Spider Guy (Not)

First off, I'm scared silly of spiders. So I don't know why I'm throwing this picture up of a crab spider. He's very small, probably less than half an inch across, and now that I look at him up close, he looks more like a tick that a spider. These guys make their webs across trails quite often, so I walk right into them a lot, and I always worry about where exactly that spider ended up. Is it just me or does that look like some sort of creepy smiley face on his back?

Fishy Fishy

I've always been fascinated by this fish. I don't know why. It's just so incongruous. There he sits, up on a pole, out in the water. No advertising, no message about Jesus, no nothing. Just a fish for the sake of fishness, I suppose. Somehow, that's refreshing.

Jonathan Livingston

Seagulls are usually dirty, nasty pests. But they are really pretty when they're in the air.

Fun With Flipper

I see dolphins fairly often while I am out and about, but I almost never get pictures of them. Today I got lucky, and this marine mammal swam across my viewfinder. He was swimming slowly and not diving very deep. so I was able to squeeze off a few shots. He swam under a bridge as I was watching him, so I ran to the other side, but he didn't come up on the far side. I continued walking along the bridge, when suddenly I start hearing voices. It turned out to be the drawbridge tender on his loudspeaker, telling me that there were dolphins on his side of the bridge! It was a little spooky... I didn't get anymore pictures of them, though.

More White Stuff

There's nothing like a week in cold, frozen Ohio to make you appreciate the beauty of your own backyard. It's the end of January, but the winter weather is far away from Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island here in Florida. And this white stuff is sugar sand, not snow. I think I must live in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet!

Doe, A Deer (A Female Deer)

On the very last day of my recent adventures in Ohio, while in the van on the way to the airport, I finally spotted a deer. I saw three, actually, way off the road behind a thick stand of trees. Not the best situation for a picture, as you can see. It didn't help matters any that there was a well lit clearing behind the animals, making it that much harder to get a shot. But this is what I got. The other ladies were sitting on the ground, and I couldn't get them in the shot. At least I didn't strike out completely this trip.

The Next Week In January

This week's picture is a group of white pelicans on Lake Morton in Lakeland, FL. These guys migrate down to the area in the winter, so I don't see them around too much. And they seem to prefer freshwater to saltwater, but I have occasionally seen them in the Gulf of Mexico.