Thursday, April 25, 2013

Florida Sunset & more

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

 Sorry, I still have so many vacation photos I am going thru. These shots are from the evening of the 4day and some from the morning of  the 5th day of our vacation. I hope I am not boring everyone with more vacation shots and birds. I took probably close to 1500 photos and we put 1641 miles on the car. LOL, we see and do a lot during our vacations.

On this evening we had dinner near the coast of Bonita Springs beach. I was loving the fish tacos and conch fritters. After dinner we checked out the sunset on the beach, it was a little cloudy but still some colors in the sky.




The sanderlings found the one section of sand that reflected the sunset.


The next morning we packed up and headed south once again stopping at Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park. During the tram ride, we stopped to take a walk on the trail to the tower and overlook. This tower reminds me of the tower in the Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park, it is just missing the steep hill before the tower. LOL, I do not think there are hills in Florida.



We only had a twenty minute break to get to the top of the tower and back to the tram. There was only one obstacle in the way. Luckily our ranger and guide Cynthia came along and spooked this gator away with a stick. Cynthia insisted they are more of afraid of us towering over them, she banged the stick on the ground and off it went back into the water. 


From the the top of tower, I could not believe all the birds roosting in the trees. Above is a flock of the Spoonbills, I love their pretty pink color.


When you are high up in the tower and looking down, we could see the birds landing in the treetops.


I was really enjoying the flock of Roseate Spoonbills in flight.


We saw some cool clouds formations. A beautiful day in the Everglades National Park. We made this a quick stop in the Everglades Nat'l Park, our main destination for the day was Key West. So after the tram ride and a quick walk, it was back in the car for more fun. The Everglades Nat'l Park will appear later again during our vacation with more birds and lots more gators. I hope you enjoyed this post.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I always appreciate your comments.

Happy Skywatching  to everyone!

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

63 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking us on vacation with you. Glad I was watching the alligator from a distance!! Chel x

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  2. NEVER apologise for including your holiday snaps - they're great!! Love the sunset, but love your adventures too!!

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  3. Really enjoying your vacation photos, Eileen -- but that alligator! That's rather scary. :)

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  4. love the glow. amazing!!

    in flight bird shot. i wish i could fly.

    & lastly those clouds are awesome. i think i saw a heart in the up left corner. nice!! ( :

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  5. I'm loving all the photos, Eileen!

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  6. I'm loving all the beautiful photos, Eileen!
    It's a learning experience to see what goes on in other parts of the world.
    I hope you have a wonderful day!

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  7. Your Sunset is amazing and gorgeous ! I love this colors. Best regards, Synnöve

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  8. Beautiful series! I love the sunsets. The colours are so beautiful.

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  9. I am enjoying your vacation by looking at your wonderful photos. Whoa on the alligator. Great shot on the birds landing in the treetops.

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  10. Keep them coming Eileen. I love them!!! Happy weekend!

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  11. Your sky pictures are wonderful. Did you see any snakes, while in the Everglades?

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  12. beautiful scenes! nope, not tired of them, yet! sure glad we don't have gators here!

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  13. You captured a very beautiful sunset. While I'm glad the ranger said alligators were more afraid of us, I still don't think I'd want to meet one on a walkway. The view from the tower is amazing.

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  14. I probably would have taken at least that many photos or more so don't feel bad, they're not boring! Love the big flocks of birds and that sunset is beautiful!

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  15. Beautiful sunsets! I've never seen that many spoonbills in flight. I can't imagine having to sift through 1500 photos. Yikes!

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  16. Beautiful photos, Eileen! I love the photos with the spoonbills!

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  17. A great collection.
    Best whishes.
    Mormor

    http://www.starbear.no/mormor/2013/04/25/nf-winged-85/

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  18. Gorgeous photos from such a fabulous area, Eileen. That tower does look like the one at Clingman's Dome. One time--when we were hiking up to that dome, my friend with MS was with us --going up in her wheelchair. She could have made a ton of money giving people a ride up that HUGE hill... ha ha

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  19. Beautiful sunset photos! The whole series of photos is really nice. Love seeing all that you see!

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  20. So pretty! The colors of the sky are beautiful. It's so blue in those last photos! I enjoy seeing your vacation photos because we don't get away very often so I can live through you :)

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  21. Hallo Eileen!!Wonderful pictures!!What lovely birds spoonbills are!!I love sunsets,so beautiful pictures and fantastic colours in the sky!!I realy enjoyed this trip too!!Thank you for sharing!!Have a lovely weekend!
    Dimi..

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  22. There's nothing quite as beautiful as a beach sky is there Eileen?

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  23. Beautiful skyes and birds.

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  24. Lovely, lovely skies and I do love the birds in flight! Wonderful captures for the day, Eileen! What a great trip!! Thanks for sharing the beauty and the fun!! Have a great weekend!

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  25. Nice pictures, I love these beautiful blue skies at sunset on the beach! Greetings.

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  26. I love those images of the beach at sunset!!! And the spoonbills in flight are gorgeous!!!

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  27. Dearest Eileen,
    What a GORGEOUS pictures from your vacation and the sky(*^▽^*)~*☆
    Ideal life with wonderful skill for photographing and wish to live close to you, I mean for the nature and learn from you p;)

    Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  28. Wow! ~ Fantastic adventure and photography! ~ thanks, ^_^

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  29. The sunset was very beautiful. I also loved the birds in flight and other shots.

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  30. That's quite the interloper on the trail, worse than our rattlesnakes!

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  31. Always beautiful amazing photos . . .

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  32. Shark Valley tram ride is really wonderful! Last time I was there, saw so many birds and gators! Will be heading there soon again!

    BTW, nice post and good pictures :)

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  33. Oh man, so jealous of the spoonbills!! Not so jealous of the gator though, those guys freak me out.

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  34. Stunning series, Eileen. Love it.

    http://www.womenandperspectives.com/2013/04/sky-watch-afternoon-sky-and-sun.html

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  35. What amazingly lovely skies!

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  36. That is so great you got to the beach! Beautiful skies!

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  37. Spectacular sunset shots! I don't think I'd want to test if the gator was more scared of me than I was of him.....

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  38. whoa, a jaywalking alligator!:p i enjoy looking at photos of places i probably wouldn't see in person. thanks for sharing.

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  39. Lovely shots from your vacations. I never tire dreaming of vacations.

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  40. Wonderful shots, Eileen, you're not boring me at all. :-)

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  41. Wow you traveled all around me! We are in Fort Myers, FL.
    Great photos! Love spoonbills.

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  42. your sunset photos are beautiful and i love the birds in flight too.

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  43. Wow! Many beautiful shots. I enjoyed your photos very much.
    Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

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  44. Those pink spoonbills are something else! Gorgeous.

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  45. It is so funny that the birds found the spot that reflected the light. I so love your pictures.

    So much for my white trousers can you believe we had hailstones this afternoon so I have the heat on. It's a funny old world. Have a lovely weekend

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  46. Amazing photo's! Love the sunsets! They are completely breath taking! How cool to see that gator!

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  47. Wonderful shots
    You are each day better
    http://graceolsson.com/blog/blog/2013/04/24/clothesline/

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  48. Great shots, Eileen

    Hugs
    Tina

    PS.
    Thanks for your comments

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  49. They are beautiful sky shots of Florida and nothing is wrong with sharing them..I like them!

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  50. great series of sky photos, dear eileen.
    you always share such beautiful pictures! i also loved the birds in flight.

    happy weekend~

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  51. boy....you sure did get a lot of blog material on this trip, and i am lovin' it!!

    the spoonbills in flight is just amazing!!

    happy friday eileen, i hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

    ps...keep 'em coming!!

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  52. Oh yes, what beautiful skylines, pure genius Eileen.

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  53. I really want to visit this park someday, your photos are inspiring me more to plan for a trip there soon

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  54. Wonderful images Eileen.

    They make me a touch homesick for Florida

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  55. Thanks so much for the lovely tour. I love your photos and I don't blame you for taking so many. I have thousands and only a handful as nice.

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  56. Lovely post!
    I love the shot of the Spoobills in flight!
    And the 'gator is quite typical of florida encounters!
    Beautiful lighting in all photos!
    Cheers Eileen!

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  57. You found so many birds but no sharks in the Shark Valley.

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  58. Gorgeous flight shots! Wonderful birds in this area. This looks like a perfect vacation. Your first shots made me hum, "Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset....:)"

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  59. wow, such an interesting place. Love the skyshots. Especially with the spoonbills.

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  60. Beautiful sunset and the alligator looks very daring.

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