Mutual of J-TWO-O's Wild Kingdom: Birds of Sanibel Edition

Greetings fellow nature lovers!

This Friday I had the good fortune to go on the Stokes Private Birding Tour of the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, sponsored by the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society, of which I am a member.

Donald and Lillian Stokes are noted bird watchers and the authors of the Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. And I, along with a few dozen other people who like to watch and photograph birds, got a lesson from Lillian Stokes on how to take a good bird photo.

It was a great morning, with the weather warm, the tide low, and birds aplenty. And despite the problems associated with trying to photograph birds -- they move a lot and us loud, pale apes frighten them -- I managed to take over a dozen good photographs. (Unfortunately, my Nikon DSLR is apparently not a morning camera, and refused to take a good photo, but I had my wonderful little Canon SX720, which takes amazingly good photos for a camera its size.)

Here are some of my favorite bird photos from the Stokes Private Birding Tour of Ding Darling. (Sadly, there were no roseate spoonbills, but you can't have everything.) Enjoy!

White pelican and great blue heron

White pelican in flight

White pelicans

Snowy egret

Puffed up snowy egret

Snowy egret in flight

Snowy egret in flight

White pelicans

White pelicans and little blue herons

Mottled duck

Tricolored heron

Male and female mottled duck

Snowy egret in mangrove

Tricolored heron

Anhinga

Tricolored heron in mangrove

Cormorant (this photo cracks me up)

Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden

If you happen to be in New York City between now and October 29th, I highly recommend you go to the New York Botanical Garden (in the Bronx) to see the CHIHULY exhibit (as well as the beautiful flowers and plants).

The exhibit includes over 20 stunning glass sculptures, installed throughout the Garden, by renowned glass sculptor/artist Dale Chihuly, whose blown glass creations have been exhibited at museums around the world.

Here are some of the amazing glass works of art featured in the New York Botanical Garden exhibit. (Click on the photo to see a larger view. Then hit the "back" button/arrow to return to the post.)

NB: It is really hard to photograph glass when the sun is shining directly overheard -- and a dozen or so people keep walking into the frame.

What true freedom looks like

You want to know what true freedom looks like? It looks like this: two American bald eagles, perched atop a cell tower on a beautiful, warm, sunny day in Sanibel, Florida, masters of their domain. Able to come and go as they please. Looking down upon us puny, foolish, earthbound humans.

Majestic, aren't they?

[Click on the photo to get a better look.]

And here's a closeup:

Not sure where their nest is, probably close by. (I'm assuming they are a nesting pair.)

I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to gaze upon and photograph these two magnificent creatures -- and have named them Liberty and Freedom.

This concludes another episode of Mutual of J-TWO-O's Wild Kingdom.

A valentine to nature

Welcome to another episode of Mutual of J-TWO-O's Wild Kingdom.

As many of you, I love nature -- especially birds and shells (and flowers, but that's another post). So this Valentine's Day, I am sharing my love of nature with some beautiful and awe-inspiring photos of birds and shells I took the last few days*, which will hopefully distract you from all the ugliness in the world, albeit briefly.

To quote Jon Stewart, here is Your Moment of Zen...

*On Sanibel Island, Florida

Christmas is for the birds

Welcome to another episode of J-TWO-O's Wild Kingdom. This week we will be focusing on the birds of Sanibel, Florida, home to the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

For those of you unfamiliar with Sanibel, the island has two major claims to fame: some of the best shelling in the United States and some of the best bird watching. So for someone like me who loves hunting for seashells and has discovered a passion for bird watching later in life, Sanibel is paradise. And this year, I got to spend Christmas day on Sanibel doing two of the things I loved the most, shelling in the morning and bird watching in the afternoon.

While the shelling was a bit of a disappointment, the bird watching was not. Not only was Wildlife Drive free for Christmas, but Ding Darling was swarming with birds -- from a crowd of ibis to a pod of pelicans to a bowl of roseate spoonbills to a flight of cormorants.

Sadly, I was only able to get good photos of a handful of these fine feathered friends, due to my zoom lens not being able to zoom enough. (I called out to several birds to fly over next to me, but they did not listen to me.) So look for another bird post in the not-to-distant future.

[To find out the names of the birds, hover over the photo.]

2016 NYBG Holiday Train Show

As everyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I am a HUGE fan of the New York Botanical Garden. We have been members for years, and I visit the NYBG as often as I can.

But in all the years we've been back on the East Coast, we have never gone to see the New York Botanical Garden's world famous Holiday Train Show. Until last night.

Although the Garden typically closes by 6 p.m., on a handful of nights (10, to be precise) during the Holiday Train Show, it reopens from 7 until 10 p.m. for Bar Car Nights. And if you have never been to the New York Botanical Garden at night, let me tell you, it's magical. Especially after a big snowfall.

But whether you go at night or during the day, the New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show, which runs through January 16th, is worth a visit, as you will hopefully see from this video the spouse took...

and my photographs of the great G-scale trains and the amazing recreations of famous New York City landmarks.

[Click on each photo to enlarge it.]