White Egrets are common where I live in central Florida. They can be about four feet tall and every inch of grace. Sure they prefer the water but they also forage on land. Yesterday morning as I was about to pull into the driveway I noticed a White Egret standing there looking for something in the bushes, probably a lizard. I didn’t want to scare him off so I waited in the street for about five minutes until he finished. As he sauntered onto the grass he looked back at me as I pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. He kept a little distance without flying off and I just kind of marveled and such a beautiful bird. I think this is not so uncommon in Florida, although I wasn’t raised here so for me it’s a treat. And that’s my Great White Egret story for the day.
Family Time
This four legged friend was eager to fetch the sticks as I stood back and captured this shot one evening at the end of Emerson Point. As I watched I felt a little guilty that I had my camera rather than my dogs, I’m sure they would have loved to have been here. Whenever I do bring them they are so happy for the freedom and exercise. Next time.
Emerson First Pond
I took this yesterday morning just after sunrise. It was too cloudy to get a good sunrise, nevertheless the soft light made for plenty of photo opportunities. This was at the first pond as you enter the park. Typically large wrens or egrets hang out here as it’s relatively undisturbed, save the occasional over zealous photographer. This park is a wildlife sanctuary and whenever we get cold snaps up north many of the large graceful migratory birds use this as the Holiday Inn until they can return north.
Perfect Ending
The perfect end to the day. I took this at Emerson Point last night right after the sun went down. As it seems this lady is enjoying the last few minutes of the day, I’ll keep quite and not fill up this page with words.
Quiet Morning
This is another one of my favorite little spots at Emerson Point. Actually there are quite a few of these walkways through the mangroves and each one is my favorite. Sometimes I’ll be here on a quiet afternoon where the only sound is the splashing fish jumping for food in the otherwise undisturbed waters. On this morning it was pretty quite as well, kind of a nice way to start the day. Now that I look at this I realize I’m overdue for another walk through the trails. Maybe tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.
Through the Bushes
I take most of my pictures around sunrise and sunset and so tend to be a little bit frantic during those fleeting moments. Thus was the case when I shot this, I was on a trail desperately looking for a view across a pond when I just had to stop and shoot lest I miss the sun altogether. Bad timing, not enough planning, guilty as charged. I was disappointed enough that I threw this into the reject pile. Now, six months later, I was scanning my old shots and thought it was worthy of a second chance. So here, straight from the recycle bin, is a sunset through the bushes at Emerson Point in Florida.
Shades of Blue
This is little pond at Emerson Point in Palmetto. Because it’s close to home I come by here to walk along the trails. The problem is that I want to take a picture every time. A little alarm bell goes in my head off and warns me that I may be repeating myself. However, on second thought, no two pictures of this pond are the same. The light constantly changes and this time there was an abundance of blue. When I win the lottery I’ll travel most of the year and take pictures of exotic places all over the world, but until then I’ll be happy to just find different ways to take pictures of the beauty in my back yard.
TGIF Sunset
I don’t know about you but I’m glad, REALLY GLAD, it’s Friday. …There I go again, …making stuff up. I’m writing this on a Wednesday but I’m pretending it’s Friday so on Friday (today) it seems current. So in reality it’s Wednesday, but on Friday I’m planning on being really happy so I thought I’d post a picture of a wild sunset. The only thing that could go wrong is we get invaded by aliens on Friday and everyone is freaked out and gloomy while I’m posting pictures of happy sunsets. I’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then, speaking from Wednesday, happy Friday everyone. Hopefully the aliens haven’t invaded, …yet.
Loss of Words
Is it any wonder that sometimes I run out of words? At the end of Emerson Point in Manatee County Florida is where a few of us locals go to watch the sunset. Sure, the beaches are good, but there are a few secret places like this that, well, leave me at a loss for words. So perhaps I’ll just leave it at that. Have a great weekend everyone.
Pink Mullet Dusk
This is one of those shots that I took with my iPhone while hiking through the mangroves near my home. This is Terra Ceia Bay which is full of Mullet and at dusk they begin a feeding frenzy and start jumping all over the place. If you look at the full resolution, you’ll see rings where mullet just jumped creating a cacophony of splashes as they grab every last mosquito. One of my favorite spots.
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