Tag Archives: Cypress

In the Neighborhood

March 28, 2020INSIDE FLORIDAbirds, Cypress, spanish moss, wildlifeEd Rosack

Lynn and I have been walking around our neighborhood a bit more than usual lately (six feet away from everyone, of course). I’ve been carrying a camera and here are some things that caught my eye.

Spanish Moss is common around here – it decorates many of our trees. This piece dangled in some pretty morning light for me.

Morning light on Spanish Moss

By the way, Spanish Moss isn’t moss. It’s an epiphyte and gets nutrients and water from air and rainfall. See this Wikipedia article for more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_moss

We also have a lot of Cypress trees in Florida. They’re deciduous conifers – the leaves turn reddish brown or orange in the fall and drop by winter time. New growth in the spring is a vibrant green.

Cypress branch

When we left on our walk, I’d seen a large bird take off from a tree. It happened too fast for a photo and I couldn’t really make out what it was. But I remembered to look for it again when we returned.

Watching the Neighborhood

That’s when I spotted this pretty Red-shouldered Hawk watching intently from the gutter on a house by the corner. Our squirrels and rabbits need to be careful!

Park closing info: I don’t want to post anything about which parks and areas are open or closed in Central Florida. The situation has been changing every day. But many places have shut down – do your research first if you decide to head out.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay safe out there and take care of yourselves, your friends, and your families. And if you can, make some photos!

Big Cypress National Preserve

February 16, 2020Big Cypress Preserve, Must do listastronomy, birds, black and white, Clyde Butcher, Cypress, Fakahatchee, infrared, Kirby Storter State Park, landscape, Loop Road, panorama, red-shouldered hawk, reflection, Tamiami Trail, travel, treeEd Rosack

Big Cypress National Preserve is a 729,000 acre swamp in South Florida adjacent to Everglades National Park. It was originally going to be part of that, but instead was established as a national preserve in 1974.

I’ve wanted to visit for years and finally went down a couple of weeks ago. I stayed at the bungalow Clyde Butcher rents behind his Big Cypress Gallery along Tamiami Trail. This is a “first impressions” blog post, not a guide. I don’t know the area well enough to give you a comprehensive review.

Butcher’s Pond. Next to Clyde Butcher’s gallery on Tamiami Trail

The bungalow was very nice and provided a good base for exploration. I do wish there was cell service or that they provided an internet connection – although I guess you could argue that being cut off is part of the swamp experience!

Big Cypress is huge and there are a lot of places to check out. And even more places if you include Everglades National Park. For me, the southern portion of the Everglades was just too far away from where I stayed so I concentrated on nearby spots including Kirby Storter Park, Fakahatchee Strand, Loop Road, Shark Valley, and a few others. There was a lot I didn’t get to – I need to go back!

Pre-dawn stars and clouds, Kirby Storter Roadside Park

Kirby Storter was only a few minutes away and I hoped to take advantage of dark skies and catch site of the Milky Way from there. I did manage to glimpse it but clouds rolled in towards dawn and I had to make do with a starry pre-dawn photo instead. I can tell you that I felt very alone out there in the middle of the swamp at 5am. It was dark (no moon) and hard to see very far – kinda spooky. But I also felt pretty safe because every time I moved a bit, the crickets went silent. I figured they’d warn me if anything large got close!

Cypress swamp, Kirby Storter Roadside Park

There’s a lovely, short hike along a boardwalk that leads back into the swamp next to some flowing water and ends at a large gator hole.

Red-shouldered Hawk Pair. Fakahatchee Strand State Park

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park was close too. It’s the largest state park in Florida and Janes Memorial Scenic Drive is an eleven mile dirt road leading from the visitor center back into the swamp. There’s only about six miles open right now due to damage from Hurricane Irma. You can drive this yourself like I did, or take a guided tram ride.

I was busy trying to make landscape photos when a lady hawk (the one on the left) started calling in the tree next to me. I thought she was yelling at me for being too close, but it turned out she was calling for her mate. He flew in and they had a “conjugal visit” while I rushed back to the car to get my longer lens. I missed the action, but did get a nice family photo of the pair afterward.

