I spent several hours touring the Volusia County Fair with friends from the Southeast Volusia Camera Club, from late afternoon to dark of night, after enjoying and photographing a glorious sunset.

We captured our memories with pictures of animals, antiques, the colorful midway rides and booths, fair attendees, and so much more.

In fact, there was so much to see that I decided to go back the very next day on my own to finish touring the exhibits and practice some more night shots. A Fair midway after dark is about as colorful as it gets!

Also, I wanted to try to capture some of the antics of the two week old pygmy goat kid who won my heart, and the hearts of all that saw him.

Snapshots of the little cutie were just not enough. Here is the video I took and posted on YouTube. Pygmy Goats, Mom and Kid

The pictures here are mine; there were many more captured by the Camera Club members during our fun-filled visit. To see some of these, go to the SEVCC website at http://sevcameraclub.org , and then go to the Field Trip Photo Gallery page. There you will find a link for the November field trip album, with several more of our photos.

We are pleased to share them with you. Lyn

How dramatically the seasons can change! The seasons do change in Florida, but more subtlety and are discerned better perhaps by local eyes than by tourists or part-time residents. What marks the arrival of Central Florida’s Fall?

The temperatures start to cool down a bit, high in the 70s, lows in the 50s this month, although October was above average this year.

The wet, tropical summer pattern is being replaced by our “dry season” which lasts until late Winter. (In honor of this change, residents can water lawns only once per week now, instead of twice per week.)

The ocean is getting colder and Northeast winds can make that morning or evening stroll on the beach seem a lot less inviting.
We still track hurricanes in October and November, but the peak of hurricane season is traditionally in the months of August and September. (As I write this, however, Hurricane Ida is “out there” and may produce some wet weather next week.)

Fall migration brings not only birds in their non-breeding plumage to Central Florida but also birders – ecotourists! The State’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has established a program called the Great Florida Birding Trail, with 489 sites in Florida, 135 of which are in the Eastern section where I live. I hope to visit several of these over the next several months!

But what about Florida’s Fall Foliage? I have been noticing some changes. My lawn is browner as it slips into dormancy. Have a nice sleep, grass plants and summer weeds! See you next Spring!

Some grass finds itself harvested and rolled up in hay bales.

Fall blooming flowers add color to the landscape. For example, I see yellow flowers and red or yellow leaves on shrubs and trees where I did not see them before. A quick perusal of the Internet shows that many plants, both native and horticultural, add splashes of color to the Fall landscape here.

But the true measure of Fall anywhere may be the decreasing hours of sunlight each day. After all, changes in the amount and intensity of sunlight are what drive seasons in both hemispheres. This is compounded by the fact that daylight savings time ended here on November 1, and night falls much “earlier.”

No worries! Fall festivals abound, the night will soon be lit up by cheery December decorations, and I need to practice my night photography anyway.

Hope to get some fun shots at the Volusia County Fair this week– the animals, the fall produce, and, of course, the gaudy midway lights after dark.

Stay tuned. Lyn

Ghost crab digging a burrow near a washed up coconut

However, crabs can deliver a nasty pinch as I have experienced often when I have tried to pick one up without using tongs, or have stepped on one half-buried in the sand.

Having a crab dangling from one’s digits is a painful and panicky situation. The first instinct is to shake your hand or foot like crazy, which is not a good plan since they just hang on for dear life.

Land Crab - posing nicely for me.

At least this works for aquatic crabs, I am not sure what I would do if a land crab were to latch on to me with no water in sight. And so, I try to keep a safe distance. Thank goodness for zoom lenses! No macros!

Usually, they will just scurry away before attacking as did these land and ghost crabs after they got tired of posing for pictures. Their sideways runs at lightning speed left me clicking the next shots of the places where crabs used to be.

But why do they run sideways and not go full steam ahead? A little internet research revealed that crab anatomy permits them to shuffle slowly forward, but to go full out sideways. (See: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/crab.aspx)

And, their flexible eyestalks allow them to look all around them so going sideways does not mean they cannot look in other directions. (Notice that Mr. Land Crab has one eye on me while the other looks elsewhere.)

Land crab after running away from me

The crabs pictured here are just two of the great diversity of crabs found in Florida. I have trapped and eaten blue crabs and stone crabs (yummy) and seen numerous other kinds, including hermit crabs, spider crabs, mangrove crabs, swimming crabs, and so many others, including my personal favorite, the fiddler crab.

