Alligator and Turtles, here at this small lake on Dauphin Island. There are lots of turtles who seem to not mind this alligator swimming right next to them. The folks that live here mention that there is just one alligator in this lake. I don’t know a lot about them, but maybe they are territorial so he wants the lake all to himself.
I placed a video below of this beautiful animal. We were standing on a dock above him and took these photos with a video on the one day he came out of hiding from the tall grass. It has been pretty cold here lately so he doesn’t come out unless it is warm outside.
My Day Begins at Sunrise for me, actually before sunrise. I am always up before the sunrises in anticipation for what is coming as the sun begins to warm the earth.
I watch the horizon, as if I am watching a movie in slow motion. The gorgeous colors of light dancing across the heavens. When you actually stop to see it, I mean really see it. You see its worth, its purpose and its power as the Light of the World.
Shrimp Boats If you have heard of Bayou La Batre, it may be because it was featured in the movie Forrest Gump when the lead character had the only shrimp trawler in this Alabama coastal town after a storm and he made huge amounts of money. It lies along the Mississippi Sound on the Gulf of Mexico in south Alabama.
We went there very early one morning and were surprised at all the colorful shrimp boats docked along the shore line. Beautiful reflections of each one.
Starting in the 1970s through the early part of the 1990s, Bayou La Batre was the shrimp-trawler-building capital of the world, often turning out more than a trawler a day from a dozen shipyards. During the latter part of the 1990s and the early part of this decade, the business of building trawlers almost stopped in its tracks because of several economic reasons including overbuilding, cost of fuel, scarcity of boat financing and plummeting shrimp prices.
Some of the local builders turned to building offshore workboats with great success, while others divided up what fishing boat business was left. For example, Master Boat Builders built scores of fishing vessels until 2002 but only four since that time. Since 2002, over 50 OSVs have come out of that same yard and almost no other vessel type has.
During the transformation away from shrimp trawlers, many types of commercial vessels emerged from the boatyards of Bayou La Batre including ships used in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. It was a combination of the skills of the boatbuilders of Steiner Shipyard and of the Walt Disney Company’s magicians that made realistic-looking period warships from small self-contained utility vessels.
Winter Color in the South, it has been getting colder even down here in the south. But on a sunny day you can still spot a butterfly or two with some yellow flowers strewn about.
Another King will leave traveling North back into the Mountains of no name to be with His Father. He leaves with Duty, Purpose, Honor and Courage. For you see he wears many faces, a Soldier a father a King. And then, in the still of the night, when the Light is low in the heavens. Look up son, for I will call your name and you will return to Me. To stand with those who went before you. To rest in Me for eternity.
Peace be with you Mark, I will forever remember the day I found your post with the simple words that caught my eyes. The Rural Iowegian. 💕 There is no fear in the walls of faith.
I started reading Marks post (the Rural Iowegian), back in 2019. He struggled with cancer for 509 days and recently went home to be with our Father. May he rest in peace for evermore.
Looking Down at Us – Tranquility does exist. Off the beaten path, taking the road less traveled and returning to creation. That is us down there on the left side of the photo. Husband takes care of the photos from above as I photograph from below.
A way to show any one that happens to see these photos that the beauty of creation still exist.
I am the One who gave you hands to use your talents to create life around you.
Stretching Feels So Good even for birds. I took this series of photos as I was watching these Brown Pelicans perched on post in the water. This one started to do a stretch and ended up looking like he was going to dive right into the water. But it was just a stretch.
No Luck for That Osprey, he did not get his fish, he came up out of the water empty handed. I did not get a shot because my camera was buffering. But next thing I saw was another osprey coming from my right side and it did have a fish in its talons.
Now this might be a sad photo for the fish. But it is nature doing what it is designed to do. Fish is the main diet to the Osprey and its talons are created exactly for what it needs to do to survive.
Included below is a video of a variety of birds I have photographed here on the Gulf Coast, including the Rare Reddish Egret and my camera settings that I use to go with some of the photos.
As the bird reaches for a fish, its outer front toe swivels to the rear, giving it two grasping talons front and back. Its long, slender, arched wings help the Osprey get clear of the water too, as it takes flight with the fish’s head facing the front—the most aerodynamically efficient position.
Mountain or a Beach, a little fun with forced perspective photography. Sometimes you have to get down low to the ground and take your photos. It can give a new perspective on what you are looking at and lets the imagination think of a world that is beyond what is right in front of us.
When I see this photo it looks like a mountain range along a lake.
So this is what I imagine. I added a small person silhouette to give it my perspective. But picture him smaller and it will look like a mountain.
All it takes is One spoken word or written to change Ones world into a different perspective then what they have become used to. Or One spoken word or written to destroy Ones world.
This is what it looks like from above.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
The Real World is Hard and often draining on the mind and body. Human beings have been drawing on cave walls since the dawn of time to inspire themselves.
Human brains are wired to appreciate and be inspired by art. The right brain, for example, is stimulated deeply by art. Artworks inspire creative and innovative thinking; the right brain takes what it sees and expands upon it.
Staring into a picture of a forest, the right brain envisions walking through the forest, looking to the corners just beyond the frame to see animals and new vistas.Â
That is what I do when I look at artwork and photos and it inspires me to create art with my own photos. Like the top photo, I took that photo early one morning. There wasn’t any reflection but the water was calm. So I made a reflection to show you what I was picturing as I stood there on the beach watching this shrimp boat sitting still on the water.
Sometimes nature creates its own art work, like the photo below. I think the curve of the sand along the edge of the island is so unique. I walked this spot quite a few times and it only looked like this once. It changed everyday I was there.
