Brass Bowl

Yeah, I overdid it just a little on Thanksgiving.  So on Saturday, Spousal Unit and I loaded up the bikes and hit the Van Fleet Trail.  We started at Green Pond, and sure enough, Green Pond Tom was there.  He was cosy’d up with some other riders, soaking up the attention and the scraps.  We also got a better look at the fawn we spotted fleetingly last time.  Mom was evidently in the brush watching.  We kept our distance and used the zoom.  You can see the spots on the back of the little fella (or gal).

We waited a few moments and he loped back into the brush.  The rest of the ride was kind of anticlimatic, but the trees are starting to turn and it was a nice day to be on the trail.

This weekend the Bowl took a roll along the Van Fleet Trail.  It is one of the more rural Rails To Trails in the state, and the wildlife viewing is pretty good.  We started in Polk City and rode north to the Green Pond Trailhead, a distance of ten miles.  Waiting for us there was Green Pond Tom.

Judging from the multitude of dishes around, it looks like GPT has a few fans.

So after the break, we headed back south.  It was going to be a twenty mile day.  More than enough to tire me out.  But as soon as we started to get a little tired, a doe stepped into the road.

I took the camera down from my eye and a fawn bounded across the road from right to left, and mom disappeared after it.

At the midway point back, we stopped for a quick break, and noticed that the shelter at the five mile point was, in fact, Spider House.

These spiders are two to three inches across.

We left the spiders to their business, and start pushing pedals south.  But not for long.  Who can ride by a pair of Sandhill Cranes and not take some pictures?

It was a wonderful day on the trail.  We got some exercise, made friends with a feline, said yuck to the spiders, stared at the Sandhills and marveled at the doe and fawn.

Sometimes a photographer gets so lucky he can’t believe it.  And he isn’t ready.  Such as this case.  I was trying out some experimental settings on my camera while in Melbourne when I stumbled upon TWO birds on my list to photograph.

The first was the Little Blue Heron, sitting on the shore doing his/her fishing thing, oblivious to me.  After snapping the picture and moving on, so did the bird.

I then walked around some brush to the rear of the Little Blue Heron, and was startled to see a juvie Great Blue Heron.  She/he only stood still long enough for one shot, and then nervously started walking away.  I moved away also, so as not to stress the creature any more than I already have.

Only then did I realize that my camera was not set to the normal settings, and the pictures might not be optimal.  I was right.  But this is what I got, so I have to accept that, and learn from my experiences.

The Bowl went on another Melbourne jaunt Labor Day, to celebrate a birthday.  While there, we took a day to see what the beach looked like.  Given the storms in the Gulf and the Atlantic, it was not a typical beach day.  I thought it would be interesting to show a beach that is NOT all sun and fun, but breezy and cloudy.

The wind was from the east, blowing onshore.  It was whipping up some fair surf, but the rip currents were also kicking up, so we didn’t see any surfers.   The lack of human activity on the beach brought out some of the native guys and girls.  This is a Ghost Crab, (Ocypode quadrata ).  They are called ghosts because they can disappear in a blink, moving up to 10 mph.  It took me a few minutes to get these shots, sitting quietly while my feet and lower legs went to sleep.

Below is a close up of this fella.  Click on the picture to see a 1024 x 768 image.

He was scuttling all over the place like Dr. Zoidberg.  What I didn’t know about the Ghost Crab is that while they can see 360 degrees, they can’t see up, so they burrow in the ground against birds.  They are about one and a half  to two inches in diameter, and look like the perfect snack size for gulls.

It happens from time to time.   Plans don’t work out, or they are based in error.  Such was our day.  We went to the Convention Center, leaving our chairs behind.  TBO stated there would be seating provided.  We get there, nothing.  So we pick a spot to try to watch it.  We get crowded out by less than polite, less than sober people.  Between the columns, the palm trees and the people, we simply could not see much of anything.    We left early, tired and not in the best of humor.  None of the pictures I took are worth posting.

And it is my fault.  I did not do a good job of research or review of the best viewing area.  (shrug)  Some days are like that.  You can’t have great days every day.

Unless you are a cat.  Here’s to you, Tinkerbell.