The last day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

This is kind of a cute image which I sold last year at the Easton Waterfowl Festival in Easton Maryland. God willing I'll be back there in November this year for my 20th year.

http://www.waterfowlfestival.org/

The image is obviously digitally enhanced and no it did not take months to get that bird to land on the cocktail glass of black oil sunflower seed.

The glass was a table top I did specifically with the bird image in mind. The bird was taken on my back yard feeder which is set up primarily for photography and the neighborhood cats.

I framed it in a hand made and signed 3" black gloss frame with a double white matt...all in a 10x10 square format. I understand it hangs today in a loft in Soho in New York City, and am pleased with that. So Barnam was right, there is a sucker born every minute.

Photography does take some planning and yes stumbling on something fantastic is always nice and I would rather be lucky than good at times. But when something comes together such as this, it is fun.

The 30th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

THE STRAY



This showed up on our door step a couple days ago.



Everybody wants to call him "Oreo" because of his markings, but I want to call him "Garage Cat" because that's where he's gonna live if I have anything to say about it.

Now we have the dogs (2) to chase the cat (1) to chase the cockatiel (1).

I live in a zoo!

He is just a little kitten if anyone wants him. Only kitten weight (tiny), but because everybody in the neighborhood (thanks Mr. Roger's) is feeding him he will become the 800 lb tiger on the corner.

Seriously, I cannot understand people who can abandon such animals. Even if they are adults, I can't imagine what they will be when they grow up!

If anyone wants him, let me know and I'll UPS him right out. He'd probably last in a box overnight.........think?

The 29th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

FIVE HUNDRED FEET LOW AND SLOW OVER THE FLORIDA KEYS

I found a guy on Islamorado, Florida who loved to fly his single engine airplane low and slow over the six lighthouses which guard the eastern side of the keys. What a treat at only sixty bucks an hour to see all that water, the lighthouses, and shoal/reefs.

It was real the only way to economically photograph all the lighthouses from Biscayne Bay in the north to Key West in the south and I got some neat shots. The order of the images, top to bottom, are as follows from north to south beginning with;

Fowery Rocks Lighthouse

http://www.key-biscayne.com/kb/keys/fowey.html

Carysfoot Reef Lighthouse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carysfort_Reef_Light

Alligator Reef Lighthouse

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=702

Sombrero Key Lighthouse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero_Key_Light

American Shoal Lighthouse

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=700

Sand Key

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Key_Light

As you can see all are steel towers placed on shoals or reefs. This type of construction must have been the only way to build and sustain the structure during the many storms and hurricanes in the area.

Most are very close to the Gulf stream and the water drops off from only feet deep to hundreds deep in very short distances. The water is beautiful and the thought of navigating amongst those reefs before lighthouses must have been a nightmare. I thought that the drive from Miami down to Key West was an adventure, but the flight was dramatic. I also got to play on the radio a little, well at least enough to talk to the captain. Flight restrictions on land are such that they have to follow certain guidlines as to how high they must fly and at what speeds, but over water we had fun going "low and slow."

The 28th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

CAPE FLORIDA LIGHTHOUSE
Key Biscayne, Fl
Bill Baggs State Recreation Area

This is the last of the shore bound lighthouses in Florida before the string of islands known as the keys. I only wish that I had been alive back in the late 1800's or early 1900's to explore the keys as they were renowned as the place to run to when the law got too close. Today, what a great place.

The Cape Florida light is in park with a great little swimming beach and a very tropical setting. Course you can't get anything done without speaking Spanish, but still in all it is a neat place to visit.

There are some thirty four lights in Florida and I photographed them all in 11 days with three of those days spent in light aircraft. A small book was published which I am sure is now out of print, but at least I got all the photos and was paid to boot. Don't let anyone ever tell you that Florida is a small state! I include this because the next entries will cover the offshore lights in the Atlantic along the Keys from Cape Florida to Key West.

All we had to do was fly low and slow. The pilots loved that!