Fakahatchee Strand 4, color

There are a great many views of this lovely swamp along the scenic drive. It took me a long time to go out six miles and back because I stopped so often to photograph.

Loop Road Cypress and Sawgrass

Loop Road is another scenic area. Both ends connect to Tamiami Trail and I explored those, but didn’t travel the whole twenty six mile route. Next time!

On my visit, I mainly focused on landscape images although I did see and photograph some wildlife – mainly in Shark Valley. There were alligators, turtles, and a lot of birds – most were the same ones we see up here in Central Florida although I did sight a yellow crowned night Heron which isn’t very common in my usual spots. There were also a lot of small birds / warblers that I should have spent some time photographing / identifying.

This was a good time of year to visit. It’s considered the “dry season” and in additon to the comfortable temperatures, I got zero bug bites even though I didn’t use any bug spray the whole time.

You could spend a lifetime exploring there. I stayed for three nights and was very tired when I got home but only touched the surface. Things I wanted to do but didn’t have time for: Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, Corkscrew Swamp, a swamp buggy tour, a swamp walk, an airboat ride, the Indian reservations and many others. Things to look forward to!

Cypress and air plants, IR B&W

Location scouting is a huge part of good landscape photography. Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of scouting in advance. You know that an area is special when you can come back from your first visit with photos you really like. Big Cypress is extra special – a Central Florida Photo Ops Must Do!

We should all be grateful that we’ve preserved places like Big Cypress and the Everglades and that we’re working to restore them to their natural state.

Two other blog posts about this trip:

A previous post about the Everglades:

https://edrosack.com/2013/05/04/south-florida-the-everglades-and-the-florida-keys/

Related Flick Albums:

Big Cypress National Preserve and vicinity: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157713004209682
Everglades: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157633358531496

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Black and White Backlog

November 3, 2019Lake Apopka, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando Wetlands, St. Augustineblack and white, buildings, Cypress, infrared, landscape, sunriseEd Rosack

I make a lot of photographs – you may not have been able to tell ;-). And I have many that I like that never get into the blog. So this week I’m going to post a handful of B&W images from around Central Florida that I think are worth seeing. I hope you like them too. Not many words this morning. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Pump house, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Cathedral Interior, St. Augustine

Cypress stand, Orlando Wetlands

Quiet morning, Merritt Island NWR

Sunrise Along Bobcat Trail, Orlando Wetlands

Tranquil morn, Orlando Wetlands

As always, click to view larger on Flickr, and you can see many more of my monochrome photos in this folder.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Orlando’s Lake Dixie and Lake Cherokee

July 7, 2019OrlandoCypress, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis, landscape, Least Bittern, mallard, Mottled Duck, Mute Swan, panorama, swan goose, wildlife, Wood DuckEd Rosack

MaryKate had the day off last Thursday for Independence Day and invited me to walk around Lake Dixie and Lake Cherokee with her. I was glad to go – I’d been by before, but only inside a car and unable to take a close look. We also wanted to check on how the cygnets she wrote about on Fathers Day are doing.

Lake Cherokee

Lake Cherokee is the smaller of the two and both are lovely. For a location in downtown Orlando they have a lot of wildlife. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by this since they’re very close to Greenwood Park and Cemetery, where there’s also a lot of wildlife.

One of the first things we encountered was this Heron. I thought at first it was a Green Heron, but got some help with the ID on Flickr. It was small and still – and I glanced right past it without any recognition. I’m glad MaryKate commented on it so I could make a photo! Least Bitterns are supposed to be common in this type of environment, but I don’t see them much. I think because they’re so good at hiding!

Hunting Heron (Least Bittern)

Next we came up to this Mallard posing for me in the grass in front of some yellow flowers.

Mallard

And there were several Wood Ducks. I’ve seen them before at Greenwood and Mead Gardens, but hadn’t paid attention to their non breeding colors. This young one is interesting and I’m looking forward to spring time when their plumage starts changing.

Juvenile Wood Duck

Here’s a bird that I’d never seen before or even heard of.

