The Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge was not in the direct path of Hurricane Michael but it did suffer quite a bit of damage.
Continue reading “St. Marks NWR Hurricane Michael damage”
Grand reveal of the renovated St. Marks Lighthouse
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge celebrated Florida Lighthouse day on Saturday April 6, 2019, at the historic St. Marks Lighthouse.
Refuge staff and volunteers provided guided tours and interpretive displays, while the Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge treated visitors to information, lemonade, and cookies.
Despite overcast and foggy conditions, there was a great turnout of over 300 visitors! These included a 4H youth group who capped a day of refuge activities with their own tour of the Lighthouse.
Continue reading “Grand reveal of the renovated St. Marks Lighthouse”
Improve terrestrial milky way photos using image stacking
Photos of the milky way are more interesting if there is some kind of terrestrial object in the foreground to indicate the location.
Lighthouses make great foreground objects not only because they show the location of the photo but the idea of this beacon shining over the vast ocean and the vastness of space is very compelling.
Continue reading “Improve terrestrial milky way photos using image stacking”
Moonlight and lightning
The night is a wonderful time to take photographs. I particularly love to take shots of the Milky Way, lightning storms, and moonlit landscapes.
Moonlight is simply sunlight bounced off the gray moon and it has the same color balance as sunlight. Moonlight photographs look very much like daylight images except you can see stars and any source of artificial light appears to be very bright.
Continue reading “Moonlight and lightning”
Ranger John’s bench is back!
In my post of September 8, 2016 I reported Ranger John’s memorial bench had been damaged by hurricane Hermine.
On a recent visit to the Refuge on I saw the bench had been repaired (or replaced). I was so used to seeing the bench in that location it took moment to remember it had been gone for months.
Continue reading “Ranger John’s bench is back!”
The Boat-tailed Grackle at St. Marks NWR
Visitors to the Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge often ask “What is that black bird?” when they see a Boat-tailed Grackle. Most people think it is a crow. They are also surprised to learn that the female grackle is a small brown bird that doesn’t look much like the male.
Many people are not impressed by the grackles and think that they are not very attractive. The Boat-tailed Grackle is actually a beautiful bird but it must be seen under the right conditions. Continue reading “The Boat-tailed Grackle at St. Marks NWR”
2016 Monarch Butterfly Festival at St. Marks NWR
The Monarch Butterfly Festival is held every year on the 4th Saturday of October. The festival is always enjoyable with many exhibits, vendors, and educational activities for the whole family.
The mission of the St. Marks NWR Monarch butterfly festival is “Create awareness and action to conserve habitat for pollinators, especially the Monarch Butterfly”
One of the great joys of attending the festival is to see the excitement of children as they visit the Monarch tagging table. At the tagging station visitors of all ages can watch a biologist demonstrate the tagging procedure. Visitors have the opportunity to touch a Monarch under the supervision of the biologist.
Continue reading “2016 Monarch Butterfly Festival at St. Marks NWR”
Beautiful palm tree succumbs to hurricane Hermine
I lost a friend this year. A friend that I visited often. That friend was a palm tree located behind the St. Marks NWR lighthouse. As a young tree it had been pushed over to its side, possibly by a tropical storm. The tree not only survived but bent back upright over the years. Palm trees that survive such events are often beautiful and I, like many other photographers, wanted to record this wonderful tree next to the salt marsh.
Continue reading “Beautiful palm tree succumbs to hurricane Hermine”
St. Marks NWR before the arrival of hurricane Hermine
I love clouds, storms, hurricanes and Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge so of course I headed to the refuge the day hurricane Hermine was expected to make landfall. My plan was to enjoy the clouds and wind then take a few “before” images to compare with the aftermath of the storm. These photographs are pretty self explanatory so I’ll let them do the talking.
Continue reading “St. Marks NWR before the arrival of hurricane Hermine”
Ranger John’s bench damaged by hurricane Hermine
In a post of September 8, 2016 I discussed Ranger John’s memorial bench and how much it is appreciated by visitors and staff of the Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
On my first visit to the Refuge after hurricane Hermine made landfall, I was saddened to see John’s bench had been ripped from its concrete base and had sustained serious damage including losing one of the legs. Continue reading “Ranger John’s bench damaged by hurricane Hermine”