Brass Bowl

I have never seen this bridge used by a train.  It looks horrible, and the office theory is that is stuck in the up position.  Then, I was on the Kennedy Street bridge, checking the river for flotsam, when I heard a train horn, and saw this bridge s-l-o-w-l-y raising back up.  The train had come and gone, but here is proof that the bridge is not stuck in the up position.

This is a one lane road being used as a two lane road.  The double yellow line sez, “No Passing”.  The sign in the distance sez “Speed Humps”.  I say, “Flotsam”.  Yeah, that’s a Pringles can.  I put it in the picture to give some scale.  Blazing Buffalo Wings.  Meh.

Construction underway at the future home of TMA.  Here you can see several lifts, a detached concrete boom pump in the background, and a truck mounted concrete boom fully extended (I’m guessing it’s a Putzmeister 61 meter).  They are pouring new caps over the parking garage (you can see some of the finished ones in the foreground).  Click on the image to see a 1200 x 900 picture.

Was it animal, mineral or vegetable?

I was strolling along Riverwalk by the Convention Center, and noticed a colony (?) of Brown Pelicans either in flight or sunning themselves on the detached boat slips.  The light was completely wrong with the sun shining almost directly into the lens.  I tried many different combinations, and took over thirty shots, and these are the best three.  Click on the last one to see a 1200 x 900 picture of the pair.

The Brown Pelican is the only pelican to dive for its food.  While it is draining the water out of its large extendable bill, seagulls often try to steal the fish inside.

Tampa and Brown Pelicans have a significant history together.  It was here that UT researchers discovered the adverse affects of DDT on the egg shells, which led to the ban of DDT nationwide.  The Brown Pelican is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which makes it unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell Brown Pelicans. The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs and nests.