This lighthouse is some 30 miles north of the Carysfort Reef on the northern entrance to Key Biscayne Bay. The original tower, built in 1825 was only 65 feet tall and was built with hollow walls to fraudulently improve upon the builders net worth. The reef laden coast in this area has taken its toll of vessels over the years, but particularly so during the 1850’s. The lighthouse board decided to raise the tower during those latter years by 100 feet and it continued in operation until 1878 when it was replaced by a new light at Fowery Rocks. During the 1970’s the Coast Guard restored the light and it was lit once again in 1978 after a 100-year rest.

http://www.key-biscayne.com/capeflorida/

The 27th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

ANOTHER VIEW FROM THE TOP




HUNTING ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
AND PARK IN SOUTH CAROLINA

I guess that one of the many things that attracts me to lighthouses and the studies of same are their locations. It seem that I am a water kind of guy regardless of whether it is stream, river, lake or ocean. If it's wet, I want to be there!

Hunting Island Lighthouse is now a resident of the Hunting Island State Park, in SC, which has a fabulous beach, great trails, cabins, and ample parking for extended stays or just day trips. Fishing is not so great from the beach but it is one of the best swimming beaches on the coast. It is located a little over half the way between Charleston and Hilton Head Island and easy access by car.

http://www.huntingisland.com/

The first light at this location was erected shortly before the Civil War. It lasted only a short time, and when the war was over.....so was the tower. The Lighthouse board then selected another site on the island and built the current 128-foot cast iron light, which housed a second order Fresnel lens. It was lit in 1875.

By 1889 erosion was so brutal, and still is, that it was moved some mile and a third from the previous location. Interestingly, the tower was dismantled and moved. Today of course huge lighthouse structures are being moved virtually intact, including the keepers houses and towers. A job similar to moving the space shuttle. Lighthouses on Block Island, Cape Hateras, and Cape Cod come to mind as examples. This lighthouse my be visited by the public as an attraction in the State Park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_Island_Light

One of the fun things to do when leaving the island is to stop at the many shrimp stands along the road on the way home. Fresh shrimp caught that morning for sale at way inexpensive prices and are excellent fare.

The lighthouse is open to climb most days and there is a little gift shop. So if the heat on the beach is to much, a trip under the pines to the lighthouse complex is a great side dish. The place is public but very clean and very definitely a place to take the family. It is really one of those way cool places which you don't find unless you're local or specifically looking for something like the lighthouse.

The 25th day of the 7th month of the year of the OP

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)

OK! It's been about 45 years since I graduated from anything where they actually gave you a diploma, or a piece of paper that said you at least attended the required classes. At least I didn't become an involuntary victim!

I have often been asked lately, what can I do about the way things are going in this country. I'm just one person. Well, here's a way. Important and fun!

We finished about 8 weeks of neighborhood training with the bunch of friends shown here who are all in our neighborhood association. The bottom photo is of the entire class and the top shows our assocaition members.

http://cayceavenuesassociation.com/

We are a new group, just a year old and trying to do nice things for the neighborhood. Not changing laws but keeping each other posted as to what is going on, clean-ups, group yard sales, National Night Out porch socials, yada yada, yada. It's fun and along the way we learned something if God forbid an actual emergency did occur. Plus, we get to meet each other and have fun along the way.

This group is prepared to locally turn off the city gas [assigned to one person and one person only, Ginny], help out with natural disasters or man made to the extent that we can. Because we might be local to an incident, we can be of great aid before the professionals can get on the scene. We know just enough not to get ourselves killed, I hope. A big thank you to Toby our instructor and all the Lexington County and Cayce, SC folks who made this possible. If you have an interest in your own neighborhood, check with your local police or fire department.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/

The 22nd day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

All Dressed up in Mating Plumage
Cattle Egret

There is only one time of the year where I think these birds are really, really photogenic, and that’s during the breeding season. This bird found in 2008 at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine FL, exhibits his full coloration of pale orange on the head, chest, shoulders, and back. Normally the bird is totally white with black legs which also turn an orange hue during the silly period. Found up and down the east coast these birds can be seen following cattle and even standing on their backs. The theory is that the wandering cattle will disturb all kinds of great things for the birds to eat and hence the name. They are never or rarely seen in the water, stand about 20” tall and weigh only around 12 ounces.

