Clearwater Florida Fun

Clearwater is a beautiful place to visit on the Gulf of Mexico near St. Petersburg, Florida.  Favorites were the sugar sand beaches, plentiful dolphins, botanical gardens, and spectacular sunrises and sunsets.  Can’t wait to see it again!

Spectacular Orange Sunrise!

Snowy Egret Walking by Beach Shell Pile

Clearwater Seashells Collected

Clearwater Shell Beach at Hotel

Clearwater Hotel Looking Towards Sand Key Park

Clearwater’s Sand Key Park Beach Waves

Sand Key Sailboat – Pastels of White Sugar Sand and Blue Gulf of Mexico

Pelican at Marina

Dolphin Jumping Seen on Clearwater Fun Boat Ice Cream Tour

Florida Botanical Gardens Entrance and Travelers Palms

Around the Yard

Bees Made Honeycombs

Sandhill Crane (4 feet tall)

Cottontail Rabbit

Mushroom Fairy Ring

Ladies Tresses (native orchid growing in lawn)

Blooming Agave Spike at Sunset

Pink Hidden Ginger

Sunshine Mimosa Flower

Purple Passion Flower

Front View of Plumeria Flowers

Back Candy-Stripe View of Plumeria Flowers

Rain showers made our yard lush and green and the flowers happy. Here is a little tour of what we see every day.

Iceland: Magical Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Mount Stapafell (Home of Elves). Rocky Point on Top is called Fellskross – a Viking Sign of Holy Powers

Svodufoss Waterfall

Icelandic Sheep in Meadow

Northern Coast of Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Seagulls on Cliff Overlooking Ocean

Arnarstapi Cliff Nesting Birds

Black-Legged Kittiwake Eggshell Dropped on Land

Ondverdarnes Lighthouse at Western Tip of Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Striking Skardsvik Golden Sand Beach in Black Volcanic Landscape

Snaefellsjokull Volcano and Orange Sky at Midnight in June

Snaefellsjokull with Dramatic Clouds

Iceland’s Snaefellsnes Peninsula is an enchanting place.  We find more places to go every time we visit.  The birds – the sky – the coast – and the ever-present Snaefellsjokull volcano make for a magical place.

In the Sjominjasafn Maritime Museum we saw a display with a beautiful quote by Halldor Laxness, World Light:

“Where the glacier meets the sky, the land ceases to be earthly, and the earth becomes one with the heavens; no sorrows live there anymore, and therefore joy is not necessary; beauty alone reigns there, beyond all demands”.

 

Arizona: Monument Valley

Spectacular Sunrise over the Left and Right Mitten Buttes

Classic Monument Valley View

Rider on Horse at John Ford’s Lookout Point

Three Sisters Spires

Big Hogan Rock Formation

The Thumb Stands Out

Tree Silhouette at Moccasin Arch

Antelope Petroglyphs

Milky Way and Meteor

Sunrise on Another Beautiful Day at Monument Valley

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is a very scenic location in Utah.  It was a place we visited years ago on our first vacation together with our very first camera, and we’ve never forgotten it.  We returned to see it again last April and it was even better the second time around.  Many classic westerns were filmed in the area including John Wayne in The Searchers, plus also Stagecoach, Back to the Future III, Forrest Gump, The Wind Talkers, and Winged Migration among others.  We took a Navajo guided tour by Phillips Photography to see the park and also to photograph the Milky Way and sunrise.  Can’t wait to go back!

We filmed the short timelapse movie below at sunset from our room at “The View” Hotel.

Florida: Glorious Sunrises

Golden Sunrise

Palms and Pink Sunrise

Purple Martin Nesting Gourds and Pink Sunrise

We’ve had the most spectacular and glorious sunrises the past week here in Florida.  What a way to start to day!

Iceland: Stunning Snaefellsjokull Glacier and Goodbye

Pink Midnight Sunset over Snaefellsjokull Glacier

Strawberry Moonrise over Ocean

Close-up of Strawberry Moon

Snaefellsjokull Glacier and Lupines

Close-up of Snaefellsjokull Glacier

Icelandic Mountain in Rear-View Mirror

The scenery on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula is stunning!  The Snaefellsjokull Glacier there dominates the landscape and was the entrance point for scientists in the Jules Verne classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.  Jokull in Icelandic means glacier.  

