Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Lower Ochlockonee River on August 18

While kayaking 6.25 miles on the Ochlockonee River just upstream from the Bay, the sky to the west was illuminated by ... 

THE MOST INCREDIBLE clouds.

Next I encountered a tree limb leaning over the
water from the shoreline at a Native American
midden mound. Ahhh, the reflections in the mirror-
smooth water.

The reflections of the cloud and tree in this image are
so perfect, that it looks like an upside down photo
of a cloud under a tree branch.
So while standing in the shallow water, I intentionally
moved my feet to create ripples. This photo reveals 
that the clouds and tree are actually reflections.

So now I am all about rippling! 

Rippling is of course very different from making waves. Rippling is play. Making waves is serious ... like asking you to vote to protect the wetlands of Wakulla County in November.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Wakulla Springs - Water abstracts

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August 8 River Boat Tour at Wakulla Springs

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Laughing Anhinga?

Juvenile Wood Duck - Like wearing rose colored glasses?

Pair of juvenile Pied-billed Grebes

Handsome male Suwannee Cooter - These male turtles have
longer fingernails than females.

Early morning paddle from Fiddlers Point to nearby islands on August 13, 2014

OK, it's REEEALY HOT. So get outside in the cooler morning hours.

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Otter Lake - August 10, 2014

Water Lily - Photographed from kayak early in the morning on a glassy calm day.

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Mashes Sands - August 6, 2014

Right Time / Right Place - Mashes Sands with the sun low in the sky at the end of a glorious day

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Swamp Lilies at Wood Lake, Ochlockonee River

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Swamp Lilies photographed from kayak in
Wood Lake, Ochlockonee River 

McBrides Slough in the Wakulla Springs State Park

IN THE MIDDLE

Waterstrider

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Fiddlers Point

And then one day 
the water decided that 
it could be colors other than blue. 

I love water.

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Grey Rat Snake

Although this rat snake is too small to successfully eat the cardinals, blue jays, and other birds that succumb to my sunflower seed lure, the snake has returned several times to my bird feeder. Hopefully this snake will be nourished by insects and perhaps a mouse around our homestead.

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Ochlockonee River at Mack Landing

On August 1, the water was moderately-low during a paddle from Mack Landing on the Ochlockonee River. I was on the water for about 3.5 hours, and explored practically every small feeder stream in a loop up an oxbow of the river, then down the main river back to the boat landing. We are so fortunate to have a large portion of the middle portion of the Ochlockonee River protected in the Apalachicola National Forest.

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Spadderdock

Somewhere in the floodplain swamp along the oxbow of the
Ochlockonee River from Mack Landing.

Otter Lake

The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge has a picnic ground and boat launch at Otter Lake near Panacea, Florida. It is one of my favorite nearby places to go for a walk to the lake and through the pinewoods.

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Duck Potato flower

Water Spider

Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly

Climbing Butterfly-pea


Fence Lizard


Fiddlers Point

I recently purchased a used super zoom digital camera for about $250. The Canon SX50 has an incredible optical zoom of 24 to 1200 mm! The image stablization on this camera is remarkable! This image of a tricolored heron perched on wood remants of an old road through the salt marsh was taken using a focal length of 448mm, with an ISO of 200, shutterspeed 1/200 second, and at F5.6.

Tricolored Heron

July 27 River Boat Tour at Wakulla Springs

These eleven images were made during and immediately after a river boat tour at Wakulla Springs on July 27, 2014

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Common Gallinule with nest material. This bird persistently tried
to build a nest on a ledge on the stern of one of the river boats.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Female Anhinga

Pied-billed Grebe chicks

Juvenile male Wood Duck

Wood Duck ducklings

Black Swallowtail Butterfly in the butterfly garden

Banded Watersnake at the boat dock

A plugin to Photoshop called Simplify
made by Topaz Labs was used on
this image of a Pickerel Weed.

Water abstract

Water abstract