Like most of the egret family, they are a wary bird. Approaching them is one of those tricks that only can be learned from long periods of exasperation. One photographer friend of mine even had a theory that if you did not look the critter in the eye, you could approach them much closer than otherwise. That only produced a greater number of back of the bird shots. It does seem however, that if a bird is intent on feeding you can approach with much more success. Of course the most expensive wildlife blind in the world is a car. It seems that most wildlife is pretty used to them and you can approach reasonably easily, photographing from the windows as you go. Stop the car, however, to reduce vibrations and lens shake. As I have said in the past on these pages, sanctuaries such as the Alligator Farm offer the photographer ideal conditions. There you don’t even need a big lens and the amateurs with the point and shoots can do just as well as the pros in some cases.
http://www.alligatorfarm.com/

The 20th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

MODERN FOSSILS

Wet concrete and falling Leaves don’t mix!

The City of Cayce, SC has a wonderful thing called a River Walk. It’s a concrete and raised wooden boardwalk pathway along the Congaree River that extends some five miles. What a wonderful way to spend tax money! People walk (that’s me), jog, bike ride and run its entire length all day long. The area along the walk runs the gamut from back yard condo to deep woods and everything in between. Wildlife from birds, insects, snakes, raccoons, and river otter are represented here. Late last fall, 2007, a new extension to the walk was completed and when it opened, I think I was one of the first tourists. Evidently when the concrete was poured some of the leaves fell and left their imprint for eternity and hence the modern fossils. This leaf probably came from a black cherry tree or perhaps a sour wood tree, both prevalent in damp hardwood environments. This is another argument for the photographer to keep his/her eyes open and be completely aware of their surroundings. I will probably never sell this image, but other miracles have happened with just such pictures taken because they appeared to be out of the ordinary.

The 18th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

The View from the Mt. Everest of Light Houses
Cape Hatteras Light
Buxton, NC

The best thing about going to the Outer Banks of North Carolina is letting the air out of the tires of your four wheel drive vehicle when you get there.

The worst thing is pumping them back up when you have to leave!

It's that simple.

If you have never been-----take the kids to a pawn shop---hock them and go.

No, on second thought you need to take them with you, they need to see it too.

Anywhere along an outer bank or off shore island on the east coast would work, but when I speak of THE outer banks I refer specifically to North Carolina and ideally, for me, that area between Nags Head and Ocracoke. There is, that elbow, of that formidable spine of sand, that is a tenacious outcropping of sand called diamond shoals. The "Graveyard of the Atlantic", where 2000 ships have been said to have sunk since 1526. This is the spot that warrants the tallest lighthouse in the country. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveyard_of_the_Atlantic

I cannot describe the scene to you other than to say that the northern currents meet the southern currents and they collide to form giant ocean peaks. Waves, from three to ten feet high in triangular collisions of such magnitude that only the naked eye can appreciate. The camera cannot even come close to describe the grandeur. Even my camera (s). And this incredible natural confusion goes on for at least 8 miles out to sea. As this is one of the premier surf fishing spots in the world the beach side is four deep with four wheel vehicles and looks like a super market parking lot.

But then there are the times when there are the storms and there are no people there and then it is really special. That's the bottom photo. And that's when I want to be there.

These photos were taken before the light was moved in 1999-2000. Because of erosion it was moved some 2870 feet inland on a long runway and was quite something to see. See the second to bottom image to see how close it the ocean it was before the move. Actually an incredible feat when you think of moving a hugely old structure which could crack at any moment about a half mile over a very unsteady surface. There are photos and links on the wikipedia page to show the move.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Hatteras_Light

The light is 208 feet high and 268 steps of narrowing walkway. It's not an easy climb and it's like climbing in your closet with some very narrow windows every once in a while add the screaming kids and panting parents yelling at them. Just your typical afternoon at the theme park. The second photo gives you and idea what the human body on a surf board looks like from 208 feet in the air. Unfortunately there were no sharks to give you a size comparison, but there have been such images made from that location in the past. The top image is just a nice historical picture of the light on a nice sunny day.

