St..Augustine Waterfront

I started December with the objective of posting photos only taken in the St. Augustine, Florida area for the entire month. I hope everyone has enjoyed the mini-tour. We've only begun to explore the area, so I'm sure future posts will continue to include images captured in this most beautiful part of Florida.

I'll end the month with a photo of the Old Town waterfront along Menendez Ave taken at twilight from the temporary bridge (the one in place as they rebuild the Bridge of Lions).

Stay safe tonight (its "Amateur Night") and best wishes to all for a Happy New Year!

Frog Fountain, Flagler College

I haven't had much time recently for taking new photographs, so I've returned to the group of photos I took at Flagler College several weeks back. The subject of today's photo is one of the frogs that make up the fountain within the courtyard.

Gazing, Washington Oaks Gardens

This photo was taken at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Florida along the shoreline were there are scattered stretches of exposed coquina rock formations. When we arrived at the beach, the sun was shining but soon a front began to make its way through and the sky filled with clouds. This particular shot is of my daughter gazing out over the Atlantic Ocean from on top of one of the rock formations.

Bronze Cannon, Castillo de San Marcos

Today's photo shows one of the bronze cannons mounted along the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida and was taken in the warm light of early morning.

Sunrise and Sea Oats

Today's photo was taken the same morning as last Monday's post of the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean on St. Augustine Beach, Florida. Just a shift in location and zoomed in a bit tighter.

Kite Surfing on Salt Run

Today's photo is of a kite surfer doing his thing along Salt Run in Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine, Florida. The magnificent dunes of the park can be seen in the background.

On Santa's Lap

I took today's photo of my son on Santa's lap during an open house at the St. Augustine Lighthouse a couple of weeks back. I really liked this Santa. He had a great way of getting the kids to open up. This shot captured the moment Santa was contemplating my son's request for a particular toy.

Merry Christmas!

The Plaza De La Constitucion at Night

Taken at twilight, today's photo is of the Plaza De La Constitucion decorated with lights for the holidays.

Lights at the Lightner

Today's photo was taken on one of two evenings last week when I left the office with camera and tripod and hit the streets of St. Augustine at twilight to try and capture some of the holiday lighting and decorations that are up everywhere. This particular photo was taken from the garden area in front of the Lightner Museum back towards Flagler College.

Beyond the Surf

Today's photo is of the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean off of St. Augustine Beach.

Snowy Egret Drinking Water

Today's photo is of a Snowy Egret and was taken earlier today during a quick visit to Anastasia State Park.

I was able to capture quite a few good shots of this little guy and a bigger cousin (Great Egret) while they were waiting for some handouts from a couple of fishermen. One shot I was tempted to post had him eating a mullet but I thought this was a better photo overall. He is actually taking a sip of water to wash down the mullet in this shot.

Mockingbird at the Beach

Today's photo is of a Mockingbird which is also our Florida State Bird.

I spotted this bird as I was leaving the Matanzas Bridge where I had been photographing terns, gulls and pelicans and one energetic dog that was racing along the beach. Although not what I had expected to photograph at the beach, he patiently remained on his perch while I got my camera ready providing me with what turned out to be the best photo I took during the outing.

Laughing Gull at Sunset

The warm light just prior to sunset produced a golden tone in this photo of a laughing gull resting at the crest of a dune on Vilano Beach, Florida.

Brown Pelicans on Patrol

One of my favorite birds is the Pelican. With wingspans over 6 feet they are a very large bird. I love to watch them cruise in formation along the beach looking for fish.

Today's photo is of a group of Brown Pelicans patrolling off of the beach near Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, south of Saint Augustine, Florida.

Koi Roy?

Close-up of a Koi in pond at Lightner Museum. See yesterday's post for more info.

Koi Reflection

Heading out of the flower bed at Flagler College and across the street, today's photo is of a koi surfacing in the courtyard pond at the Lightner Museum

Although not the most colorful koi in the pond, the dark tone of this fish created a great surface for reflecting the palms which surround the pond.

Want to learn more about koi, click here.

Yellow Pansy

One more flower photo before moving on to another subject.

Thanks to everyone who responded yesterday, I can say with reasonable certainty that this is also a Pansy...a very yellow Pansy.

Pansy Close-Up

Another photo from the courtyard at Flagler College. This one is a close-up of a Pansy.

Thanks Poncho for your help identifying it. I'm definitely no expert on flowers.

Hibiscus Close-Up

I think its worth mentioning that this photo has not been cropped. It was taken with a macro lens on a tripod and is of the pistil and stamens of a Hibiscus along the same hedge as yesterday's photo. This lens has a very shallow depth of field so any motion of the subject will cause it to go out of focus. It was windy on this particular day, so I ended up with a lot of blurred shots and a couple that were pretty crisp like this one. The blue and green are the sky and a leaf in the background, respectively. If you look real closely, you can see a couple of specs of pollen in the air and other fine details.

Hibiscus

Is anyone getting sick of St. Augustine? Hope not...there are still 19 days left in December!

Today's photo was taken, you guessed it, at Flagler College. BUT, it could have been just about anywhere in Florida. It is, of course, a species of Hibiscus.

Some interesting info on this flower can be found at Wikipedia. Click here for more.

Ponce de Leon Hall, Flagler College

Today's photo was taken from the courtyard outside of Ponce de Leon Hall at Flagler College. Note the frogs with water flowing from their mouths into the pond in the foreground.

If you're interested in seeing some other great photos of the college on their web site, including some of the incredible interior, click here.

Flagler College from The Lightner

Today's photo is of Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida and was taken by the fountain in front of the Lightner Museum. I haven't been further than just inside the entrance to the college, but the exterior architecture is amazing as was the little I saw of the interior. Below is a snippet of information on the college from Wikipedia along with some links if you're interested in learning more.

..."The school is located on 19 acres, the centerpiece of which is the Ponce de Leon Hall, built in 1888 as a luxury hotel. The architects were John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, working for Henry Morrison Flagler, the industrialist, oil magnate and railroad pioneer. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places."

More British Night Watch Parade

Today's photo is of a woman dressed as one might during the period of British occupation of Saint Augustine. Taken during the British Night Watch Parade, Saint Augustine, Florida last Saturday evening.

British Night Watch Parade

Group of men dressed in period costumes for the Annual British Night Watch Parade which took place last Saturday evening in Old Town, Saint Augustine, Florida.

Rough Surf at Sunrise

Today's photo was taken at sunrise on Anastasia Island, Florida. The soft blurring is due to a slow shutter speed relative to the fast motion of the waves.

Plover?

I think all of us who have been to the beach have seen these little guys scurrying along in the surf. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe today's photo is of a type of Plover. If this is not correct or if you know what type of plover this is, please let me know.

Hope everyone has a great Saturday.

Do you see what I see?

Back on the ground for today.

In the plaza in front of my office I spotted what looked like a bunch of eyes staring at me from the trunk of a plant. I thought it would make an interesting picture, so I returned a couple of days later and took this photo.

Although I've seen these plants in different parts of Florida all my life , I had never before noticed this feature. I did a search on the internet for the name of the plant and believe it is a Philodendron selloum.

Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine

One last photo from the rooftop...this one looking east from downtown St. Augustine towards Anastasia Island.

One of the landmarks of the city was the Bridge of Lions which spans the Matanzas River between St. Augustine and Anastasia Island. Built in 1927, it was determined to be structural unsound and obsolete in 1999. In 2006, a massive engineering project costing approximately 77 million dollars was kicked off to reconstruct the old bridge. The marble lions which stood at the ends of the bridge were placed in storage and will be returned once construction is complete in approx. 2010.

To allow for this construction, a temporary bridge was erected. In this photo you can see the temporary bridge with traffic passing across it. To the right is the "new" Bridge of Lions under construction.

Castillo de San Marcos

This photo is looking north over the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida.

The Spanish began construction of the fort in 1672 and it is made from rock largely composed of the small clam shell called coquina ("tiny shell" in Spanish). It is the oldest masonry and only still existing 17th century fort in North America. In 1924 it was made a national monument by President Calvin Coolidge and is now maintained by the National Park Service.

Anastasia Island

Today's photo, like yesterday's, was taken from the roof of a building in St. Augustine. This view is to the east-southeast looking across Anastasia Island. In the foreground are homes fronting the Intracoastal Waterway. The St. Augustine Lighthouse is visible and beyond it and to the right, the white sand dunes of the beach at Anastasia State Park.

St. Augustine Waterfront

December is here! Hard to believe the year will soon be drawing to a close.

I thought I'd try to use only photos from the St. Augustine area for the month, so today's photo is one I took from atop a building in Old Town looking northeast over some of the city's waterfront toward Valano Beach. On the left, you can see a portion of the Castillo de San Marcos (fort). The bridge in the distance is the one which takes you to Vilano Beach. The St. Augustine Inlet is also visible as is the north Davis Shores (our home) and the north end of Anastasia Island State Park.