#labelle fl

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Spanish Moss Tree Arch over Road - January 2021 Spanish Moss grows on everything in this part of Florida. Sometimes it teams up with the normal growth patterns of the trees to form beautiful arches over the roadways. After I took this image, I got down from my normal perch and sat inside the Jeep as we went under the arch. MWM

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Great White Egret AND Flying Night Heron - March 2020 Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you get really lucky. And sometimes you get unbelievably lucky. I didn’t know how lucky I had been until long after we had gone through the Okaloacoochee Slough WMA near LaBelle, Florida. I had taken several images of a beautiful Great White Egret that was perched on the top of a tree. I never saw the Night Heron fly by and didn’t know he was there until I was sorting and cropping my images. Because I was using a long lense and because the Heron is slightly less well in focus compared to the Egret, I would assume that the Night Heron was flying several feet behind the Great White Egret when he photobombed my image. However it happened, it is a wonderful image MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Florida Sunset - January 2021 Whenever there is a lot of dust or humidity in the air, the sunsets are beautiful. This being Florida, there is often a lot of humidity and occasionally dust or smoke so there are a lot of gorgeous sunsets. Kathy took the first image while we were on our way back to Big Cypress from Dinner Island Ranch WMA. I took the second image two days later at the Big Cypress RV Park. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Anhinga at Sunset - January 2021 It was getting late. For all intents and purposes, I had lost the light needed to get good images. But then we saw this anhinga standing on the top of a tree. The lighting was perfect to highlight his shape and color. If he had been moving at all, the image would have ended up blurred, but Kathy stopped the Jeep, the anhinga stayed very still, and I got this wonderful golden hour image. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Ordinary Alligator - January 2021 Since I posted an image of a blue alligator yesterday, I decided to post an image of an ordinary alligator today. I took this image about ten minutes before coming across the blue alligator. This alligator appears to be dry and is the proper brownish-greenish-gray for an ordinary alligator. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Blue Alligator - January 2021 When I first saw this blue alligator, I wondered what sort of pollution or paint it had gotten into. I took several quick pictures to prove that I had seen a blue alligator. I was afraid people might equate it to seeing pink elephants. After considerable searching on the internet, I discovered that there is no such thing as a blue alligator. But several blue alligators have been reported and one or two actually photographed. It turns out that the alligator in question is the standard dull gray-green. But some alligators have the ability to retain water on their skin and scales for a short while after coming up out of the water. And if conditions are just right and you are standing in just the right place, the wet scales and skin will reflect the sky... resulting in a blue alligator. What amazes me in this image is that the alligator’s reflection in the water is also blue. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Black Vulture in a Dead Tree - January 2021 This image is dark and melancholy. And that is not just because it is the image of a black vulture. The dead tree reaching up into the sky... the coloration and shape of the clouds... and, of course, the image of a vulture... all make this a very interesting image. MWM #dinner island ranch wma #florida #labelle fl #black vulture #dead tree

[michael-massa-micon]

Black Crested Night Heron - January 2021 Yes, I know, that bird is blue, but it is still a Black Crested Night Heron. I think the change in coloring may have to do with mating season. Many birds change their coloration drastically when trying to attract a mate. MWM