The 17th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP
AT THE CAPE OF HENRY
IN VIRGINIA

Chesapeake Bay & Atlantic Ocean
Fort Story, Virginia Beach, Virginia

The old tower at Cape Henry is the only one of the two that you can climb. It is a pretty tight squeeze to get through the trap door to the light room at the top. The climb is worth the effort as the view of the bay and the ocean is panaramic and the fort is pretty inspiring. The old tower is located on an overgrown hump of sand and is once again a wonderous thing when you think of the construction techniques of the times when these things were built. The accompanying photos show the new black and white tower on the bottom and the old tower next to the bottom. The depth of the walls of the old tower is shown in the next two photos and the view from the light room of the old tower towards the new is on the top.

Capes Henry and Charles in Virginia at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay were named after the two sons of King James of England. The first lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay was erected on Cape Henry in 1792 at a cost of $15,200, most likely an outrageous sum for that time. The sandstone tower is 90 feet tall and a local man, Laban Gossigan, became the first keeper.

The Virginia Governor offered President Washington assistance in erecting a tower at the current site. It seems that a certain amount of materials were placed at that location by the state and they would be available for the construction by the Federal government. Blowing and shifting sands had buried the building materials and they had to be replaced. The contract to build the tower was signed by Alexander Hamilton and awarded to an New York brick layer, John McComb, Jr.

During the Civil War the Confederates destroyed the lantern, only to be replaced in 1863. A military guard was placed at the light until the end of the war. By 1872 cracks appeared in the walls and the Lighthouse Board recommended it be replaced. By 1879 construction on the new tower had begun. Despite the cracks, the old tower still stands to this day.

The Lighthouse Board ordered the replacement of the tower and the new one was completed in 1881 at a cost of $125,000. Like the Cape Charles light, this southern beacon was fitted with a huge first order Fresnel lens. Not just a bay light, but an offshore sentinel for all shipping entering the bay and as such required the largest of lights. In 1929, this beacon became the first radio-distance-finding station. The light flashes the dot-dot-dash pattern of the letter “U” at 80,000 candlepower.

Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore is a boat ride and you have to do some looking to hire a boat. Start your search for such a boat at a place called "Stingrays" on Route 13 North around Cape Charles. It is a gas station /restaurant/local center for what's happening in the area. Once you have seen the Cape Charles lighthouse, there is not a whole lot to do on the Eastern Shore but going west and crossing the bay bridge is a real treat.

The 13th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

SANDY HOOK
NEW JERSEY

Somewhere in the mid seventies, probably in 1974 a middle income family, for that time, living in central New Jersey in a little town called Stanton was enjoying a well deserved weekend of rest. The mother worked locally, the kids went to local schools, and the father commuted to that great city on the hill to the east two hours away.

It was a Saturday in August with temperatures in the nineties and approaching the century mark and as most husbands did on week ends he was mowing his acre and half lawn. His the son was manning the trimmer. The wife and daughter gardening and all sweating profusely. Oh, excuse me women didn't sweat back then. They were all living just above their means but not really realizing it yet and enjoying a fairly decent living for their time.

As soon as the lawn was finished the husband stalked into the house looking for an cool drink and drew his family to him.........

"I've had it, tomorrow we go to the beach!"

Instant ecstasy from the kids

"Oh great" from the wife...."Nothing but work for me and road rage from you"

"We'll get up really early, beat the traffic, get a decent parking spot and a good spot on the beach and spend the day in family bliss.........it'll be fun" We'll take Rt. 22 to 287 to the Parkway to Rt. 36 to the Highlands and then Sandy Hook. Hour and half tops.

Fast forward.

Early to husbands is before dawn, to wives is after 10:00am. Trust me!

It's 1:00pm before our adventurers go through the toll gates at the beach at the Highlands and of course all parking lots are full all the way to the end of the spit of land called Sandy Hook. Bay on the left as you go north on the only road and ocean on the right. The road splits almost at the end of the hook and there is an old fort out there. By the time the family reaches the split in the road tempers are ripe and right up there with the ambient temperature outside, IE approaching a hundred in the shade.

There is a couple of places to park at the split in the road, a couple of other cars there already and a space. A SPACE. First complaint from the wife, we'll get stuck there. From the kids, girl 14 boy 9, we have to walk to the beach? You can spit across Sandy Hook for God's sake!

The now tourists, WALK to the beach. About 80 yards and there is no one on it. What a find. And in New Jersey at that. Unheard of and all my Jersey buds know what I am talking about. You got to go down below LBI to find that...wow! Guess what.

Wife says.."We have to go up there where all those people are, I forgot to bring anything to drink"

Whaaaaaaaaaaahooo! About a quarter mile.

So with beach chairs over shoulders, coolers in hand, kids in tow, off they trudge. First thing they see is a couple of people surf fishing. Nothing strange about that except that the man has no swimsuit on. OK, they are some way away from everyone else and he hustles to put his little swimmy on quickly....not big deal. But then two naked people holding hands come strolling past and reality sets in.

The wife is wide eyed, daughter mortified, son in seventh heaven and husband just remembers that there is a nude beach on Sandy Hook and he has just stumbled upon it.

True story!

Oh and the oldest lighthouse in the country is on Sandy Hook too.

SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE
Atlantic Ocean and Raritan Bay
Gateway National Recreation Area, Sandy Hook NJ

The oldest operating light tower in the United States, Sandy Hook Lighthouse has been in operation since 1764. The tower is 103 feet high with a diameter at the base of 29 feet and 15 feet at the top respectively. A third order Fresnel lens was installed in 1856 and is still in use today, flinging a white non-blinking light up to 19 miles at sea on a clear night.

British loyalists used this light as a base for raids on the countryside during the Revolutionary war. And in WW II, the light was turned off to protect New York Harbor. Located on National Park Service property it is within the confines of Fort Hancock at the north end of Sandy Hook.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=378

The 12th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

The view from the top
of the bottom of the State
of New Jersey


It seems that most of the more eclectic town on the east coast are at the end of spits of land out in the water. Cape May among them.


Provincetown on Cape Cod up in Massachusets certainly qualifies as one of those towns. Whale watching, street watching, great restaurants and shops and the beaches not to mention the best sand dunes from here to Africa. Yeah, if you get there you have to see the dunes, just off Rt. 6 on the right before you get to P-town....just remarkable. And three lighthouses you have to walk to or take a boat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page



Key West may be the end of the world as we know it. A place where people used to run away to get lost and still do. Great street and sunset watching , their own lighthouse. It is a jump off point for the two lighthouses at the Dry Tortugas which is an all day beach, snorkeling, and exploring trip.


http://www.fla-keys.com/

http://www.nps.gov/drto/


All three famous towns have their own "Tastes" but similar fun places to be and explore. The images here show the Cape May light at the bottom, the stairs in the middle and the light in shadow against the Jersey shore going north from just above the point at the Delaware Bay.

The 11th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

The view from the top at Hereford Inlet New Jersey



Sailing south from the Inlet at Barnegat on the north end of LBI on the Ocean side, past the Absecon Lighthouse at Atlantic City, and then the inlets at the Egg Harbors, mariners would next encounter the Hereford Inlet. And of course find the the Hereford Inlet lighthouse. My lighthouse, or at least I think of it as my lighthouse.


Very few can reach the very top of the tower to see what you see in the two images at the top of this page, but I am privileged to have been granted that permission. The building on the left houses the NJ State Police and hopefully will be acquired by the lighthouse for a future complex to include a lifesaving station replica. The inlet is behind and to the right with the North Wildwood beaches straight out and to the right. The bottom image is of the light as seen from the water's edge. North Wildwood is a total family oriented resort and is a wonderful town.

http://www.herefordlighthouse.org/


I am there every year in October for the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge and have been adopted by the people who run the place and in turn have adopted them. You who have followed my writing here and elsewhere have witnessed my devotion to this place. It is a Victorian house with outstanding Victorian gardens

