Back from Florida. A few pictures here. What's your fave?

[Bertha Venation]

Poll question: Back from Florida. A few pictures here. What's your fave?

What bird is this?


The southern view from our balcony (toward Miami)


Alligator


Sunrise


and not in the poll, yours truly


I wish I could say it's good to be back.

:hi:

[yellowdogintexas]

1. nice shots, all. did you have fun?

nice to have you back though.

Too bad you did not get to Key WEst. You would have loved the Ernest Hemingway Home for Wayward Polydactyl Cats

[Bertha Venation]

16. We had a blast.

Someday we will make the drive from Hollywood Beach down to Key West. :)

[RagAss]

2. Thanks for visiting us.....

:hi:

[Bertha Venation]

17. Hi, RagAss

dig the username :hi:

[auntAgonist]

3. Great photos. I like all of them. Why are YOU not in the poll.

You look so relaxed, contented and just simply happy to be where you are.

:hug: for you and Mrs V.


aA
kesha

[Bertha Venation]

18. Hi, kesha

:hug:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. Love that Gator --

He looks so happy :D

[Bertha Venation]

20. He does look like he's smiling, doesn't he?

:)

[tigereye]

5. nice, looks lovely.

I don't have my bird book handy since I'm at the office, but it looks like a young Florida scrub jay maybe?


How close to Miami were you?


Hope you guys had a great time - wonderful time of year for the ocean (she said enviously)

[Bertha Venation]

19. I think we were about an hour from Miami

We've been down there just once, just to drive around.

:hi:

[tigereye]

40. man, isn't this the time of year when you wished you lived in the warmer

climes, as opposed to the Northeast?


Yuk. I am SO sick of winter, shoveling, car not starting, salting the sidewalk and all that fun stuff.

[TZ]

6. Lovely pictures

Looks you had fun. Welcome back to winter..x(

[Bertha Venation]

21. Thanks, TZ

Yeah, we're gonna get hit with Nuisance Snow tomorrow. :(

[DeepBlueC]

7. that's a wonderful shot of the gator

How close did you have to get to get it? He really does look like he's grinning ... and such beautiful teeth he has! :hi:

[Bertha Venation]

22. We were maybe 50 feet away, sitting in an airboat.

The captain threw him pieces of hot dog. :( but it made for a couple of good shots.

[Haole Girl]

They're all good, including the one of you!

But I picked the 2nd from the top because I like the color of the water.

Glad you had a nice time. It is so difficult to come back, I know!

[Bertha Venation]

23. Thanks, Haole Girl

:hi: :)

[PBS Poll-435]

8. The view from the balcony!!!

Wow. That is so good it looks fake.

:applause:

[Bertha Venation]

24. LOL

Glad you like it. Believe me, it's not talent in shooting that picture -- that's how it really looks. SO hard to come back.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Great pictures, Bertha!

And judging by that picture of you, you were having a fabulous time!

[Bertha Venation]

25. It was wonderful.

:hi: :)

[GoneOffShore]

10. The best picture is the sunrise

hands down.

[Bertha Venation]

26. the sunrises were stunning

Being a So. Cal. native, I'm used to shooting sunsets.

[Callalily]

11. Although I truly like your balcony pic,

that alligator shot is fabulous.

[Bertha Venation]

28. great subject = good picture

thanks :hi:

[catzies]

12. I think the bird is a female robin. They migrate to FL this time of year

When I was a kid in Miami, we used to see robins eating the fermented berries on the Florida holly trees (really Brazilian pepper trees), and get drunk and just fall out of the trees. :rofl:

We'd have to keep the cats in the house when that happened so they wouldn't pounce on the poor little things. The birds would eventually come to and fly away. :)

[Bertha Venation]

29. LOL how sad and funny

:rofl:

[Zavulon]

13. All of them are great, but

I went with the alligator.

What sort of camera did you use for these?

[Bertha Venation]

30. it's a digital SLR, Nikon D-80

My partner picked it out - she's the one in the family who knows most about cameras & photography. I just point & shoot.

[Zavulon]

45. Thanks (NT)

:hi:

[Taverner]

14. Dudette! It's the Crocogator!!!

Totally the crocogator!

[Bertha Venation]

31. What's the Crocogator?

[petronius]

15. Nice! The bird, I believe, is a female boat-tailed grackle (and I'll cling

to that opinion until Xemasab shows up to tell us different!).

I like the beach view, although all are nice...

[Bertha Venation]

32. I'd love to get XemaSab's view on that bird

It could very well be a grackle, because there were many. I can identify the males.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

39. It is a grackle

A female, yes. NOT a robin. Pretty run of the mill birds here. Another weird bunch are the starlings, who come in huge swarms and just hang out in your yard for a few days. And yes, it's the robins who come down and eat all the Brazilian peppers, stumble around, and shit red berry poop on everything.

Kind of sweet that one of the most ignored birds garnered such attention. They don't really do anything remarkably good OR bad, so are not something we really notice.

[semillama]

41. Yup, it's a female Boat-tailed Grackle. n/t

[XemaSab]

44. Female Boat-tailed Grackle

(Sorry I got to the party late. :P )

[Inchworm]

27. I like the boardwalk shot best

I've spent hella time on that piece of landscape.

Woohoo! You did the airboat? Did you stop at that tiki bar closer to 595? :D

:woohoo:

[Bertha Venation]

33. Yep. Mrs. V. said that the airboat was the best time

she's ever had on her birthday. :woohoo:

We didn't make it to the tiki bar. :( We did, however, sample several low-quality restaurants in our search for good ones. :(

:hi: :hug:

[raccoon]

34. They are all lovely! Thanks for sharing.

Edited to remove "What bird is that?" as some have already weighed in.

[Bertha Venation]

35. thanks, raccoon

:hi:

[Drunken Girlfriend]

36. Luv the palm trees

Although I like all of your pics,I especially like the one
taken from your balcony.

I've never been outside of Ontario before,and have always found palm
trees so pretty,and relaxing to look at.

Hope you enjoyed your vacay!

[MissMillie]

37. I like the picture of YOU!

:hi:

[motely36]

38. Sunrise

All the photos are great. Glad you had fun. :hi:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

42. Glad you enjoyed the Sunshine State!

I'm always partial to the gator, so I think that's my favorite. They aren't graceful per se, but there is something mystical about them, so much so that they often come up in dreams of mine (but not in bad ways). They are the closest thing we have to dinosaurs left.

[Left Is Write]

43. Sunrise, I think.

:hi: