And I got my wish. It was very fresh – the first day of daylight saving time started of in the 40’s and end up in the mid sixties. A bit windy still – reminiscence from the nasty storm two days earlier – but overall pure delight – with air so clear and sky a deep azure blue, that you don’t encounter all that often – even in Florida.
And I was greeted by a Swallowtail Kite – just returned from South America’s Winter Quarters. And things are starting to get active, though not overly so. The lower than usual temps sure played their role in that. First I went over to my little pier, but that was dead in the water. (Pun intended). No Gators, large or small insight. Spotted an Osprey 
in a new Nest – that alone was worth the walk.
Next off to my main hunting grounds – and as always in the last weeks – the Zebra Swallowtails were plentiful in their usual area – but I also encountered a larger number of Dragonflies – the Carolina Saddlebag, to be precise. And I had a go with them – as you will see in the album.
Great light and winds calming down got me some good moments.
Curious if I would get lucky I ventured to the area where I encountered a swallowtail kite last year – and I did. Get lucky that is. Not only one but a whole bunch of this extremely elegant birds were chasing each other exactly where I hoped them to be. Now – getting pictures was a whole different ballgame. My beloved D 50 is slowly dying – refusing to render any other services but shoot a picture. Metering, Autofocus and all the useful little helpers are out of commission, leaving me the pleasure to shoot images exactly the way I started out in the 70’s. Completely manual. Challenging for most pictures, Frustrating however when trying to track a fast moving object – like a kite. And fast they are – you can take my word for it. But after all – I managed to get some decent images – that I compiled in a collage.
On my way back I ran into these wild Orange trees again and couldn’t help doing a couple of shots. While the wind picked up again, I wasn’t able to get a lot butterfly shots , though. But their time will come! 
Before I show the teaser – here’s my today’s view count:
Zebra Swallowtail 30+, Carolina Saddlebag 10+, Common Buckeye 5+, Fiery Skipper 10+, Palamedes Swallowtail 10+, Gulf Fritillary 3, Swallowtail Kite 7, Bald Eagle 1 Mature, 1 immature, Osprey 2, Spicebush Swallowtail 2, Giant Swallowtail 1
(Uhhh – what I don’t count: Vultures, Mockingbirds, Grackles, lil critters, Spiders….not that they are not worth being counted – but they are so plentiful year round, that I scrub counting them for that very reason.)
And now for the teaser:
[SinglePic not found]And as always – the link to the ALBUM!