The 10th day of the 7th month of the year of the Op

A VIEW FROM THE TOP
BARNEGAT LIGHTHOUSE
LONGBEACH ISLAND, NJ

Having grown up in New Jersey, I should have been familiar with Long Beach Island but was more grounded with the Sandy Hook south to Seaside Heights area of the Jersey Beach. We lived in Westfield, NJ, a bedroom community to New York City where everybody commuted. We could be at the Jersey shore in a couple of hours during the week but about four on weekends due to traffic. When the parents went with us we went further south to areas like Long Beach Island, Avon, and Cape May which were more "respectful" places for adults way back then. I guess they were places where our parents just didn't have to deal with hoards of us out of control kids. At any rate, in high school I had no appreciation of lighthouses anyway.

Yesterday's blog gave thought to some of the images I have made from the climbs to and the tops of some of these old mariner's marks. This one at Barnegat Inlet is 165 feet above sea level and 215 steps to the top. The view along the way of the stairs is of an archetural delight not only of the stairs but of the walls, reminding yourself that these things were built in the 1800's well before the tools we use today. Some feat!

The light tower is interesting in that the light must be constructed to carry up to 19 miles on a clear night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnegat_Lighthouse

At the top the view is stupendous. The inlet of course and the beach. The atlantic and a good bit of the Intercoastal Waterway. Long Beach Island is to the south and Island Beach State and National Park area to the North. Shifting sand with heavy tides and currents make the inlet tricky. And prior to GPS the nearest coastal lighthouses were Absecon Lighthouse to the south and Sea Girt to the North. Of course, most of the northern end of Long Beach Island can be seen as well. Just remember back in the day when these things were lit with oil of some kind, the keepers had to carry that oil to the top. I just cannot imagine the strength involved in doing that kind of work, particularly after I am about half way up carrying only a camera.

The ninth day of the eighth month of the year of the OP

The Inside Straight

Lighthouses have been a favorite topic of mine since we made our first poster, "The Lighthouses of Maryland", back in 1991.

I guess they represent a degree of mystery and romance long gone in our maritime history. That distant blinking beacon on a dark and stormy night has a certain allure. The colors and contrasts of a rocky or sandy shore of the day mark are compelling. All of those sights were the way ancient mariners spelled relief.

I have visited about two thirds of the east coast lights and climbed most of them. Some are easy to climb and some are downright claustrophobic. And at the top of all are some kind of lighting mechanism. The lower photo is of a Fresnel lens, which belongs to the Hereford inlet lighthouse at North Wildwood, NJ.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens

http://www.herefordlighthouse.org/

The trip up those lights can be daunting at best. Be in shape because you will need the strength to make it up some of them. Cape Hatteras is 208 feet tall and continues to squeeze tighter and tighter and as you climb. So don't be afraid of tiny dark spaces. And it's windy when you get up there, so don't be afraid of heights. St. Augustine Lighthouse is Hatteras's sister light, and at only 108 feet high you might want to try that one first. Some of the house type lights are a bit easier to climb. The towers all have circular staircases like the one pictured here at Barnegat Light. Pretty, but still a good climb. All offer a dramatic views from the top but that's for another entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnegat_Lighthouse_State_Park

The eight day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

"The King of the Hill"

Ever play that game? Well, this is he!

A Snowy Egret in mating Plumage

By far my favorite of the long leg wading birds, the Snowy egret stands only two feet tall and weighs only 13 ounces but has a serious Napoleonic complex. This is the bird which was hunted during the 1920’s into practical extinction because of the demand for feathers used in ladies hats and boas. The Government stepped in and discontinued hunting rights and the bird is now a popular critter to watch in the shallow backwaters and tributaries. Small but feisty he will fight with anyone including his own mate. The comb on the top of the head is raised and wings spread as he attacks any intruder to his domain. They present a very agitated state when angry but are steadfast feeders. In just about all the images I have made of this bird, attitude is exuded both in body posture and facial presentations. Normally this bird is identified by its size, yellow feet, and yellow lores (area around the eye). During mating season the feet and lores turn a deep reddish orange on males and females.