Piper Plovers, these are the cutest birds on the shores. They are so tiny but move very fast. There are about three dozen species of plovers, 15 to 30 centimetres (6 to 12 inches) long, with long wings, moderately long legs, short necks, and straight bills that are shorter than their heads.Â
If you look close you can see this Plover pulling a very small worm type thing out of the sand. You can imagine how small this bird is, there is probably no way we could see this little worm in the sand.
I read that birds tuck one foot up in their feathers to preserve their heat. They lose heat through their feet and on this morning it was pretty cold out. But they still stand in the water.
Portrait of the Snowy Egret, we went out for a bike ride on this particular morning. The sun was still low in the sky and as we crossed a small bridge we came to a sudden stop. As we noticed this beautiful Egret perched on a branch just above the creek.
I slowly got my camera out, the sun was behind us creating a beautiful spot light, it turned to look towards me and I took the photo as you see. Sometimes when I am least expecting it, an average morning bike ride turns into a site that can take my breathaway.
What is Snowy and Great, that would be two different species of Egret Birds. The Snowy Egret has a black bill and a touch of yellow around the eyes. Much smaller than the great egret as well.
The Great Egret, as shown below, has always impressed me with their large wing spans. I love to try and photograph these beautiful birds when the are flying over water, to capture the tips of their wings just grazing the water is a fun challenge to do. One has to sit patiently for quite awhile to do this sometimes.
The Snowy Egret below enjoying the fresh catch of the day.
Through the Tunnel & Over the Bridge to New Adventures We Go 😉
Someday is Here
You know how some of us say; ” Someday I am going to go on that big trip”, or Someday I will do __________.
Well, the word someday usually means never. I heard that in a movie that the actor Tom Cruise is in. He said that line.
Someday is here and our journey continues. I look forward to sharing photos of God’s Country along the way. I wish you all a wonderful weekend. Try to never put off what you can do today until someday. Life is a gift,
Life is a gift and death is a homecoming to me. Our body’s are on loan to us just for a short time to enjoy the wonderful things He gives us. I did not grow up in a Christian family at all. A neighbor told me a little bit about it when I was 10 years old and I have been searching for the truth ever since.
He never meant for it to be a mystery; it is the gift of life. Finding my purpose has been the journey, the end will just be the beginning.
Rare Find of the Reddish Egret, We happened across a new bird to add to my list last week, as we walked along the shoreline looking for a different bird at the time. I had no idea what this bird was, but believed it to be in the Heron family.
When I got back home I looked it up right away to find that it is a non breeding Reddish Egret. The species was adversely affected by plume hunting in the United States and extirpated from Florida in early 1900’s (Powell et al. 1989). It was recorded again in Florida in 1937 (Davis 1937, Desmond 1939) and since then has recolonized much of its former range
Dark morph adults are rich grayish blue bodies with vivid pinkish-cinnamon head and neck.
This bird stood patiently as we walked by, it did not seem to mind us at all. We pulled up our chairs that we were carrying and sat for a spell. I did capture some video as well and will show that at a later time.
In the stately and dignified world of herons, Reddish Egrets are the swashbuckling cousins. These big, cinnamon and steely gray birds put on a show as they forage in shallow saltwater.Â
Ship and a Boat, what is the difference? Well, I have always been facinated with ships, I don’t get to see them to often unless I am near the ocean of course. I have always thought about how they made the first boat and as time went by they now make ships like this one below.
We were driving by a ship yard and saw this huge ship being built for the Navy. I don’t know what it is, but there were actually 3 of them being built so I had to snap a photo of this one.
Of course as you walk by any marina down south, the boats are quite pretty. Or I guess you would call these yachts. These by the way are all for sale sitting here and they did not have prices posted on them. I can probably guess they are not cheap.
Then a huge container ship was headed our way so we sat on the edge of the dock and watched in amazement, just to see the sheer size of this thing up close is something to me. I have seen them way out in the waters before. But never this close.
Life on the Beach yes another photo with people in it. But, actually I was watching the Blue Heron bird standing on the beach by the water. The people just happened to be in the background. (video below)
I do post photos here a little ahead of the videos I make for You Tube, the videos take a little bit longer. But if you would like to see the videos that go along with most of my post you can check them out here at this link and there is a subscribe button as well to be notified when I post videos. Adventures Outdoors Photography by Sandra J You Tube
I try to put them on You Tube every Tuesday when I can, it is a way to make my photos come to life. Thank you all for visiting this blog and commenting, I do appreciate it and enjoy conversing with you and meeting new people through this thing called blogging.
Morning Noon and Night, there is always something going on at the beaches. From people just walking on the beach to fishing with very tall fishing poles. (video below)
To pelicans sunning themselves during the heat of the day. You can find them easy enough during the day stitting on a post in the water, cleaning their feathers.
But come sunset, the beaches empty out, the lights are low. That is when we enjoy a walk on the beach the most. Just remember to bring a flashlight if you lose track of time.
So the evening and the morning were the second day and the dry land could appear.
The Mississippi River, we are back along the Mississippi River. It has been awhile since we camped along the river. A bit muggy this time of year, but always something to see.
Diving Head First into a New Adventure this weekend. It is my birthday weekend, I am turning the big 60 years old. A year ago I picked where I wanted to be on my 60th birthday and these photos will give you a little hint. . But this adventure does not end with just a weekend. 60 is the new 30, we are never to old to make our dreams come true, faith and trust.
Of course a lot has happened over this past year and I never write my plans in stone. One never knows if tomorrow will come, I take one day at a time and enjoy it to the fullest.
So I am going to say; Have a wonderful weekend a little early today.
Until We Meet Again – to the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds in my yard this year. I have made a note on my calendar, for the first time this year, I have not seen these beautiful little birds. I believe they started their long journey south. They have been all over my fall flowers and feeders throughout August and now they are gone.
So here are some of my best photos during 2021 of the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. Safe travels.
