By now, everyone should have finished opening gifts and enjoying their Christmas dinner. I hope it was a good day for all.
While traveling from New Mexico to Florida, I stopped overnight in a small town called Van Horn, TX. It was only out of curiosity that I did, since I've passed by it many times when driving I-10, never actually entering town. Now I know why. With all due respect to the citizens of Van Horn, it is a run-down, dilapidated little town with a couple RV parks that also fit that description. The one I chose is owned by people who also run a motel/apartment building, a towing service, auto repair and, so they claim, a radio station.They weren't even at the RV park, so I found an empty space and parked. They were in the office the next morning, so I was able to pay for my stay.
The only reason I mention Van Horn is the glorious sunrise that peeked through my windshield and motivated me to run outside with the camera. It was too late to find a good viewpoint or interesting foreground, so I snapped it from my space overlooking I-10.
A few days later, I was in Jacksonville, visiting my BIL & SIL, who happen to live in a condo located on a wide part of the St. Johns River. It's always a great view from there, but this day was very overcast and gloomy. That is, until we noticed the sunset going on over the river.
In St. Petersburg, I've spent quality time with my son, Randy, and his family. Time with those beautiful grand-daughters is always a treat for me. In between visits, I managed to get in a little bird photography, starting with the park known as Sawgrass Lakes on another overcast day.
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| Anhinga |
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| Tricolor Heron |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Common Moor Hen |
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| Some kind of Flycatcher??? |
A front brought several days of rain and lots of overcast weather. On one of those days, I drove to the Sunshine Skyway to check out the shore birds. For those unfamiliar with St. Petersburg, the Sunshine Skyway is a combination bridge/causeway system that connects Pinellas and Manatee counties, carrying I-275 and US 19. Resting on several islands at the junction of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, the system provides a fishing pier and ample beaches for recreation. At 430 feet high, the bridge allows ship traffic from the Port of Tampa to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.
On the windy (Gulf) side, kite board vendors were trying to attract customers by keeping kites in the air, but no one was buying it. And there were no birds at all.
On the calmer side, I found lots of shore birds and enjoyed a couple hours trying to catch good poses. All the birds there are typical residents of the area, although I'm never quite sure of some bird IDs. Shore birds can be tricky because many species are very similar, plus their appearance varies between male and female, juvenile and adult, winter and summer, and when they have their breeding plumage. Anyway, some of the IDs are "best guesses" and you can correct me where I'm wrong.
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| Ruddy Turnstone |
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| Great Egret |
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| Snowy Egret |
The Tricolor Heron is another favorite for the same reasons. It's fun to watch them scurry about looking for food and plunging their head into the shallow water for the tiniest morsel.
The Willet is rather plain looking on the ground, but much prettier in flight. Unfortunately, I never seem able to capture flight shots of them.
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| Willet |
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| Yellow-crowned Night Heron |
Among the Black-bellied Plovers (I think) on the shore, a couple were hopping around with only one leg. I have no idea how they lose a leg, but it doesn't seem to bother them very much. It's a good reminder how one can overcome life's difficulties.
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