A Good Laugh

 I didn't think it was as funny as he did.

Naples Botanical Garden

 

Many parts of the Garden are densely planted and groomed.  Those are the areas most guests visit.  In a recent visit I went instead to the more natural areas. Beautiful.

Brown Pelican

A juvenile brown pelican showed up in my community's lake.  Along with its reflection.

(Shared in Weekend Reflections.)

 

Even though we are close to the Gulf of Mexico, we don't often see them here.  

They have a strong preference for the coast and rarely visit inland lakes.  

The Promenade

The Promenade is a nice shopping center in Bonita Springs.  It is really quite lovely, but it has suffered in recent years.  Many storefronts were vacant even before the pandemic.  More are closed now.  Shame.

Fleeing

 Six crows were pestering a bald eagle.  He flew away to escape.

1957 Corvette

A friend has owned this striking 1957 Chevrolet Corvette for 25 years.

I know nothing about cars, but I do know about beauty and this car has loads.

An Anatomy Lesson

 A snowy egret flew past and offered a lesson in bird anatomy.

Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club

 This resort is in a prime location along the Gulf of Mexico.  It has been in existence for 74 years, most of the time owned and operated by one family.  It has been sold to a real estate developer who will demolish it on May 30 and build a new tower, condominiums and a hotel property.

Neighbors and longtime Naples residents are skeptical about the developer's plans to preserve the historic 18-hole golf course and to develop the site sensitively, without overloading the property, and without creating severe traffic problems.  Only time will tell.

Anhingas

 The more I photograph birds in southwest Florida, the more I learn.

The anhingas with black bodies and white wing details are male.

Females and juveniles have light brown necks and chests and black below.

A Plymouth

A bright red and cream old car was at a service station, so I pulled in.  It is a Plymouth.  

A bit of googling suggests it is from ~1934.  Quite a vehicle.

Cattle Egret

 Cattle egrets have thin white bodies, short yellow bills and black legs.  

I think they are kind of goofy looking.  Fun.

Jack's Hollywood Favorites

I should go to Artis-Naples this weekend to learn which are my favorites.

 

But, then I would have to go inside.

Maybe the newspaper will have a review.

An Eagle

I saw a bald eagle on a tree.  Part of a limb obscured his body.  (We take what we are given.)  It was a day with broken clouds.  Sometimes a cloud passed over.  The first two images were taken when cloudy.

Other times the sun shone brightly.  The next two were taken when the sun was shining, although on the other side of the eagle.  

I could argue for either pair of images.  What do you think?

Artis Naples

There is a gleaming new metallic sculpture in front of the entrance to Naples' major performance hall and art museum.   I should have stopped to identify the artist.

A Congregation of Ibises

A bunch of ibises is a "congregation" or a "stand" or a "wedge."

Yes, I am fond of reflections.

Pileated Woodpeckers

I saw several pileated woodpeckers in the last week.  (Autocorrect thought I saw pileated newspapers.)

 

Seeing and photographing are two different things.  Sometimes they were too far away.  Sometimes they hid on the back side of a tree.  Sometimes they moved too fast.  Sometimes they left before I was ready.

Often they chose the side of a tree that was in the shade.  Like the one on the right.  At least one of the pair stayed where I could photograph him.

I thought this pair of pileated woodpeckers would be winners, but they stayed in the shade and eventually the top woodpecker flew off.  (I show this only to illustrate that taking good photographs of wildlife is harder than it might seem.)  Oh, well.  There is always tomorrow.

Ibis

 An ibis is a fairly big white bird with a curved orange bill.  In southwest Florida, ibises are about as common as squirrels are up north.  So, I generally don't photograph them.

But, there are exceptions. 

 In one of my favorite locations for photographing the local wildlife, ibises gather in the late afternoon. Earlier this week I stood there and focused on one or two at a time.

Visit Weekend Reflections to see other photographs with reflections.

A Sunset

 There are more spectacular sunsets, but this one appealed to me.

A quiet and peaceful sunset.

Squawking Egret

 Great white egrets are usually elegant, silent birds.

I wonder what got this guy upset . . .

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Named by someone who doesn't know his head from his belly.

Dogtooth Music and Sports Bar

 I heard about a nice mural in this local bar in North Naples, so I walked in.

I was the only person in the bar wearing a mask.  Quick photo.  Bye.

Posted in Monday Mural.

Fly-by

Herons, egrets, wood storks, anhinga and cormorants all hang around bodies of water together.

A great blue heron gave up its spot at the water's edge and flew past a group of wood storks toward a new spot.  Know what to call a bunch of wood storks?  Choose from "a clatter of storks", "a filth of storks", "a muster of storks", "a phalanx of storks" and a "swoop of storks." 

It's a Pretty Nice Place

Since returning to Naples in October, I spend the bulk of my time inside my gated community.

It is a pretty nice place to spend my time.