Anhinga.
I captured this Anhinga at Herons Nest Nature Park cleaning up and air-drying himself. Usually these guys are in the water swimming with just their neck and head showing, so it was nice to capture him drying out.
Historic Spanish Point, Pioneer Boat Yard
A friend recently told me about Spanish Point in Osprey, and with the Holiday weather being awesome, we ventured down to explore it this past week. Through the years, the pioneer dwellings and prehistoric Indian remains have been preserved, along with the formal lawns and plantings and an actual Aqueduct. I enjoyed walking among the mangroves overlooking Little Sarasota Bay and taking in the serenity of this quiet oasis.
The original image was mediocre. So I went to work on ‘spiffing’ up the image, since I thought it represented the quiet solitude of Spanish Point. It was first edited in Lightroom using a Photomorphis texture and then over to Topaz Studio for some more edits. Hope you enjoy.
Sunset at Anna Maria Island.
One of our favorite places for sunsets is on the north end of Anna Maria Island. The sunsets are spectacular and the sugar white sands are an important habitat for an incredible array of wildlife. On many many occasions, we have shared evening sunsets with herons, sandpipers, ospreys, cranes, seagulls, skimmers, egrets and my favorite, pelicans. During various times of the day and year, you’ll see different species of shorebirds, sometimes hundreds, congregating at dusk for an evening feed.
What I always find fascinating, that at some point, as darkness nears, the congregation rise collectively and fly off to their evening roost, wherever that may be. I love that moment of unison against the setting sun.
(This was shot with an iPhone and edited in Snapseed. The sunburst was added with the LensLight app.)
Anna Maria, Florida
Our favorite holiday to celebrate with family is Thanksgiving and this year we decided to spend the week at our beach house on Anna Maria. Each evening presented us with a variety of sunsets, never failing to bring out the ‘awws’ in us as we watched our grandson dodge the gentle waves.
I thought the above iPhone image was perfect for this week’s theme as we journey out for another afternoon sunset. Each sunset is always a “Wildcard” as the day turns to dusk.
