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Sand Hill Crane, Moss Park, Orange County, FL, 11/11/12
We went out last weekend to break in our new travel trailer. We had originally planned to go to Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral three weeks ago, but Tropical Storm/Hurricane Sandy screwed up those plans for us. She ended up screwing a lot of things for a lot of people, so we’re not complaining too much. Instead we headed out to Moss Park, a local favorite of ours. It’s an Orange County park nestled between Lake Hart and Lake Mary Jane with a relatively recently remodeled campground. New, clean bathrooms, spacious sites and wide roads that are very easy to maneuver on. (Unless, of course, you’re having a heart attack. We were camping here last Presidents Day when I was suffering from what turned out to be my “cardiac event”. I could not back my trailer into an extremely wide site to save my life, even with the help of a kind neighbor. Looking back I was certainly “cognitively impaired” from the event…at least more impaired than normal. Feel free to insert jokes here.)
One of the things we like about this place are the critters that stroll through at all hours of the day. Deer, racoons, armadillos, Fox Squirrels and turtles have all made appearances. The most common critter in the campground is a protected bird: the Sand Hill Crane. They are tall, noisy birds that stroll around their habitat like they own the place which, in a sense, they do. They are protected in Florida and it’s common to see road signs warning of their presence and to find traffic stopped, even on major roads, while they stroll across the street. They are everywhere at Moss Park and we have had many experiences with them. (They also serve the function of an alarm clock, honking to each other VERY LOUDLY at dawn.) This trip I put on one of my better lenses and got some very nice shots.
Oh, we also had a nice weekend roughing it with the new trailer. Sitting outside with a beer in my hand watching the NFL on the HD TV mounted on the side of the Winnebago was out of character for me, but certainly appealing in its own way.
PS: Be sure to click on the pictures to look at them full size. A couple of them are pretty cool.
Sand Hill Crane, Moss Park, Orange County, FL, 11/11/12
Sand Hill Crane, Moss Park, Orange County, FL, 11/11/12
Young Buck, Moss Park, Orange County, FL, 11/11/12
Cruising, Moss Park, Orange County, FL, 11/11/12
Roughing It, Moss Park, Orange County, FL, 11/11/12
The other day my boss had the Division over for a picnic/party.
Not this kind of cat
Burgers, dogs, beer (or, in our case, rum): the normal summertime shindig. He lives in a rural area in East Central Florida where there are lots of farms, groves and horses. We had a good time meeting people’s spouses and kids in a relaxed setting.
A woman in our group happens to live very close to my boss. Her family has been involved for the past several years with a cat rescue program. Now, we’re not talking tabby cats here, we’re talking big cats. Very big cats. At one point late in the afternoon a bunch of us drove down the street to her house and strolled into her neighbor’s back yard where these cats are kept. I was glad I had my good camera.
These folks have a huge cage in their backyard, just beyond the pool (this is Florida after all). Behind three layers of chain link fencing are two 400 pound tigers. They are, to say the least, impressive. Particularly after a couple of adult beverages. Before we were allowed into the inner enclosure we were warned to not stick our fingers through the chain link fence. As if THAT was going to be an issue. The reason was not in fear that they’d be used as a snack, but that these tigers are pretty much like any other cat in many ways. Cats like to rub against things. Four hundred pounds of cat rubbing against fingers stuck through fence equals broken fingers.
No fingers were harmed in the making of these photos.
Mims, FL, 6/4/11
Mims, FL, 6/4/11
Mims, FL, 6/4/11
Mims, FL, 6/4/11
We have a family of cardinals moving into the palm just outside our porch. At least I hope we still do. We (myself & Nickie, the gray cat) noticed the couple checking out the palm yesterday and today we noticed that construction had commenced. While speaking to my bride on the phone and watching the male bring materials to the female I realized that I should photograph the progress of their efforts. After hanging up I immediately grabbed the camera and came back out. There was a battle underway. Two males were fighting it out big time in the back yard, squawking and tumbling across the ground with wings a-flapping. I got some shots over the course of 3-4 minutes before combat left the area. I’ll never know which one won.
The female in the equation fled the scene.
Rockledge, FL 4/6/11
Above: Early construction
Rockledge, FL 4/6/11
Above: Combat
Rockledge, FL 4/6/11
Above: Between rounds
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