Cormorant Week at the Blog

Seems like I'm only posting pictures of cormorants from Anhinga Trail. Well, here's another one.

Also, my friend Fabiola, a fantastic nature photographer herself took video at last Sunday's photo shoot and captured some nice action with a cormorant and a fish. You can see the video here.

As an aside, when was the last time a major hit song had such powerful lyrics as this one written by Paul McCartney in the late 1960's?

And when the night is cloudy,

there is still a light, that shines on me,

shine until tomorrow, let it be.

I wake up to the sound of music,

mother Mary comes to me,

speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let's see, the number one song today from some artist (I use that term loosely) named Nelly is called "Say it Right", and it goes something like this...

In the day

In the night

Say it all

Say it right

You either got it

Or you don't

You either stand or you fall

When your will is broken

Man that was deep huh? See ya later infidels.

More Images from Anhinga Trail - Everglades National Park

Here's another one for you infidels, the wall of cormorants just down from the visitor center on the Anhinga Trail. When things get slow, you can shoot away at these guys. They're so tame you can get inches away from them as I did here with the wide angle lens.

See ya in the field . . .

Happy Chilly Monday From South Florida

Greetings infidels. It's in the low 50's in South Florida today. Brrr, nice time to go out to the glades and scope out the cormorants slurping down some fishies... The above image was shot at Anhinga Trail yesterday morning. Lot's of photographers there. The season's starting once again. So don't miss it folks.

And now some lyrics to start the week:

Sanibel

by Denny Sarokin
Recorded by CSN&Y

There's a ship
And it sails a sea of light
On it's way to me tonight
From a distant shore
Taking me home once more

And the waves
And the whistling of the wind
Make me come alive again
My destiny's at my door

Going to leave this town forever
And go where I'll never
Nead an overcoat no more, where they cry ...
Ooh lalalala, every night and every day

Sitting by the Gulf coast just a thousand miles away
Where they cry ...
Ooh lalalala, on an island I will dwell
Starlit nights in paradise on the Isle of Sanibel

There's a girl
And I see her dressed in white
As she lies there in the night
I can hear her cry
Where has he gone and why

But she knows
That someday he will arrive
And it keeps her love alive
Dreams can never die

She looks across the ocean
At sails in motion
In the early morning sky, where they cry ...
Angels of the water, sirens of the sea

Whispering there sweet love songs
Calling out to me

Happy Chilly Friday and Finally My Blog Has Transferred to the New Blogger

Happy Friday infidels. It's a chilly 52 degrees in South Florida. Of course this will only last a day. Tommorrow it will be 10 degrees warmer and by Sunday at sunrise, it should be warm enough for as I venture once again to Everglades National Park where I hope too see these wonderful cormorants put on a show.

Thus far, I've not slept in about a week as I've been learning how to take advantage of the advantes of the Intel Based Mac Pro. Who needs vista is all I say. What is cool is the anticipation of the new OSX Leopard which should be out in a few months as well as Photoshop CS 3. Of course, many of my plug ins and actions will not work on CS 3. I'm particularly bummed about my favorite plug in, Lucis Art. It may be a year before that one is redone so as to work on PS 3. I may simply have to use the lap top to use Lucis Art and then transfer it to the Mac for further editing. Ironically, the only problem I had with the Mac was in using Entourage from...ahem, Microsoft. I've switched to Apple Mail and I-Cal. Much easier and stable. Go figure.

I'm even more amazed as to how fast my Mac runs MS Windows XP in the Parallel program. Much faster than my Dell laptop. Y'all can suffer with Vista. I'm a Mac dude henceforth.

Have a splendid time this weekend. Carry on now!

One Particular Harbour

Ia ora te natura

E mea arofa teie ao nei

Ia ora te natura

E mea arofa teie ao nei

And there's that one particular harbour

Sheltered from the wind

Where the children play on the shore each day

And all are safe within
Most mysterious calling harbour

So far but yet so near

I can see the day when my hair's full gray

And I finally disappear

lyrics by Jimmy Buffett

Stop Monkeying Around and Get Back to Work You Slackers!

The Wako Herons Are Ready for Action

© 2007 by Michael A. Pancier, All Rights Reserved

Happy Monday infidels. Another week of fun up ahead. Did a shoot Sunday at Wakodahatchee Wetlands and the Great Blues gave us a show. They're nesting and courting and giving photographers and birders quite a show. Hope to catch y'all there early in the a.m. as I'll be making more trips through the end of next month.

