks. They have been known to go after fish.We saw this female Barred Owl at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. This is after she finished eating a mouse (quite messily) and brought the carcass to her nest (which we couldn’t see). We were packing our stuff up to continue walking the boardwalk when she came back and stared at us for a while before closing her eyes for a nap. Barred owls often nest in tree cavities, often taking them over from crows or squirrels. They eat mice and rodents but will also feed on grouse, hawks and ducks. They have been known to go after fish.
Tags: Audubon, Barred Owl, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 5DMII, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida, Naples, Nik Software, Tony Kuyper Actions
On the beach at Captiva Island. When Mikes Dad and step-Mom came to visit while we were in Fort Myers we took them there, Pat loves to collect shells and this is a paradise of shells. People were actually using what looked like mesh panniers to scoop them out at shoreline looking for that special one.
Tags: Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 50D, Captiva Island, Florida, Seashells, Vacation
We saw a few of these gorgeous birds when we were at Corkscrew Swamp in Naples, they were very shy and didn’t stay still very much. We got lucky that they happened to like the feeders right outside the Visitor Center and the light was in our favor to sit at the rail outside the cafeteria and be patient waiting for them to show up. The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Blair Audubon Center was established to protect the largest remaining stand of Bald Cypress in North America during the 1950′s when almost all the cypress forests of Florida were being cut down for timber. The National Audubon had been protecting wading birds in this area since 1912 (during the “plumage craze” years , and in 1954 accepted responsibility to manage the area which had grown to over 6,000 acres. In 1955 the first boardwalk began construction. Today the total boardwalk length is 2.25 miles with a shorter walk of 1.07 miles and covers a variety of habitats including Bald Cypress, wet prairie, Pond Cypress, a Sawgrass pond and Pine Flatwood.
Tags: Audubon, Avian, Bird, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 5DMII, Corkscrew Swamp, Florida, Male Painted Bunting, Naples, Vacation
The Great Blue Heron just enjoying the last rays of the sun in Ding Darling NWR
Tags: Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 50D, Ding Darling NWR, Florida, Great Blue Heron, Sunset
The sun was setting over our first day in Ding Darling and these White Pelicans didn’t much seem to care, they went on with their grooming until well after the sun sunk below the horizon
I didn’t do much landscape work while we were on this trip, although there were opportunities that just seemed not to be taken. I’ve only got a handful of them, and most were sunsets. I think this might be my favorite.
Canon 5DMII, Canon 24-105L F/4.0 93mm, 1/25sec f/16.
Tags: Canon 24-105L f/4, Canon 5DMII, Ding Darling NWR, Nik Plugins, Photoshop CS4, Sunset, Tony Kuyper Actions, White Pelicans
Unlike the browns of it’s upper body the Willets wings are strongly banded and quite striking.
Reddish Egrets hunt fish by doing an elaborate dance that includes shuffling their feet, twisting their bodies and extending their wings to various degrees, all in order to fool the fish into thinking they aren’t there. By spreading their wings they create a shadow on the water that the fish may think is just a cloud covering the sun and not see the egret waiting to pounce.
Canon 50D, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6 1/1600 sec at f/6.3 +1/3EV ISO400
Tags: Avian, Bird, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 50D, Ding Darling NWR, Florida, Nik Plugins, Photoshop CS4, Reddish Egret, Sanibel Island, Tony Kuyper Actions, Vacation
Great Blue Heron doing some early evening grooming before flying off to roost. I loved the way the warm last rays of light illuminated it.
Canon 50D, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, finished in LR2 and CS4 with Nik plugins and Tony Kuyper’s actions.
Tags: Avian, Birds, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Nik Plugins, Photography, Tony Kuyper Actions
Where not habituated to people Snowy Egrets are very hard to get close to, and probably with good reason. At the end of the 19th century the plumes of the Snowy Egret were so prized as decorations for women’s hats that they were selling for over $32.00 per ounce, over twice the price of gold. It took the effort of a great many conservationists and the near extinction of the species to get laws passed to prevent the hunting of these and other egrets. They are still covered by the migratory species act which has helped their populations to rebound to close to what they used to be. An interesting fact about Snowy Egrets is that they apparently can not recognize their mates outside of the nest, and then when the bird returns it must perform an elaborate dance to prevent it’s mate from attacking it.
Tags: Breeding Plumage, Canon 100-400L f/4.5-5.6, Canon 50D, Ding Darling NWR, Florida, Nik Filters, Snowy Egret, Tony Kuyper Sharpening Action, Vacation
