Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Pups Across America! - Jerry, Mitzy, and Jessie
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

(Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Tuesday we drove to Apopka to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with relatives and friends. On an early morning walk we ran across a pair of Sandhill Cranes.





Thanksgiving Extravaganza
We had a marvelous T-day as I hope all of you did. Here are a few pics.









Click here for more Thanksgiving pics.

Pups Across America

Here are shots of Mitzy and Jerry plus their rambunctious cousin, Jessie.

Headlights

See you next week.

Tags: photography

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Pups Across America! - Handsome Jerry, Fluffy Mitzy
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

(Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Sunday: Ibis Moon
Walking around the neighborhood, ibis were everywhere. Here is one sitting by the moon contemplating the fate of space travel in a post-shuttle era.



That evening we had a wonderful dinner with friends over at Jan S’s place (Yikes! I should have taken some photos!) Choice steak grilled to perfection, delicate mushroom sauce to entice the flavor, plump baked potatoes, a light, but complex Greek salad, and warm homemade rolls, all complimented with an appropriate selection of red wines.

Monday: Sarasota Drive
Monday I drove to Sarasota to meet with my business partners regarding a joint project. Smart fun folks—my kind of people. I’ll give you more details when we are closer to launch--gonna be fun.

Tuesday
Quiet day working on the Island.

Wednesday through Friday: Rolling Fog and Quick Trip to Dallas
Heavy fogs greeted us for our morning walk. Behind the post office I took these two shots.





After our family walk, I started a second stroll behind the Fish House along Pine Island Sound. The air was as thick as Campbell’s Mushroom Soup, producing that eerie feeling one gets in the surreal lighting when the air and water brew up a fog. Here I photographed a bug-eyed osprey sitting above her nest, a juvenile brown pelican trying to dry its wings atop a channel marker, a cormorant attempting the same feat atop a piling, an egret flying overhead, and finally these morning glories.











At 10:00 a.m. the Pine Island Taxi picked me up to take me to the Ft. Myers airport for two nondescript flights. The Dallas weather was chilly, the traffic horrible, but my workshop students were bright, fun, and seemed to very much enjoy the session. I arrived back home at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning from a tiring but productive trip.



Saturday: The Eagles Are Back
Jan and I took the Kids behind the post office for a nice walk. I had Jan drop me off by the Fish House where I started walking and scouting for photo ops. I walked behind the eagles’ nest and there was an adult on a branch by the nest--great light, nice bird, sun at my back--this looked like a great opportunity. As I slowly walked up, though, she flew away to the north and I thought that was it. However, I stood still for a few minutes and here she came back flying toward me on her way to the nest. Yes, sometimes patience is a virtue! Here are a few pics of this magnificent bird.







Island Frank
Satisfied that I probably had at least one or two decent pics, I walked back toward home. Cars were stacked up at the community center as a pancake breakfast/craft show was just starting up. As I approached, I smelled the distinct odor of frying batter and heard the familiar keyboard tunes of upbeat island music that I’ve been enjoying for the last decade. Before he came into view, I knew that Island Frank was playing away for the crowd. Frank is a fixture on the Island, selflessly sharing his musical talent for dozens of fundraisers and other non-profit events year after year. Here he is at work.

Pups Across America

Here is a shot of Mitzy (she is in the lower left) at sunrise behind the post office.

Headlights

We will he headed for Apopka to enjoy the T-Day holiday with family and friends--might be some interesting photos!

See you next week.

Tags: Pine Island

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Pups Across America! - Handsome Jerry, Fluffy Mitzy
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

(Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

I spent the week at home on Pine Island, enjoying the nice weather and reconnecting with friends while re-establishing my base of work (my office is the top floor of our home).



Triple Dipping
I’m normally not much good at multitasking, but this situation works pretty well: Around sunrise each morning at the St. James City post office, I let Jerry and Mitzy off the leash and they can run to their hearts content. At the same time I get my morning health walk in, and since I carry my camera, I get the chance for a shot every now and then. I took this shot of the blasting-off Anhinga there one morning.



