A few more from Naples...w/dolphins:-)

[My2Girls66]

The dolphins were coming right near shore chasing fish. What a cool sight They were going up and down the shoreline.

Looks like a baby with this one.

Hummingbird moth??

 

[ukcatfan]

You picked the right week to be down here. It has been cold the past few days. It really does not affect me so much as I spend my days in a cube anyway

 

[Todd_H]

Nice shots, Susan

 

[My2Girls66]

Thanks! We had great weather- warm(75-80) and sunny everyday(Feb 23-27). It did get chilly in the evenings but coming from the winter we've had up here it was great! The swelling in my frostbitten toes even went down

 

[annnewjerz]

Great pics---I would be so excited to see the dolphins swimming so close to shore, although I've got to say if I was in the water and saw something large and dark swimming underwater right next to me, I would have freaked out.

 

[Stargazer]

Although I love the dolphin pics, I'm IN love with the owl pic -- great shots!

 

[dcg0317]

Great shots Susan, that does look like Hummingbird moth, must have been exciteing to see the dolphins that close to shore, did you make it back home just in time for our lastest snow storm!!

 

[jann1033]

Great pics---I would be so excited to see the dolphins swimming so close to shore, although I've got to say if I was in the water and saw something large and dark swimming underwater right next to me, I would have freaked out.

OP great shots of the dolphins. i had a terrible time last time we were in fl and mostly got the top of the back and fins

funny shot i did get though was a manatee getting up close and personal to some fisherman in the water, or at least what was left after a few ran to shore as fast as they could when this giant dark object came up to them..pretty sure i would have been one of them running across the surface of the water to safety to

 

[My2Girls66]

Great shots Susan, that does look like Hummingbird moth, must have been exciteing to see the dolphins that close to shore, did you make it back home just in time for our lastest snow storm!!

It was quite cool to see the dolphins that close! The 1st time we saw them my camera was in the condo
DH and I have made good use of the snow. We've been snowshoeing out in the forest the last 2 days. My dog is LOVIN' it!

 

[My2Girls66]

OP great shots of the dolphins. i had a terrible time last time we were in fl and mostly got the top of the back and fins

funny shot i did get though was a manatee getting up close and personal to some fisherman in the water, or at least what was left after a few ran to shore as fast as they could when this giant dark object came up to them..pretty sure i would have been one of them running across the surface of the water to safety to

I'd love to see those shots! Thats one thing we haven't seen on our trips is a manatee. I'd love for you to post them

 

[BeautyLLM]

Hi Susan,

Your Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary photos are great! I especially love the barred owl!

I am heading to Naples tomorrow and you have inspired me to go back to Corkscrew in search of the elusive barred owl which I have never seen there. Did you just happen upon him or did one of the guides point him out to you? About where on trail did you see him? I know the chances of seeing him in the same spot are remote, but maybe it's a good starting point. I plan on getting there as close to opening as possible.

Here's one of my favorites from Corkscrew..not the best photo in the world, but they say position is everything in life...:

 

[Gdad]

Very nice! I like the owl shot especially.

 

[My2Girls66]

Hi Susan,

Your Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary photos are great! I especially love the barred owl!

I am heading to Naples tomorrow and you have inspired me to go back to Corkscrew in search of the elusive barred owl which I have never seen there. Did you just happen upon him or did one of the guides point him out to you? About where on trail did you see him? I know the chances of seeing him in the same spot are remote, but maybe it's a good starting point. I plan on getting there as close to opening as possible.

Here's one of my favorites from Corkscrew..not the best photo in the world, but they say position is everything in life...:

Cool shot of the raccoon!
We saw a family of 4 raccoons browsing in the swamp. The owl was right near the boardwalk maybe 1/2 way around. Others were photographing him when we happened upon him. We hadn't seen much, only one hawk, until then and were quite disappointed. Then we started seeing all kinds of birds, a few gators and the raccoons. We didn't arrive until noon that day. We saw quite a few osprey, dolphins and pelicans while at the beach. The pelicans entertained us all day. They just flew up and down the shoreline and then dove for fish all day long. We kept saying we were watching syncronized pelcan diving as sometimes they'd dive at the same time- 2,3,4 and sometimes 5 birds at a time. We've been to Naples 4 other times- all in Nov and had never seen so much wildlife as this trip.

 

[My2Girls66]

Very nice! I like the owl shot especially.

Thanks
It was so nice to see so many critters.

 

[BeautyLLM]

Thanks! I'll let you know what I find!

 

[jann1033]

my photos of the manatees aren't a whole lot better than my dolphin photos but the first couple were taken at Merritt Island, the Manatee observation deck. which imo would be a good place to photograph them if they were there since you are looking down on them. in Nov( first week, but i think they had come in earlier than normal from what the ranger said) they had already come in to the warmer waters so we only saw one straggler here and of course he/she refused to put her head up so heads or tails

these were a few days earlier at Sebastian Inlet, there were 6 or 8 coming into the Indian River Lagoon from the ocean via the Inlet but as you can see the photos are pretty lousy, snouts,( wondered if the 2 close together were mama and baby or just ran into each other ) and backs mostly, an occasional tail. they were so close though i could have touched them..the last one is the remains of the group of fisherman. they moved pretty slow so i probably got 2 dozen shots here but none are great, like they didn't leap out of the water or anything to show off

i have to say seeing them in the wild like that and watching the dolphins fish each morning so close i could hear them breath was the highlight of the trip for me. i just wish i could have gotten better photos of them

 

[My2Girls66]

That is SO cool!!
Next time we are in Fl. I'm going looking for manatees