Florida is a place of beauty on the land, the sea and the air. But I will not forget the beauty of the birds as they soared over the water. Environmentalists in Florida remind us that these birds are vulnerable to the toxins in the environment.
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Tag Archives: Birds
Lunch On The Beach
When the tide goes out, the beaches are a bird watcher’s paradise in Florida. Simply called “beach birds” these small birds are having a feast fit for–well–a bird.
Lunch anyone?
The land of egrets and northern shovelers
I went for a walk around the Novato Marsh last week with my good friend David. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and there were birds all around. There were northern shovelers, red tailed hawks in the air, and an egret perched on a slim strip of grass above the water.
With the water reflecting the beautiful clouds above, the northern shoveler navigates his way to his friends.
An egret enjoys a walk in the grass at Novato Marsh.
For The Birds
Pelicans are among nature’s most unusual birds. They look prehistoric, dinaourish in fact. Graceful in flight, pelicans are cartoonish on the land.
If you want to see pelicans up close and personal, visit Florida. I photographed this handsome specimen at Lake Okeechobee. Half the size of Rhode Island, Okeechobee is the largest fresh water lake in Florida. For reasons unknown to me, tourism is nearly non-existent around the lake. When we visited a nearly abandoned dock there were a dozen or more men and women fishing for supper. The birds and the fishermen occupied the dock in harmony, presumably with the birds anticipating scraps of food. It made it relatively easy to get a few photographs of these wonderful birds. 
Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay, Watching the Tide Roll In [1]
[1] Otis Redding, with Steve Cooper, wrote the lyrics to “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” which he recorded three weeks before his death on Dec. 10, 1967.
Shifting the Balance 