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09 March 2007

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

It's been a long, long time since I visited the wildlife refuge, so yesterday I grabbed the bins and camera and headed out that way. I was a bit surprised to find so many people there on a weekday. Reckon they couldn't resist such a beautiful day, either. Since my last visit they raised the entrance fee again. At $5 a carload, I figured it made sense to go ahead and buy a duck stamp. Two more trips and it's 'paid for itself'.

There were lots of young gators basking in the afternoon sun.


Walking down one path, I heard a huge splash just ahead. I never did find that gator. But I did see two that looked blue. I've only seen blue gators once before, down in south FL. Unfortunately, it was late (bad lighting) and they were a bit too far out for a decent pic. But just to show you the colour, I'll post these really bad ones:



On the way out, the shore birds had gathered for supper. What an amazing sight, There must have been hundreds, maybe thousands!


Except for the sand gnats and mosquitoes, it was a nearly perfect day, ending with a gorgeous sunset on the way home.

Anhinga:

Great Egret: My favourite shot of the day... Double-crested Cormorants:

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a nice photo of those cormorants, down to composition and everything. Good job!

R.Powers said...

We talking about St. Marks?
Nice shots Sophie. Ditto Thingfish's cormorant comment.

SophieMae said...

Thanks ever so, y'all! Every once in a while, everything goes right at the same time. 8-]

Yep, St. Marks. I never get tired of that place. And I still take pics of the lighthouse every visit. :)

Anonymous said...

That's funny - I just read the title, that you were at St. Marks. When I was looking at the photos, I thought, "That looks alot like St. Marks!" And - DERRrrr - it WAS St. Marks.

My friends and I went there often when I was a student at FSU.

R.Powers said...

What's even weirder is the fact that Thingfish's second comment is what I was about to write. Almost word for word. Even the "Derrrr" part, although I was gonna use "Duhhhhhh"

I must have totally ignored the title on my first visit.

SophieMae said...

Well, I could be mean and not say anything... I was pretty beat when I posted and forgot to add the title, so I edited it in later. 8-}

Anonymous said...

SophieMae .. HUGS2U!! I've been away somewhere a little more tropical ... just returning in time to focus in on some of your GREAT shots here!!! Am on my way to Dothan ... will be back home in COLD NY by the weekend ... Love your new site! ~ Tipster

R.Powers said...

Okay, I feel better now.