Thursday, February 3, 2011

Gulf Coast Beauty

The Blizzard of 2011 hit us pretty hard here in Chicago. We were pelted with 20+ inches of snow over a 20 hour period. 55 mph wind gusts howled and whirled throughout the duration of the monster storm. We even experienced thundersnow! The bitter cold arrived overnight with a low temperature of -6 degrees. After all of this, I am certainly dreaming of the tropical paradise of Florida.

This is my final entry in a series of posts featuring the lovely birds of the west coast of Florida.

A regal Great Blue Heron flies over Sarasota Bay

Pretty profile ~ Snowy Egret


An Osprey and its impressive nest


A dollop of moist sand rests upon the beak of a tiny Sanderling


The close up view of an elegant Great Egret


A graceful Great-blue Heron wades in the pond shallows


A most splendid sight ~ Great-blue Heron

 
The Willet is a common bird seen along the powdery white sands of the gulf coast


 Sharing a peaceful moment at the pier ~ Great Egret and Snowy Egret


The colorful profile of a stunning Great-blue Heron


A freshly fluffed Snowy Egret


Happiness is vacationing along the gulf coast of Florida!

30 comments:

FAB said...

Gosh, with all that bad weather I can understand you wishing you were somewhere very warm. Beautiful series once again Julie but as I have a soft spot for waders the Sanderling gets my vote. FAB.

PoetessWug said...

WOW! So beautiful!! The egrets and the sunset are my favorite. Although the freshly fluffed snowy egret looks like I was feeling when I heard we were about to get another snowstorm, followed by ice!! Brrrr! ^_^

JRandSue said...

It's very cold this time of year, here in Cornwall.
But after seeing your wonderful images,i,m looking forward to spring.
Thank you for the treat.
John.

Dan said...

Magnificent series! You are a very talented photographer.

As for the snow storm, here in Toronto, we didn't receive nearly the amount they (weather-folk) were forecasting.

You should consider identifying the equipment you're using and the settings for each photograph.

Daniel

Explore. Dream. Discover.
http://daniels-view.blogspot.com/
--

de schoonheid van de natuur said...

geweldige foto's
groetjes Herman

Simon Taylor said...

Julie - i love the Great Egret with Snowy Egret shot at sunset. Lovely post

Kerri Farley said...

Julie, your images have be longing for Florida as well. Sorry you got so much snow ..... hoping that Spring is just around the corner!

Outstanding captures!

Unknown said...

Wow! just simply WOW! I love each of these and am having troubles picking my favorite....lucky thing I do not have to ! Kudos!

John's Island said...

Julie, An absolutely wonderful new series of pictures. It is so hard to say which one is my favorite -- perhaps the sunset has the edge but just slightly. The Great Blue Heron (top pic) should get some kind of award. Awesome lighting! Your blog is definitely one of my favorites. As always, thanks for sharing!

Harold Stiver said...

Wow, what a fabulous series!!

cindyzlogic said...

Super beautiful series of photos, Julie!! Outstanding photography!! Glad you are surviving the terrible snowstorm! Stay warm :-)

Ben said...

Hi Julie,
Wonderful images. I just added you to my blogroll, so I can follow you.

Ben

Marco Luijken said...

Hello Julie,
What a wonderful pictures!! They are really great!! I like this pictures.
I go follow your blog!!

Greetings, Marco (from Holland)

CIMPOACA LAURENTIU said...

great images...well done

Angela said...

Beautiful shots Julie. I especially like the one of the pair sharing a moment on the pier

Joanna Durczok said...

Clear, sharp, colourful, interesting..... professional! I love all of them:)

Unknown said...

Fantastic photos!! I'm longing for warm weather! We all enjoyed your trip to FL! :)

Dawn Fine said...

Beauties every one!

Anonymous said...

Really amazing stunning photo's! I like them very much. I will follow you, so i'll be back for sure...
greetings Jacqie

Julie G. said...

I am especially appreciative of all your kind, thoughtful comments. They mean so very much to me! Thank you.

Steven Scott said...

Great photography!

OFFICIAL SWANWATCH UK said...

Your Photo's are beautiful and amazing well done

Ricardo Torres said...

wow!! i really like it they are very beautiful congratulations from Spain !!

Pat Ulrich said...

So many gorgeous shots, Julie! what a fantstic collection of images!

AFTERMATH said...

Absolutely fabulous!

Sarah Knight said...

Beautiful shots!
The one with the egrets against the water in the sunset is spectacular!

Joke van de Klift said...

Hi Julie,
Wat een schitterende foto's heb je gemaakt, en zo scherp beautiful!
Ik wil je ook bedanken voor je bezoekje op mijn blog, ik stel het zeer op prijs!
Lovely greeting,
Joke

Debbie Miller @HooootOwl said...

Lovely vacation views!

Linda said...

Absolutely stunning images Julie! In the first one, The Heron in an incredible pose and looks like a cardboard cutout...you froze it at the perfect moment , a rare moment in this field....You are so gifted and it is a joy to see these...I love your fluffed Snowy Egret, what a pose....he's in a busy routine...nice moments on all of these and perfect clarity , contrast, and composition~ Greetings from Maine, USA, Linda

Albert Soler said...

Hola Julie.
Impresionante, maravilloso, fantástico blog, con tantos pájaros.
Gracias por compartir estas fotos, voy a seguir tu blog, si no te parece mal.
Soy seguidor de muchos blogs, muy bonitos, están todos en la barra lateral de mis blogs.

Fotos de España1
http://albertsolerd.blogspot.com

Fotos de flores 2
http://fotosdeflores2.blogspot.com

Fotos variadas 3
http://fotosvariadas3.blogspot.com