Neighborhood Stroll
When we get back home and the light is right and my work allows, I go back out walking through our neighborhood. Lots of ospreys and eagles in nest-building mode with lots of other avian activity. That is where I got the shots of the two hawks and the flock of Ibis.

Pups Across America

Here is a shot of Fluffy Mitzy and that handsome boy Jerry.

Headlights

Check out next week for more pics.

Tags: Pine Island

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Pups Across America! - The Kids go boating

(Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Note that this blog is a continuation of last week’s Alaska photo trip. If you missed it and like photos of eagles, check out Blog 69: North to Alaska from October 30, 2011.

Rearview Mirror

Homer, Alaska, is one beautiful place. Known for its fishing (primarily halibut and salmon), commercial and recreational fishermen are abundant in season. Gorgeous scenery everywhere including mountains and glaciers. Nature lovers have lots to see with wilderness parks and wildlife refuges taking up much of the land of the Kenai Peninsula. Along with the large eagle population there are numerous birds of other breeds, lots of brown bears, whales, dolphins, otters, seals, and on and on. Anyone who enjoys nature and beauty will marvel at this place. http://www.homeralaska.org/



Friday: Picture Perfect
Just a gorgeous day with warm light and warm temperatures. Lots of fun shooting birds in flight and a few perched, majestic avian specimens.

Tides: For those of us from Florida and others on the sea, we are used to the rising and ebbing of tides and plan our boating accordingly. However, we ain’t seen nothing like Alaska tides! (Tides range from minus five feet for a low tide to 23-plus feet for a high tide.) We experienced a 23-foot tide, high enough to shut down the road. The good news is that it allowed us access by boat to almost anywhere.



















Saturday: Rain and Snow
The weather went from light clouds and dry, medium clouds and rain, and then dark clouds and heavy snow. Regardless, it was a great day for photography. I also took advantage of the changing weather to practice making blurs. See what you think.

Eagle-Seeking Voyages
The Homer Harbor (home to one of the vessels from the “Deadliest Catch”) is two-thirds down the Homer Spit, right inside Kachemak Bay. Each day the boat captains would take into consideration the tides, winds, and weather and concur with our photo leader as to where to hunt the eagles. Several times, for example, we were in China Poot Bay. Another way to think of it is that China Poot Bay connects to Kachemak Bay, which connects to Cook Inlet, which connects to the Gulf of Alaska, which connects to the Pacific Ocean.































Sunday: Drive to Anchorage



At 9:00 a.m. I met Aussie Mark in the windy dark morning. We drove slowly up the Spit* because the front desk clerk had told me that the combination of high tides (over 20 feet) and high winds was causing waves to toss rocks upon the road. As the skies lightened up and the wind went down, we enjoyed nice weather the first 75 miles or so of our trip west, north, east, and back west. However, from there we shifted from dry, easy-driving pavement to slick, snow-covered highway. We had plenty of time, however, so we just slowed down and enjoyed the view. The trip along the Alaska Scenic Byway took us through Anchor Point, Ninilchik, Soldotna, Sterling, Coopers Landing, and Hope before arriving at Anchorage. We detoured a little taking the Seward Highway and stopped along the way past Moose Pass to enjoy the pristine solitude made up of the black-and-white landscapes











At Anchorage I took the red-eye to Minneapolis, and then returned to Ft. Myers arriving at 1:30 Monday afternoon.

*If you are not familiar with the term, a spit is a deposit of sand that connects to land and extends into the sea--a big sandbar. Our motel, the Lands End, was at the end of the spit.

Monday through Saturday: Back on Pine Island



Fortunately I had no travel planned this week, and after unpacking from Alaska, I was able to “regroup” from our five-month motorhome trip. The weather was wonderful (high 70s to low 80s). While walking, biking, and driving around the island it was great to see the eagles in or around their nests (we have 16 active nests). Friday morning I took this pic of an eagle perched just west of the post office.

Pups Across America

Here are a couple shots of The Kids on a recent boat ride.

Tags: Homer, Alaska, photography, Bird photography