Dry Tortugas

 Dry Tortugas are the southern-most and western-most of the Florida Keys. Fort Jefferson is an unfinished fortress on one of the Tortugas keys. It is actually the largest brick structure in the Western Hemisphere. 

 

 

 

Classic tropical lighthouse shot:

 

This reminds me of Indiana Jones for some reason:

 

Dry Tortugas houses a huge colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds, some of which would fly right above you.

 

The ones with a white chest are juveniles:

 

The bird I went there for - a Brown Noddy:

 

A native hermit crab in huge shell:

 

 

The iguanas are not native to Florida, but they are now pervasive there. However, they haven't made it to Dry Tortugas or other outlying islands yet. However invasive they are, they are also really cool to look at.

 

 

Another Florida lizard.

 

Dry Tortugas lies on the migratory path for many birds, which stop there to rest and refuel. This is a Cattle Egret.

 

Ruddy Turnstone:

 

Black-and-White Warbler:

 

Red-Shouldered Hawk:

 

A Key West sunset:

 

Virginia and North Carolina 2022

 On a repeat visit to Virginia's Great Dismal Swamp, I was walking around looking for my target bird, when people in an incoming car put their hands out the car windows and started vigorously pointing to something behind me. I turned around just in time to see this bear cross the path right behind me. It might be the same one I saw on this trail the year before!

 

Shortly afterwards, I came across this foot print in the mud. Bear? Probably not, most likely a large dog. But still looks cool!

 

Some more nature shots from Virginia:

 

Downy Woodpcker:

 

 

Northern Cardinal:

 

Off to North Carolina, on a pelagic trip from Cape Hatteras. While still relatively close to shore, three dolphins approached our boat and swam right in front of for good ten minutes or so.

 

They were so close that my long-lens camera had trouble focusing on them.

 

More marine mammals: humpback whale:

 

This is the most beautiful pelagic bird ever: White-Tailed Tropicbird:

 

A good shot of a Black-Capped Petrel. Many pelagic birds belong to a family called tubenoses. If you look closely, you can see the tubes at the root of its nose in this picture. The tubes help filter out salt, which is a constant presence for these sea birds. 

 

A Great Shearwater (another tubenose!) going after a piece of chum. 

 

Not all that's flying at the sea is a bird! It took me many tried to get this picture of the flying fish in action.

 

Here is something stingy: a Portuguese Man o’ War. While it looks like a jellyfish, this is actually a small colony of jellyfish-related parts called Zooids. There are several types of them, each performing a unique function. But the end result is that they function as a single animal. Don't try to touch one if you find it - it really stings!

 

Another find on an open sea:

 

When coming back to harbor at Cape Hatteras, there was a line of finishing boats behind us: 

 

While out on a completely exposed sandbank in the middle of the harbor, these good folks were enjoying the sun and the breeze.

 

Sunrise at Cape Hatteras:

 

The Eagles of Des Moines

 There is a place in Des Moines, near where the Raccoon River flows in the Des Moines River, where, I was told, bald eagles tend to aggregate. As long as the river doesn't freeze over, they can fish easily there. I sought it out on my recent visit.

Approaching the river, the eagles first seem like so many perched crows:

 

But getting closer, you can spot their white heads and tails:

 

Once in a white, they take to flight:

 

 

 

Finally one of them caught a fish:

 

This started a big fight.

 

The fish was stolen and re-taken many times.

 

They would drop the fish into the river, and have to re-catch it there.

 

At one point. as it was flowing past me in the current, the eagles came so close that my camera couldn't track them anymore. All I got from that fight is this shot of the final winner.

 

The winner takes its breakfast home. The eagles in this shot don't have white heads or tails - all three are juveniles. Eagles reach maturity only on their 4th year. The more speckled their feathers are, the more immature they are.

 

In the meantime, there was another fight going on the river bank.

 

 

It ended peacefully though, with the participants instead starting to pay attention to the fish fight.

 

When I was leaving the eagles continued to fly around and look for fish.

 

Parting shot: View of Iowa State Capitol from the riverwalk: