Back from Florida, Rested and Relaxed

We recently returned from a week away in warm, sunny Captiva Island, FL. We stayed at the South Seas Island Resort with some great friends. Unlike our annual trek to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, this trip was made without the kids. We don't get to do that sort of thing too often. In fact, not counting our honeymoon, we have only taken one other vacation without the kids.  

I spent many hours with camera in hand capturing the bright blue southwest Florida skies, plentiful birds and palm trees. I also had the unique experience of being able photograph both the sunrise and the sunset, while the sunsets were far more dramatic. 

Perhaps the most fulfilling photographic experiences on the trip was the two trips we made to the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. That's where the Snowy Egret featured in this post was found. This Egret flew up to the rocks about 10 feet away and wasn't too concerned I was close. I watched him pick shrimp out of the rocks for ten minutes or so. I snapped easily 20 photos before he flew away to find more shrimp.