| In late October, Bridget and I took a brief (three-day!) excursion to southwest Florida. One of our outings was to hike the 2 1/4 mile boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary. It is known for nesting Wood Storks, Alligators, old Cypress trees, Painted Buntings and Limpkins. Here are some of the highlights... |
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| A Praying Mantis hunted along a boardwalk railing. Its movements were herky-jerky; I imagine this is to mimic a branch blowing in the breeze. Not an effective camoflauge on a railing on a calm day! |
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| I love the S-curve of this Great Egret's neck. It was so focused on the ground that we approached within six feet or so. |
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| Strangler Figs begin life as a seed wedged into the trunk of a living tree. They sprout and grow "air roots" taking nutrition from rain and the host tree. Eventually the fig grows thick trunks that encircle the host tree which now must compete for water and nutrients. Finally the Strangler Fig wins out and the host tree dies and rots away...Sometimes leaving a lattice-like tube of trunks. I've been to Corkscrew several times and wanted to capture the sinister struggle between these two plants. This time I like the results; I desaturated the image of all color and added noise (grain) for effect. |
