Category: Nature

Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.

Six-Years Ago (23-December-2011) — Florida

December Road Trip to Florida in 2011: Fort De Soto Park

Sunshine Skyway Bridge at sunrise from Fort De Soto Park. Later in the morning I watched a nesting pair of Osprey.

Low Tide Panorama of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at Dawn. Taken from Fort Desoto County Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Low Tide Panorama of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at Dawn. Taken from Fort De Soto County Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Sunshine Skyway Bridge Panorama at Dawn from Fort Desoto Park. St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 3 vertical images taken with an Nikon D3s and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, f/11, 0.5 sec). Images processed with DxO, AutoPano Giga, Photoshop CS5, and Topaz Define. (David J Mathre)
Sunshine Skyway Bridge Panorama at Dawn from Fort De Soto Park. St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 3 vertical images taken with an Nikon D3s and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, f/11, 0.5 sec). Images processed with DxO, AutoPano Giga, Photoshop CS5, and Topaz Define. (David J Mathre)


Eleven-Years Ago (23-December-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Birds, Berries, and Seeds

Walkabout with a Nikon D2xs camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens.  Five Canada geese in flight, northern mockingbirds, holly berries, bittersweet berries, and yucca seed pods.

Canada Geese in Flight. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/8000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Canada Geese in Flight. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/8000 sec). (David J Mathre)



Friday (22-December-2017) — Florida

Gone to See Florida 2017/2018 Road Trip. Day 2: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I try to stop and spend at least a day at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge when I do a road trip to Florida. It has been a while, and the last time I got rained out. The wildlife refuge suffered some Hurricane damage. Both Black Point Wildlife Drive, and Biolab road are open. Biolab road is now one-way, starting from the boat launch area. This is unfortunate, since in the morning you are driving into the sun. I spent the night in Titusville. When I woke up it was foggy. I arrived at the entrance to Black Point Wildlife Drive just after the gate was opened at sunrise. The fog was starting to rise, and when I looked behind I saw the opportunity for a great landscape sunrise image. The clouds and lifting fog made for good backgrounds. I did two loops on Black Point Wildlife Drive, and one pass on Biolab Road. I saw many birds up close. I think the early morning fog helped. Many of the palm trees on Biolab Road lost their tops during the hurricane. I hoped to see more Osprey, but only caught one in flight. There were many more Turkey, and Black Vultures. I am not sure of the ID for the Hawk with a red breast. After the sun came out, a couple of Alligators showed up. As I was leaving, I saw a number of spider webs with droplets of water left by the fog that were lit up by the sun.

Photographer and tripod viewing the sun rising over the trees in the early morning fog. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 OIS lens (ISO 200, 100 mm, f/7, 1/680 sec). (David J Mathre)
Photographer and tripod viewing the sun rising over the trees in the early morning fog. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 OIS lens (ISO 200, 100 mm, f/7, 1/680 sec). (David J Mathre)










Three-Years Ago (22-December-2014) — Falkland Islands

Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5 Day 7: Hurtigruten MS Fram visiting the Falkland Islands

The first thing I did when in Stanley, was to look for a camera store (or somewhere that sold cameras). My Nikon Df camera failed a couple days earlier (shutter buckled), the battery charger for the Fuji X-T1 camera was acting up, and the Leica T camera was having issues with cold temperatures. No luck, since everything has to be shipped to the island. No option for Amazon next day delivery. I was going to have to do without a camera with a big telephoto lens. Fortunately, I found someone on the ship with a different Fuji camera that used the same batteries that allowed me to borrow the battery charger. I did have some time to walk around the town and take some pictures.

Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Poppies and Lupines at at a Flower Garden. Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 56 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Poppies and Lupines at at a Flower Garden. Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 56 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Six-Years Ago (22-December-2011) — Florida

December Road Trip to Florida in 2011: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

On my second day I arrived too early, and the gate to Black Point wildlife drive was still closed. While waiting I got a silhouette image of a Great Blue Heron in flight at dawn. During the day I got a macro image (with a telephoto lens) of a Golden Silk Spider, then a Great Egret in flight. Just before leaving, I spotted a reclusive American Bittern. These birds are hard to spot, since they are so well camouflaged. Even better, this one just caught a fish that appears to be almost too large to swallow. The last time I saw an American Bittern was at the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado.

Great Blue Heron Silhouette at Dawn in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Great Blue Heron Silhouette at Dawn in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Golden Silk Spider. Viewed along Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec).. (David J Mathre)
Golden Silk Spider. Viewed along Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec).. (David J Mathre)
Great Egret in Flight in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Great Egret in Flight in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
OK, I Caught This Fish -- Now How Do I Swallow It. A Reclusive American Bittern Caught Fishing along Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR II lens (ISO 180, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
OK, I Caught This Fish — Now How Do I Swallow It. A Reclusive American Bittern Caught Fishing along Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR II lens (ISO 180, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)