Southern Adventure

Hello all, Are you ready for settling in to a long winter's nap? Life up north here in Alaska quieted down after September. Wood had been collected over the summer months between adventures and piled for the winter. The camper, home away from home, was put to bed. By the end of September all of the golden fall colors are gone, laying on the ground. Cooler temperatures arrive. Mountain tops are all covered with a blanket of snow, letting you know it won't be long before our winter around here starts. Life just slows down. It's that in between stage, fall has come and gone and winter isn't quite here yet. Off to a Southern Adventure! Florida is a destination to escape the long winter months. Not so here. Life around the cabin can get a little dull doing the daily tasks of everyday life. That is when one must get creative. A change of scenery is very necessary! It was a day of traveling for Buford. Three planes to get to my southern adventure. From the cold to the warmer temps. I was ready for new adventures. Southern Florida is always nice if you know where to go. In my adventures, being passionate for the great outdoors, means once I walk out the door everything counts. I absorb all that I come across. Take pictures of subjects that interest me and later go back and educate myself on these subjects to understand the wildlife that much better. Being away from what I am used to up north, I found that I'm still the early riser. Not much has changed with me over the years. Love the early morning light. Birds making their way back from the north hadn't arrived yet. And was quite suprised at the variety of birds as well as other wildlife subjects I was able to locate. Ding Darling wildlife preserve located on Sanibel Island is always a must to do stop. As always being there at first light, that's when birds are the most active, hungry and feeding. It was low tide and the amount of birds I witnessed was unbelieveable. There was just about every kind imaginable. From egrets to herons, storks, pelicans, ibises and spoonbills and more. At low tide a lot of the long-legged waders as well as the short are all wading, scanning and poking for the mornings breakfast. It was truly a spectacular morning for viewing southern birds at their best.

Here a American Egret comes up with a pretty good size fish that I witnessed about to gulp it down.

Roseate Spoonbills are a very colorful interesting bird. This pink wading bird has a flat spatulate bill, swung from side to side while feeding. This was a fine looking group of Roseate spoonbills all grooming and preening just after the mornings feed. By late morning all the action had slowed down to a crawl.

Off to some new location to look about. It seemed no matter where I went, I would always come across these little lizards either running for cover or resting on a rock or a side of a palm tree. Interesting these little creatures are called: Anoles. Their many color variations from greens to browns to black, almost like tree bark. Some would run for cover as soon as they saw you coming for a closer look while others would just hold their postion, which was fortunate for me, as this Anole let me get a much closer look. Upon observing this anole the throat flap expanded out along with some head bobbing, a way of defending its territory or displaying for a possible mate.

With all the variety of subjects I saw and photographed, I was just over-whelmed at the amount of pictures taken and the work load that would follow once I got back home. Why is it your adventures always end to soon? Well, towards the end of my stay I knew it was time to head north, back to surroundings more suitable to what I'm used to. Palm trees vs. mountains? Ah, I will keep the mountains! I do believe everyone of us should, at least once, step out of our normal life and challenge themselves to a different and unique adventure. Maybe something they've never done before or thought they would never do. Good to be back home and see the mountains, resting in my rocker by the fireplace and thoughts of a good southern adventure with lot s pictures to share and write about. In the following days I will post more pictures from my southern adventure to share with you all. Are you all settling in for a long winters nap? I wish all of you the best in your winter adventures.

Hey see you down the trail somewhere...

Buford T. Porcupine