The fiddlers live in large groups in burrows on mudflats. The male has one large claw which he waves around to warn off other males and to attract the female of his species. Hey baby… over here!

Ghost crab hiding in the washed up seaweeds

Henceforth, I vow not to call some grumpy human, “an old crab,” ever again. Lyn

Like many others, I enjoy birding and often point my camera in their direction.

In the summer, snow birds have flown north from Florida and have not yet returned. Birds are in their less colorful, non-breeding plumage, and humans wear as little as possible when ever they can get away with it. Nature and au naturel in all of its glorious diversity!

Since I am often on the beach, I have several photos of gulls, terns, willets, and snowy egrets.

Three of many, New Smyrna Beach

Part of a flock of terns, New Smyrna Beach

Willets taking it easy, New Smyrna Beach

The gulls, terns, and willets like to hang out in groups whereas the egrets are more solitary.

One curious snowy egret ventured so close to me that the resulting photo, taken in bright morning light, looks unreal, almost like it was cut and pasted onto the background. (It reminds me of those famous moon walk shots.) But I assure you this is a real photo, of a real bird, on real sand.

Egret at my feet! New Smyrna Beach

A visit to Ponce Inlet Jetty provided a shot of a larger white egret, aptly called the Great Egret. As it stalked the rocky pools for food, my daughter, visiting from Denver, remarked that its neck looked like a skinny rope, and just as flexible too.

Fishing, near Ponce Inlet Jetty, Ponce Inlet Park

Earlier that week, while waiting for my daughter’s flight in the Orlando International Airport cell phone parking lot, I was amused to see two Sandhill Cranes land in the adjacent disturbed field just feet away from cars and humans. Luckily, I had my little point and shoot camera with me to record them as they strutted around with studied indifference.

One of two cranes, near cell phone lot, Orlando Airport

Let’s finish up with a shot of a bird we all know… the rock dove, more commonly called the pigeon. This bird is loved and fed by many and has adjusted well to humans and their structures. But, sometimes when I see them perched on high, I envision their cliff dwelling ancestors.

I observed this pigeon and others roosting above the Flagler Avenue, New Smyrna Beach boardwalk. It was taking a rest, no doubt, from scavenging crumbs left by messy, human beach-goers. It seemed fat, sassy, and content.

Roost above the boardwalk, Flagler Ave, New Smyrna Beach

I was fortunate that it did not grace my head with pigeon poop as I took its picture, but was soon less pleased to see that the hood of my car had been liberally used for pigeon target practice!

Squab anyone? Lyn

August in Florida means hot and humid, with afternoon thunderstorms, and perhaps a tropical storm or so.

Since I am a year-round Florida resident, my escape from the heat is a nice long walk on the beach, feet in surf, camera in hand.

Normally, I photograph nature but thought it might be fun to look at human activity and signs on my walks and share these photos with you.

My local New Smyrna Beach seems a bit more crowded lately. My guess is that many are not travelling far this year and are visiting the coast as part of their summer “staycation.”

Folks are enjoying the beach in all the normal ways, swimming, fishing, biking, strolling, and baking themselves in the sun. One local wit renamed my town, New Sun-burna Beach, in honor of all the pale white tourists that turn bright red in the sun like a pot of cooked lobsters.

Those that have been here for many years reminisce fondly of days when our beach was less developed. With crowds comes crowd control and regulations. In the past, beach driving was not regulated, and people could drive for miles on the beach, stopping as they liked for picnics and camping or other “beachy” acitivities.

Now, we have no-drive zones, marked traffic lanes, and areas beyond which parking is not allowed to protect both dunes and sea turtle nesting habitats.

I understand and appreciate the reasons for these regulations but also wish I could have experienced the freedom of years past.

Surfing near the Ponce Inlet jetty is also a favorite sport for many with interesting consequences. Yes, we do have sharks in our surf.

Sometimes, (ok often), sharks will take a little nibble out of surfers or swimmers usually near the jetty where they are hunting for bait fish. In fact, New Smyrna Beach has been called “the shark bite capital of the world.” No fatalities have occurred, just a variety of bites, some requiring stitches.

As a local, and a walker, not a swimmer or surfer, I am not alarmed. I respect the fact that sharks are in their element whereas I am just a two-legged interloper.

The beach is mine, but I do keep a wary eye out for what might lurk not very far from the shoreline!

Lyn