The seventh day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

Bottle Nosed Dolphin, et al


The Dolphin is to the right.

A serious photographer should always have a camera with him or her at all times.

The time you don’t will be the dramatic Kodak moment guaranteed!

This image was made in 2008 off the beach at Rehoboth, DE. A school of Dolphin were feeding up and down the beach late in the afternoon and the life guards had cleared the water of all swimmers just to be safe. First time I have ever witnessed a school feeding so actively in close and it was a treat.

We had gone to the beach to see a sand sculpture contest which was held earlier in the day when a more dramatic event took place out in the water. The fellow in the kayak just could not help himself and had to join in the fun. The Terns were flying by as if nothing was happening but were looking for smaller fish to fry.

Another sixth day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

Great Egret Pair Nest Building

The male of the species brings a twig to a nest under construction. Both birds take part in the building of the nest but as in most life, the lady of the house has the last word on twig placement.

These two were found in April of 2006 at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL. Note the lores (that area around the eye) during the mating season take on a very green hue, almost a chartreuse color. Normally the lores are a dull yellow.

This is a tall and slender bird which offers the viewer some very graceful scenes particularly during the golden hours of early morning and late afternoon. These birds generally stand over three feet high but weigh two pounds……..all feathers. They can be found in most shallow waterways gently stalking prey. Their bills are long, sharp, and lethal. I have seen them from Maine to Florida generally in tributaries, small ponds, lakes and rivers. Concentrations can be found in the salt marshes and tidal flows all along the coast.

The sixth day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

TRANSLUCENT
A GREAT EGRET

I spent two weekends April of 2006 at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida.

The place has been there for a hundred years and was originally a farm growing alligators for commercial use. Now it is a tourist destination and incidentally a rookery for dozens of long leg wading birds. So, the secret is out. Whenever you see a really close photograph in a magazine of a heron and it is tack sharp, chances are good the photographer made the image at the farm.

Guests at the rookery are actually feet away from nesting birds. I have even had an immature tri-colored or Louisiana Heron peck at the end of the lens as I leaned over the walkway railing.

The above image is one in which I guess you can say I was lucky again. Normally, a bird flying is back-lit by the sky and the exposure makes the subject into a silhouette. In this case the bird was not only sharp but the lighting was good. Placed in the left third of the frame and with little cropping the image is striking. During the months that these birds mate, usually in the spring, one can see Great Egrets such as this one along with Wood Storks, Cattle egret, Louisiana Herons, Little Blue Herons, and the irrepressible Snowy Egrets. Mating rituals, nesting rituals, nest building, mating, and young can all be witnessed.

That is not to say that there are many other things to see at the farm, but for the photographer this is a special place.

http://www.alligatorfarm.us/

The fifth day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

THE FLIGHT OF A HUMMER

I always said that I would rather be lucky than good! Whilst making frames in my workshop, I noticed this humming bird feeding on the lantana. Like most wild game and birds, this one was intent of feeding and I was able to move up close enough to make this image.

The trick is having the patience to get close enough without spooking the bird. Just fun shots that I cropped pretty tightly. The images were made in Cayce, SC in 2006 in the early afternoon.

I do make my own frames from exotic and fine woods. Flat and broad frames which show considerable grain that compliment the image and matt that I am going to choose. I use mostly fine walnuts and oak, while refinishing antique frames consistent with the images I use. Expensive of course, but signed and dated for the discriminating collector of fine goods.

KABOOM

THE FOURTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH OF THE YEAR OF THE OP HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

INDEPENDENCE DAY

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The third day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

A heartfelt and happy fourth of July to you all.

Please remember our brave men and women who have and are serving and also the real meaning of the 4th.

It ain't hot dogs and hamburgers folks.

The image is of the flag, of course, overlaid on the place that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner.

Yep, Fort McHenry in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

http://www.francisscottkey.org/

Also please check out my Twitter sight to become either uproariously happy or depressingly angry....happy Fourth!

https://twitter.com/Skipwillits