Friday's Child Has Learned to Tie His Bootlace

It's Friday infidels. My favorite day of the work week. I think I've slept maybe 12 hours all week and hopefully will get some rest. It's difficult to sleep when you have a new Mac Pro to play with (with the Intel dual Core Xeon chips) ... But even with lack of sleep and a lot of espresso that I drink I still have the warmth of the sun within me at night. Have a great weekend folks.
-----------------------------

What good is the dawn
That grows into day
The sunset at night
Or living this way
For I have the warmth of the sun
(warmth of the sun)
Within me at night
(within me at night)
- Warmth of the Sun by Brian Wilson and Mike Love

Return to the Glades

The action was slow last Sunday morning, but I did manage some new shots to start 2007. Even more significant is the fact that I have officially said goodbye to Microsoft and Windows and have joined the ranks of the Apple users by the acquisition of a new Mac Pro. The Mac rules. It is faster than light and I can also run windows on it to access the office if necessary. There is no need to continue with a windows system anymore.

I still have not imported all my PS plugins and actions into the Mac but will do so within the next week. Just a quickie raw conversion to start the day. ciao infidels.

The Dream

It's a holiday infidels and I'm working out of the house today. Went to the Glades yesterday and while the action at Shark Valley was luke warm, I did manage some pics. To close off the post today, I leave you the following . . .

Let this affirmation be our ringing cry. It will give us the courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.

Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: "Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again." Let us go out realizing that the Bible is right: "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." This is our hope for the future, and with this faith we will be able to sing in some not too distant tomorrow, with a cosmic past tense, "We have overcome! We have overcome! Deep in my heart, I did believe we would overcome."
--- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 16 August 1967

Time to Hit the Glades

It's January. I've been too busy to hit the Glades as I had a trial. But, it's time infidels. I'll be there Sunday morning at the crack of dawn at Shark Valley. Hope to have some new pics for a change.

Have a greatweekend folks and enjoy the little blue heron taken from my last trip to Shark Valley a year ago. Time flies.

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

The waiting is the hardest part, Every day you see one more card.
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part

As the great Floridian, Tom Petty once sang, the waiting is the hardest part. This vulture has been waiting for half a century for the dreaded fifo to pass on, to be no more, to expire and to be gone to meet his maker, to be a stiff, bereft of life, to be pushing up daisies, to have kicked the bucket, shuffled off his mortal coil, to run down the curtain and join the bleeding choir invisible of demons, for him to once and for all be an ex-dictator. But they've nailed the bearded prick to his perch and have pumped him full of embalming fluid I reckon. In the meantime, the vulture waits and waits and waits and waits . . . So I ask fifo's handlers, don't be cruel to this bird. Feed this bird the rotted pieces of fifo's body and do all of us a favor.

This message brought to you by the Friends of Vultures, George Washington Bridge, NY, NY.

Thought for the Day

Infidels, the Florida Gators are College Football National Champs, congrats. I got to see most of the game in High Definition. How cool it is. When the game turned into a blow out, I settled for playing XBOX 360 in high def (the basketball game). Way cool!

But how uncool Hi-Def is when it comes to really seeing certain folks close up. You can see all the spots, wrinkles, make up blotches. Egad. In fact, this morning, I saw Mass. Sen. Ted Kennedy in High Def.... it was frightening. Makes you rather leave the human world and just concentrate on fish as for the time being, there is always fish. Whether in the ocean or in an aquarium, fish are there to chill you out. One can chill over in this place at the St. Pete Pier. One can stare at the fish for a long time. Hours perhaps. Then when you're done, you can actually fish for fish from the pier. But why fish? Henry David me things, says it all:

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after."

Henry David Thoreau.

The Hurricane

The Wooden Coaster at Boomers called the Hurricane in Dania Beach, Florida. Goes about 50 mph and I rode it 4 times with an 8 year old.... whoopie!

Spash of Teal

Blue Winged Teals - Crandon Park

(c) 2007 by Michael Pancier

Well infidels, another week over. I won my trial and I'm in need of some restraint. So if you meet me, have some courtesy, Have some sympathy, and some taste. Use all your well-learned politesse, or Ill lay your case to waste.

Please to meet you, hope you guessed my name.

Have a great weekend!

My Little Town (Well Not Quite that Little)

And after it rains
Theres a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
Its not that the colors arent there
Its just imagination they lack
Everythings the same
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
-- by Paul Simon

Off To Trial

Yes infidels, I have a trial in a few hours. See y'all later for a while.

Hello 2007

Welcome to 2007 infidels.I'm off to work folks as I have a trial to prepare for.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!