Swan Goose

Swan Geese are native to the Far East and have also been domesticated. There were two, this one and another that was all white. It’s likely they escaped or were released from captivity since they don’t occur naturally in the US.

This Mottled Duck was resting in a notch about seven feet above ground. It watched us as I made the photo, but didn’t seem nervous. The tree was right next to the sidewalk and it must be used to people nearby.

Sleepy Duck

Unfortunately, there’s some bad news about the Lake Cherokee Mute Swan family. There were initially three babies, but only one’s been seen lately.

From across the lake, MaryKate and I spotted two adults but no babies. We worried they’d lost the last cygnet too. But when we got closer, we saw what was going on – Mom was riding the baby on her back!

Mute Swan Mom carrying baby

We also saw Limpkins, Common Gallinules, Great Egrets, a second Mute Swan family (with four large juveniles!), Anhingas, and several turtles. What a wonderful walk and what an unexpected abundance of things to experience and photograph! Thanks for inviting me, MaryKate!

You can click on each of these images to view a larger version on Flickr. And if you’re interested, I’ve started collecting my photos from here in this album on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Blue Cypress Lake Postcard

June 23, 2019Blue Cypress Lake, Postcardsblack and white, Cypress, infrared, landscape, treeEd Rosack

Hello loyal readers! This is the next entry in the occasional blog category called “Postcards” where I upload photos of Central Florida scenes – similar to ones you’d find on a postcard.

It’s easy to find all of these. Just use the “Places / Categories” pulldown menu over on the right side of the blog and select “Postcards”. If you’re viewing the site on a phone, you may not see that menu – in that case, just type “postcards” into the search box.

Blue Cypress Shoreline

I made this image in April of 2017 from a pontoon boat in Blue Cypress Lake, near Vero Beach, Florida. This wonderful lake is part of the St. Johns River headwaters. Here’s a link to all the posts I’ve written about it: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/blue-cypress-lake/. And you can view other photos from there at this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157630027829768.

It’s a 2 frame vertical panorama shot with an infrared modified camera, handheld with a 24 mm equivalent lens at f/3.5, ISO 200 at 1/800 sec. I processed the photo and converted it to Black and White using Lightroom and Photoshop. You should be able to click on it to go to Flickr and then select the download symbol below and to the right of the photo. I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Note: Items in my blog that are marked with a Creative Commons license are available in high resolution for you to download for your personal use. Please visit this page to see details and restrictions that apply: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.

Black Bear Wilderness Area

March 17, 2019Black Bear Wilderness Area, INSIDE FLORIDA, Sanfordblack and white, Cypress, Fern, infrared, landscape, st. johnsEd Rosack

I’ve seen interesting photos recently that some of my local Flickr friends made in the Black Bear Wilderness Area. So last Wednesday, I drove over to Sanford, Florida and took a hike to explore part of it. Here are a few photos I made.

A fern near the start of the trail – these were everywhere and very green.

BBWA is a 7.1 mile nature trail through a 1,650 acre preserve along historic levees through the St. Johns River floodplain. I thought the entire route would be a bit much for me, so I only hiked about 4 miles total, out and then back – starting counter-clockwise to reach the river. I used my IR camera on the way out, and my ‘normal’ camera coming back.

Along the St. Johns River, near boardwalk 3. IR monochrome

There are signs posted warning you to be prepared. The route runs through remote areas with some challenging terrain (slopes, tree roots, fallen trees, etc). I didn’t think the part I explored was that rough, but be careful if you go – carry water, bug spray, etc. And check the weather – a rain storm while you’re out there could make the trail very slippery.

From a bridge overlooking a canal around mile mark 1

Bald Cypress trees and swamps around them are some of my favorite subjects. You’ll find them in large numbers at BBWA.

Among the knees – near mile marker 1.5. IR monochrome

Inside the cypress Swamp – Near mile marker 0.5

In addition to these landscapes, I also saw a gator or two, and quite a few birds including herons, egrets, limpkins, osprey, and some unidentified smaller birds back in the bushes. And no, I didn’t spot any black bears. Shucks.

