July 24th, 2024

Joy and I hit a local preserve last week so clearly it must be time for another Photo Safari Report!  I shall call this one the Mostly Insects Hikes because it seems that of all the pictures I took, most of them were of insects of one sort or another!  Weird.  Not my usual at all.

These dog days of summer, we try to get up and out as early as possible but not so early that the sun isn't up yet. It's dangerous to wander through the preserves before it's light out, for one thing and dang it, neither of us really wants to be up and out that early either!  So we were out the door before 7:30 and it was already hot.

Well of course it was hot. It's July in Florida. If you expect anything else you are delusional.  But early mornings are absolutely the coolest part of the day so it's as good a time to get going.  Fully swathed with sunscreen and wearing hats, we set out.

I took a lot of botanical shots and for some odd reason (I'm sure operator error) they didn't turn out well. It's a shame because this time of year there are colourful flowering things at every turn and in every direction.  Clearly I need to work on that and figure out what I'm doing wrong. In the meantime,  here's what  I got:

There were birds all around us.  We could hear them, heaven knows, as they are a rowdy bunch!  At times it was quite the cacophony.  Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it can be really loud.  This time we even Saw a lot of birds for a change, but alas, I only sometimes got a good shot.  Here are a few:

But by far and away, my best shots of the day, to my tremendous surprise, were some of the hardest ones to get.  Insects!  Butterflies and Dragonflies, the sorts of creatures that move fast and frequently.  I guess it was a bug centric photography sort of day!  The camera gods were smiling on me for sure:

We kept the hike short due to the heat. Our goal is always to be back at the car no later than 10 am during the summer and sometimes that's just not long enough. So I guess there's nothing left to do except to leave earlier.  Which is our plan for This week and we'll see where that gets us.  Could be better, or not.  One never knows.

But we will find out.  And then once I post, so will you ;)

Take Care, Have fun, Stay Safe!

​