Amelia Island Walkabout

October 20, 2021October 20, 2021Chris and Carol 5 Comments

Tucked away in the extreme Northeast corner of Florida lies Amelia Island. Bordered to the north by Cumberland Island, Georgia and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. To the west is the Amelia River and just south is Big Talbot Island. Here is a small sample of what can be discovered on this 13 mile long barrier island.

Atlantic Ocean near the St Marys River entrance

Osprey keeping a watchful eye out for dinner

A north to south green belt that runs (almost) the entire length of the island

Amelia’s vast salt marsh here viewed on the south end of the island

Nassau County Courthouse, Fernandina Beach

Nassau Sound bridge looking north towards Amelia Island

Thanks for stopping by and taking a short photographic stroll across Amelia.

Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.

tuesday turtle

June 1, 2021June 1, 2021Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I spotted this beautiful turtle (Florida river cooter) trying to find a good place to maybe lay her eggs. My backyard is a natural habitat with a bog, small pond, and stream and one would think is the perfect wetlands for raising young (which it is). In addition to being a great environment for all sorts of creatures you’d think it would also be the perfect spot for a turtle to make a nest and lay her eggs. My front yard is a suburban yard with only a small patch of grass but lots of mulched areas under the big trees. I often see these turtles wandering around in the neighborhood crossing the streets and digging in lawn grasses in failed attempts at nest building.

Here this gal is trying to dig in the cypress mulch without much success.

Beautiful shell which looks like it’s shedding off an older layer. She’s not doing a great job of blending in with her surroundings though.

I got this one close-up and then let her be. I checked the spot she was digging in latter in the day and there were no eggs.

More info can be found at https://srelherp.uga.edu/turtles/pseflo.htm

In the Garden – Good morning reptiles!

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I went out to check the bird feeder early this morning and was rewarded by a visit from a couple of my garden residents.

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This river cooter is a regular because I’m lucky to have a nice natural bog and pond in the woods behind my house and although it’s a turtle “Disneyland” back there they do enjoy getting out and about and catching some sun. This gal is about football sized as a point of reference.

One of the hundreds, yes hundreds of lizards in my yard. This one normally hangs out on the fence but almost always catches the first rays of sun on these rocks.

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The dogwood is finally getting its leaves – it’s always a late “bloomer” but this year it was particularly slow. This one was started from a tiny tiny seedling sent to me by the Arbor Day Foundation – it’s taken about 8 years just to get to be about 5 feet tall and has yet to bloom.

Portulaca – aka “moss rose”

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Have a beautiful day y’all! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Wordless Wednesday – Turtle Power!

April 24, 2019April 24, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

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Camera: Samsung Galaxy S8+

BTW, she’s OK and soon left on her own accord to hang at the bog.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Turtle Power!

June 20, 2017June 20, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

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Along the banks of our backyard pond. There’s actually two turtles here. Known locally as Florida cooter or river cooter. These two are about football sized (American football).

Canon A-1 with Canon FD 500mm f8 Reflex Mirror lens on Fujicolor Superia.

Chris