Sunshine Flower

Purple Blooms

Florida Manatee Backstroke

I took this photo from the viewing platform near the TECO electric plant off Big Bend road.

Fiddler Crab

If you look closely, you can see him holding a tiny grain of sand in his left pincher. In case you haven't seen a fiddler crab up close, they're about the size between a dime and a nickel.

Butterfly

Osprey Dive

Flower on the Beach

Botannical Gardens

Flight Photos

The Three Stooges

These brown pelicans were hanging out near some fisherman hoping for some "spares".

White Pelican

This photo was taken in early morning light as a trio of three pelicans made their rounds at low tide.

Posing

I believe this is a willet, but don't hold me to it. With shorebirds it's sometimes difficult to tell.

I have used the features included in the Photoshop software to create a watercolor version of this photograph. If you click on the picture you can see a larger version of this photo.

Here's the original version:

Look Out

Majesty in Motion

This photo is limited by the reach of my lens (300 mm), but it's my first eagle in flight. It flew directly over head and circled four of five times. He's looking right as us from 50 feet up. This is the same one that we saw sitting in a big pine tree a few minutes earlier (see previous post).

Mockingbird

I took this one near the picnic area next to the Osprey Trail.

Linda took this photo from the passenger side window as we drove into Honeymoon Island State Park.

Another Ring Billed Gull

These gulls provide ample opportunity to practice in-flight photography.

Green Heron

This picture was taken during one of our trips to Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, FL. There's a pool of water near the Osprey Trail parking lot less than 200 feet from the Gulf where I took this photo.

Honeymoon Island Bald Eagle

You can click on the picture for a larger version.

American Bald Eagle

Today we took a drive up to Honeymoon Island near Dunedin, FL. It's north of Clearwater and is about an hour's drive from where we live in Riverview. Here's a few pictures of a bald eagle perching in a large pine tree. The distance and lighting were difficult, but here's a few of the best in the series that I took.

This was the first picture.

After a few steps up the trail, this was the second one.

After re-positioning for an attempt at better lighting and an unobstructed view, here's the third one.

He's got his eyes on us.

Although we were very close to this magnificent symbol of America, it's relative when it comes to taking a nice photograph. The fourth photo is a much tighter crop. When the picture was taken, we were standing at least 50-60 yards away and the eagle was perched 40-50 feet above our position.

The Greatest of Ease

Ready for Take-off

This ring billed gull was hanging around some surf fisherman begging for some bait scraps.

Little Blue Heron

These herons are plentiful on the beaches near our home, but I needed a longer lens to do this one justice. My 300 mm Tamron lens isn't quite long enough. My nephew has a 500 mm Sigma that would have brought this guy right into your living room. It's not in my budget right now, but there's always next year, right?

Another Lone Ranger

These small guys are difficult for me to identify.

Osprey in Flight

I captured this photo in Apollo Beach, FL. It's only the third or fourth time I've had an Osprey fly directly over my head and the first time I've been able to get the sun, moon, and stars to line up quickly enough to take a picture.

Beauty Berries

Back Porch on Christmas Day

Here's a view from the back porch on Christmas morning. This picture was taken from Linda's parents home in Beech Grove, TN. It's not Florida, but we've been traveling a lot these past few weeks. We are planning a trip back to Honeymoon Island tomorrow morning. I've heard the osprey are getting more and more active with the cooler temperatures.