Christmas 2010 - Festive times with family, friends and the blizzard!

                                     A pictorial review of Christmas 2010, the Kerwick/Kearns clans.......

The aftermath of the blizzard of December 2010.

The Yacht Club, Island Park, NY

                                                          Christmas Eve, the Kearns....

                                                     Dawn showing Connie's painting of Ryan.

The annual Christmas picture....

Ryan inspects Aunt Kris's camera!

Part of the Kerwick clan, Christmas Day and the day after.....

Grandma and girls......

More food and chatter.....

Elli, Eleni (home from Holland) and Carolyn.....

Lots of festive food....

                                                                                                                   

Ali, Eleni, Billy, Tommy, Will, Ty

John, Brian and Conor

A very thankful and blessed John & Connie......

12-27-2010

                                                                              

                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                



O' what a sight!

One of the most spectacular sights of Nature in South Florida is seeing a Roseate Spoonbill, one of the most striking birds found in North America.

The bear skin of the adult's head has a greenish tinge with a darker black band around the base of the skull. The eyes and legs are red. The feathers of the neck, chest, and upper back are white. The upper wing coverts are red, the tail feathers are orange-pink and the rest of the body and wing feathers are pale pink.
The unique pale grey bill is long, flattened and spoonlike in appearance. Immature birds are paler in color.

Every Nature photographer, or anyone in Florida with a camera, wants a picture of a Spoonbill in their portfolio. I was lucky yesterday morning when a at least five Spoonbills descended in the preserve behind our home.  I was there, camera in hand.

Here is a sample of the photo images I was able to capture.

These five photo images are only a sample. From 6:55 AM to 8:20 AM I took 958 images. Now, I'm in the process of evaluating, deleting, editing, etc.  I hope you enjoy.    JPK 12-14-2010 

                          

The beauty, tranquility and beast of nature!

Long before the developers brought highways, the railroad, hotels, attractions, and housing to South Florida it was much like the Everglades. In recent years, there has been a movement to mitigate the over-development damage and return Florida to its original state. There are few better examples of this than Palm Beach County's Wakodahatchee Wetlands near Delray Beach. Most of the photos in this blog posting were taken at Wakodahatchee early December 2010.

Over 140 species of wildlife live on this site that has been given back to nature.

A double-crested Cormorant in flight.

A Pied-billed Grebe.

An American Coot taking off.

                                A Great Blue Heron in flight!                                         

                  

The Great Blue returns with twigs to build nest.

Large alligator has captured a large turtle.

Nature has its cruel side, too!

Wakodahatchee's paparazzi run to scene of crime!

The alligator rules this swamp!

The little Grebe swims over to take a look.

Peace and tranquility returns!