Urban nature

I love the flora and fauna of Florida, especially the fact that despite living in one of the most populated areas of the state, I don't have to go far to see some pretty cool wildlife. In fact, sometimes it comes to me. Such was the case on Memorial Day when a pair of Barred Owls hung out in our backyard all day long, from dusk to dawn. The duo made other birds very uncomfortable, but I enjoyed having them around and encouraged them to take all the fruit rats they could eat...

This owl still has down around his face and appears to be a juvenile.

I also found a treasure trove of great aquatic plants, literally in the shadow of Interstate 4. Lake Ivanhoe, which is bisected by I-4 just north of downtown Orlando, has large stands of waterlilies and lotus plants in full bloom. I talked my friend into a kayaking adventure just so I could get close enough to see these remarkable flowers, which are visually fascinating in every stage of their life. Their geometric seedpods look like they are from a science fiction movie, their leaves hold shimmery drops of water like liquid Mercury and even the dead blossoms had their own subtle beauty.

Recently the state legislature voted to remove most of the environmental protections that had maintained and protected much of the undeveloped areas of Florida. Throughout our state's history, Florida's land has been viewed as an exploitable asset that made fortunes for builders and developers. While I'm constantly in awe of the beauty of our natural features we have here, I am also concerned that we might develop so much of the state, that no wild areas will be left. And the my inspiring brushes with the natural world could become things of the past.

A momma Moorhen warns me not to get any closer

The Urban Rookery

The whole concept of a bird rookery is relatively new to me, so I could have been around these bird-nesting magnets my whole life and not realized it. A bird rookery is an area where more than one pair of birds nest in a group. One of the most unique that I know of is on a small island just south of downtown Orlando in Lake Lucerne. It is within feet of the off ramp from SR 408 (or what old time Orlandoans know as the East-West Expressway.)

At this time of year the young birds are much older than the ones I saw at Gatorland, most of them appeared to be able to fly. They don't, however, seem to want to stray far from their nests and my guess is they may still be receiving meals from their parents.

The small island is full of tri-colored herons, great egrets, snowy egrets and ibis. In a nearby Cypress tree are some young Anhinga and it seems like the island can't hold all of the quickly maturing birds anymore, so they populate the trees along the lake's shoreline too. I was unable to see any nests, I'm guessing they must be wall-to-wall on the island's interior where I can't see. There is much commotion constantly as birds jockey for position and birds are flying in and out constantly. The worst thing about the place is the smell of guano; it will knock you over. After I left I swore I could still smell it.

But overall I'm once again amazed by this little patch of wilderness in the middle of an urban environment. And after the media barrage of birds covered in oil in the gulf, it is nice to see these cute fledglings with the last bit of down on their heads, trying to muster up the courage to go out in the world on their own.

Christmas in 3-D

My friend Jim has created his own digital 3-D camera and he achieves astonishing results. The depth of the images go back and back and it looks like you could almost walk into the scene. See lifeis3d.com.

I bought some cards from him recently which were not holiday -related, but wished he had some that were. So I've been trying to come up with some of the best holiday subjects in Orlando to shoot in 3-D.

Historically, the big star that hangs over Orange Avenue every year, would be a natural.
If you shot it right, you could get the depth of the buildings on either side of the street disappearing into the distance.

Then I though for pure kitsch you couldn't beat my friend Victor's plastic Santa display in his front yard near Lake Como. In fact, his neighborhood between Curry Ford and Anderson usually has some amazing holiday decorations.

Last night I stumbled across a giant Christmas Tree inside the big glass ball at the Winnie Palmer Hospital. I think that would make a great 3-D image..

Let me know if you can think of any other subjects for Christmas in 3-D.