One evening at midnight in June the sunset turned the mountain pink, while a strawberry moon rose over the ocean.  The view from our beachfront cabin was magic!  Making it even better was when three wild horses galloped by on the beach.  Some people think the mountain has high magnetic energy.  Belief is strong in the area that elves and hidden people live in the lava.  Plans are currently underway to draw a map detailing the area’s enchanted and magical places: http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2016/06/06/belief_in_elves_very_strong_in_west_iceland/

Iceland is an amazing and must-see destination for any naturalist or photographer.  Although it is now in our rear-view window as I plan our next adventure, I am sure we will visit again someday.  I have prepared a custom Google map of places of interest to us in Iceland:   https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=1skvfqsNlWpCilCOaJc2tjreDGnc&ll=64.70735820733395%2C-19.523818050000045&z=7  Although we didn’t manage to see everything due to time or weather constraints, we did manage to see a majority of places.  Feel free to ask any questions you may have if you are planning your own trip.  I put together an Iceland travel guidebook illustrated with our best pictures here (PDF – click twice): ICELAND SLIDESHOW updated July 2019

Florida Skies: Sunrise Clouds and Midnight Rocket

Spectacular Cloud with Rainbow at Sunrise

Close-up of Rainbow Cloud

Tall Glowing Tropical Cloud

Rocket Launch After Midnight

We’ve had the most beautiful sights in the sky both day and night this week.  One morning at sunrise we woke up to tall tropical clouds that seemed to glow from within.  One cloud even had a rainbow in it.  After midnight last night we watched a spectacular rocket blastoff.  A Delta 4 rocket successfully launched two satellites into orbit at 12:52 am.  Our 30 second photograph’s unusual effect is the result of light fog and a full moon.  High humidity made the roar of blastoff over 60 miles away quite loud and long.  Since light travels faster than sound, we saw the liftoff before we heard it.  

Purple Martin Nests and Babies!

Adult Male Purple Martin Looking Out Nesting Gourd Entrance Hole (note iridescent purple feathers)

Hungry Babies

Baby Ready to be Fed – Still Partially in Shell!

Hatchling Hug

Looking through Gourd’s Entrance Hole (love the “lips”)

Leaf-Lined Nest Containing 5 Eggs

Leaf and Bark-Lined Nest Containing 5 Eggs

Leaf and Cedar Chip Nest Containing 5 Eggs

Cedar Chip Nest Containing 3 Eggs (probably a first-time nester)

Frog on Nesting Gourd

Silhouette of Purple Martin Gourd Rack and Sky: All Tucked-In for Night (click to enlarge for details)

Last weekend we did a nest check of our two purple martin gourd racks.  So far we have a total of 11 nests containing 49 babies and eggs!  There are also 4 more early nests that may or may not progress on to eggs within the next 2 weeks.  One nest contained a baby that wriggled out of its egg as we watched.  The baby even opened its mouth to be fed while it was still partially in the shell!  The birds seem to have their own individual nest styles. Some martin parents gather lots of leaves, some add hard red bark to the nest, and others simply lay eggs on the cedar chips provided as a base.  Each nest usually contains 3-6 eggs.  Love this time of year!  If you would like to host your own purple martins, more info is at:  https://www.purplemartin.org/education/75/getting-started/.

Florida: Spectacular Sunset!

Florida Sunset Pink Sky

Florida Sunset Orange Sky

Our sunset last night was spectacular! Here in Florida we get the best sunsets after stormy weather. Afterward the frogs were busy croaking all night.

Florida: Let’s Have Fun!

Walking on Sebastian Beach

Watching Terns and Skimmers Flying

Boating on the Indian River Lagoon

Sitting on the Dock at Dusk

Designing our Personal Postcard

♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♫

Oh the weather is so delightful,

For Flo-ri-da we’re thankful.

Things to do, we can’t pick just one,

Let’s have fun, let’s have fun, let’s have fun.

♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♫

 

Springtime Around Our Florida Yard

Foggy Sunrise

Eastern Screech Owl in Nest Box

Painted Bunting

Sandhill Crane

Brown Anole

Armadillo

Squirrel on Porch Screen

Mourning Dove

Pink Hibiscus

There is plenty of activity in our Florida yard in spring.  We just never know what we’ll see next!  Hope the wildlife and plants are doing well in your yard, too.

 

Florida: Favorite Sunsets 2011

Florida Tropical Sunset

Sunset and Dramatic Clouds

Pink Sunset over Pond

Sunsets in Florida can be spectacular, particularly after a dramatic thunderstorm!  These are our favorite Florida sunsets from 2011. 

Florida: Sunrise on the Indian River

Dawn on the Indian River, Florida

Palm Tree and Rising Sun

Sunrises are so beautiful in Florida.  Add a soft warm breeze and birds singing for a perfect moment in time.

California: Favorite Big Sur Sunset

Big Sur Sunset

Big Sur has the most gorgeous sunsets along the California coast!  We took this image at dusk.  We used a long exposure to saturate the colors and give the ocean a dreamscape look.