Stroll Along Turkey Creek

Started out today on a quest to visit and photograph the parks and preserves of Brevard County. First stop: Turkey Creek Sanctuary in Palm Bay, where I hoped to find some early migrants. The hammock and scrub were eerily quiet, however, with only a handful of cardinals, Carolina wrens, red-bellied woodpeckers, and white ibis wandering around. I did ID one Northern Waterthrush on a log in the creek, but it was too far to photograph with any clarity.

This Amanda's pennant (just over 1" in life size) was the first living creature I encountered, sunning itself in the pine scrub area of the sanctuary.

There are jogging trails, exercise trails, a boardwalk, and a canoe launch in the park; this morning, I was taken with the image of this woman strolling along under a parasol, reading a book as she walked. What a nice way to start the day!

The best find of the morning, however, was a five-lined skink (actually, two of them!) Check out the incredibly vibrant blue tail of the immature skink hanging out on the boardwalk railing:

The sawed-off blunt tip testifies to the ability of these lizards to break off their tails to survive a predatory attack.

Not far away, a more mature skink watched from the trunk of a tree. (The vibrant blue tail of the young skink fades with age.)

Another lizard that's common to encounter in the sanctuary is the anole, this male a nice shade of mottled brown. They're fun to watch, too, as they expand their orange throats in mating displays.

Beauty berries are abundant right now and many of the trees are covered with fruit and seeds, so the migrants should be easy to find when they do arrive.

And I had one final encounter with a thin-waisted wasp, as I left the sanctuary. Isn't it a beauty?

That's it for today; I'll be headed to the beach tomorrow to check out the Maritime Hammock trails and to get some photos of the 8-12' surf they say we're going to get from Fiona.

Transition . . .

Tomorrow is the last day I will ever drive into HHS as an employee, after 33 years of teaching; this thought comes with much joy and a bit of anxiety. This morning, I found an "Alumni of Hagerty High 2010" t-shirt in my mailbox--an unexpected and much appreciated surprise.

What this means is that I'll have more time to be in the field with my camera, time to develop additional photography skills, and lots of time to write in this blog!

Hopefully, I'll meet more of my Flickr photo contacts out there. Yesterday, as I stood up from getting a shot of a Needham's skimmer perched low in the grass, I heard someone shout out . . . "You just missed this caracara." And there was Terry, whose company I enjoyed for a bit of a stroll along the edge of the Orlando Wetlands.

Keep your eyes open and your aperture your priority! Wave and say "Hello" to that gray-haired lady with the Olympus; she'd love to meet you.

Sometimes I feel . . .

2009 was a difficult year, as I lost both my mother and my very dearest friend. I'm certain that these people are gone from my life forever, and I do not believe I will see them in a "hereafter."

My comfort, then, comes in understanding that the death of a human being is no more or less signifcant than the death of any living thing; the parts wear out or the body becomes fodder for microscopic organisms in fulfillment of their life cycles. And all recycles, sooner or later, in the life cycle of the universe that surrounds us.

How very sad it is, that we have developed the ability to rely on emotional connections, to contemplate loss, to feel the absence of loved ones, and thus to grieve the emotional emptiness a death leaves behind. . .