There were about 15 other people on the trail that morning, which seems like a lot to me for the middle of the week. I guess the word is getting out about beautiful views along this amazing trail through wild Florida. I wish I’d heard about it sooner!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Blue Cypress Ospreys

April 30, 2017Blue Cypress Lake, INSIDE FLORIDAbirds, Cypress, landscape, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

May 12, 2017 update: We’re far behind on rainfall here in Central Florida, so the water level in many lakes is very low. It’s a good idea to call Middleton’s Fish camp (800-258-5002) and check on conditions at Blue Cypress Lake and whether rental boats / tours are available before you go down.

Here are a few more photos from our trip to Blue Cypress Lake. Last week I only posted IR images, so this time I’ll use all color photos.

Joe Middleton’s rest

It’s peaceful there. Whenever our boat was still, the calling Ospreys and Whistling Ducks seemed very loud. Occasionally we could also hear quiet voices from other boats carried across the water.

Many of the Osprey nests are in smaller trees out in the water. The boats can maneuver for a good vantage point and standing up in the pontoon boats puts you almost at eye level with the wild birds – providing a wonderful view of their behaviors.

Breakfast time – These chicks were very tiny. The third one (low in front) shows how well they blend in.

Don told us that the younger chicks were probably from migratory birds, since they start nesting a bit later than the year round residents. In this next photo, two year round juvenile birds look almost ready to fledge.

Mama and two juvenile Osprey.

The Ospreys don’t have any trouble catching fish. But getting a photo of one with a fresh whole catch is a challenge. They almost always stop right away and consume the heads.

Osprey with fish.

And then deliver the rest back to the nest for their mate and chicks.

Special delivery

I have more photos from Blue Cypress Lake in this album on Flickr. And Kevin K. has posted his from last Friday in this folder.

I hope I’ve given you some sense of what a wonderful place this is. You owe it to yourself to go and experience it.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Beautiful Blue Cypress

April 23, 2017Blue Cypress Lake, INSIDE FLORIDAbirds, black and white, Cypress, infrared, landscape, Osprey, panorama, reflectionEd Rosack

May 12, 2017 update: We’re far behind on rainfall here in Central Florida, so the water level in many lakes is very low. It’s a good idea to call Middleton’s Fish camp (800-258-5002) and check on conditions at Blue Cypress Lake and whether rental boats / tours are available before you go down.

Lone cypress at dawn (IR, B&W, panorama).

The trees at Blue Cypress Lake are simply gorgeous. Their shapes remind me of Bonsai, although I think instead Bonsai should remind me of these trees. The ones here are all completely natural, formed by nature into elegant sculptures. I love the way my infrared camera renders them. The bright needles and clouds against the darker sky and water is very appealing.

Lynn and I spent last Thursday night near Vero Beach and met Kevin K. at Middleton’s Fish Camp just before sunrise on Friday. Middleton’s is the only camp and the only development at all on Blue cypress Lake. The rest of the lake and shore is completely pristine and undisturbed – very rare in our state. It’s also quiet. And peaceful. And just stunning.

Photographing Blue Cypress Lake (IR, B&W).

I wrote about Blue Cypress Lake back in June of 2012, and that’s worth a read if you’re interested. All of the info there is still current.

This place really is Florida unspoiled, and a photographic “target rich environment”. We went on one of their pontoon boat tours at first light and Don (our guide) was knowledgable and skilled at navigating in and among the trees near the shore. He mentioned that this lake and the surrounding swamp form the headwaters of the St. Johns River, which flows north to the ocean in Jacksonville – something I didn’t know.

Lone cypress and Osprey (IR, B&W, panorama).

Blue Cypress Lake is also home to a large colony of Osprey. There are 200+ breeding pairs with eggs, hatchlings, and some almost fledged juveniles in nests in the Cypress trees. The birds fish in the surrounding swamp and carry their catch back for the young. Many of these Osprey are migratory and leave for South America after raising their young – something else I didn’t realize.

Jeanne Middleton told me that prime nesting time starts around 10 April so we hit it just about right. I made a lot of photos of the Osprey last Friday too. I’ll finish processing them and post them soon.

I have more photos from Blue Cypress Lake in this album on Flickr. And Kevin K. has posted his from last Friday in this folder.

I should go down there and write about this place more often. It deserves to be seen, photographed, and saved for the future. Have you been? If not, what are you waiting for?

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – get some of your friends, head down to Blue Cypress Lake, and make some photos!

Around Dixie Lake

October 30, 2016INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State ParkCypress, landscape, panorama, reflection, sundog, sunsetEd Rosack

We spent a few days last week at Lake Louisa State Park. We stayed in one of their very nice 2 bedroom cabins with our friends Nancy and Howard T. The cabins are up high with a fabulous views of Dixie Lake, one of the three main lakes in the park. The photos in this blog post are all of this lake.

We were eating dinner on Tuesday evening when this started to develop. I quickly grabbed my camera, excused myself, and rushed to photograph this superb sunset.

View from the shore of Dixie Lake at dusk

We also enjoyed riding our bicycles – the hills are a change from the flatlands where we live. Returning from a ride on Monday, Howard noticed this Sundog – one of the most colorful I’ve seen.

Sundog

The cabins are just a short walk from the lake shore. The reflections and reeds made a pretty scene even in the middle of the day.

View from the shore of Dixie Lake

Across the lake from the cabins, the park has kayaks for rent. Wednesday morning we started there and paddled all the way ’round. It was windy and got stronger as we went, but we planned well and travelled clockwise which helped a bunch. The eastern shore sheltered us from the strongest winds and on the last bit along the western shore, the wind moved us along at a good clip. I like the many interesting trees and stumps we saw on the way.

Cypress stump

Wildlife was scarce on this visit. We did see a gopher tortoise on the way in and a few birds including (what I think was) a Common Nighthawk, a hawk or two, ducks going after fish and some others. I didn’t spot any deer, turkey, or even alligators but I’m sure they’re there.

Lake Louisa is close to Orlando and a wonderful place to relax and get away from it all. I highly recommend going if you get the chance! You can see other posts I’ve written about it here on the blog. And I’ve collected an album of Lake Louisa photos here on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Fireflies at Fanning Springs

April 24, 2016INSIDE FLORIDA, OcalaCow, Cypress, fanning springs, firefly, Flowers, landscape, manatee springs, panorama, reflection, suwannee, wildlifeEd Rosack

Lynn and I drove over to the Suwannee River west of Gainesville, Florida last week and stayed for a couple of nights at Fanning Springs State Park in one of their cabins.

Into the Suwannee River – The Manatee Springs run into the Suwannee.

It turns out that April is peak season for Fireflies, at least around here. It’s been many years since we’ve seen any and it was a treat to watch them. On the second night, I set up my camera on a tripod and used the remote control app on my phone to make this photo from the mosquito free comfort of the screened porch at the cabin.

Fireflies 2 – I used my Olympus E-M5 Mark II in Live Composite mode. This is an ~11 minutes total exposure, with ~330 frames at 2 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 each. Composited in camera.

We saw other wildlife too, including lots of birds and a few Gulf Sturgeons jumping in Fanning Springs. I managed to catch this snake swimming through the high water at Manatee Springs with my iPhone.

Florida Brown Water Snake – Manatee Springs, Florida

It’s a great time of year for a drive in Central Florida too. We enjoyed the beautiful wildflowers blooming along most of the roads.

Train Track Wildflowers – Next to the Williston, Florida Train Depot

And the farms in the Ocala area along our route are both scenic and idyllic.

Greener Pastures – A cattle ranch near Ocala, Florida

Fanning Springs and Manatee Springs are about 7 miles apart along the Suwannee. Both offer kayaking, and swimming (usually), and many other activities. High water at Fanning closed the swimming when we were there, but Manatee was open.

You can rent kayaks and canoes, and if you put in at Fanning, you can coast with the current down to Manatee. There’s a service that will return you back to your starting point. This sounds like a relaxing paddle to Lynn and I and we plan to try it next time. We’ll have to watch out for the jumping Sturgeons, though. There’s also a pontoon boat tour you can take from the concession at Manatee.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go enjoy some Florida State Parks and make some photos too!