Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Photo by Lee Smith

The morning begins to wake things up across the marshes of South Florida Everglades

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Loxahatchee Sunrise - 9055
Loxahatchee Sunrise – 9055
Sunrise Over the Marshes - 9076
Sunrise Over the Marshes – 9076
The Golden Glow across the Marsh - 9178-79-80
The Golden Glow across the Marsh – 9178-79-80
Red glow of the sunrise - 9106
Red glow of the sunrise – 9106

Don’t know what it is but It’s Pink

Photo by Lee Smith

Walking around Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – looked down with my friend and saw this  – no idea what it is but it was pink!
I looked it up and found it is a Powderpuff, Herbaceous Mimosa

It's Pink - Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - 9391_2_3
It’s Pink – Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – 9391_2_3

Moon set over South Florida

Photo by Lee Smith
The moon was setting over South Florida Everglades – Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The air was still, te water was calm and the sound of birds waking was all around us.

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The Moon Set Over Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - South Florida - 9051
The Moon Set Over South Florida – 9051

Pileated Woodpeckers with a RED CREST

Photos by Lee Smith

We found a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, (Red Crested Woodpeckers), at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

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Pileated Woodpecker  - 9305-cropped at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
Pileated Woodpecker – 9305-cropped
Pileated Woodpecker - 9300 at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
Pileated Woodpeckers – Red Crested – 9300

Red Shouldered Hawk – Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Photo by Lee Smith

I got a story…
I went to photograph an early morning sunrise with my friend Ivan. We traveled to Green Cay only to find that there was a gate and they do not open till sunrise. It was 5:30am and sunrise was at 6:50am. So we left and went to another location  – the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. We took many shots along the river and then as the sun came up we began photographing the wildlife. We parked the car in the lot, and began a long trek across the refuge. Looks like they had just pruned and cleaned much of this area and we barely saw any real wildlife, but did get some landscape photos. After walking about an hour and traveling several miles walking with our backpacks, we got back to where the car was parked, only to find two Red Shouldered Hawks perched on a branch making a commotion of a Pine tree. We took many photos of them in the tree before they flew off. I was really put off though, that we walked all over that  area – not seeing hardly any wildlife, only to find these two beautiful hawks right by our car!

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Red Shouldered Hawk - 9400
Red Shouldered Hawk – 9400
Red Shouldered Hawk - 9400-cropped
Red Shouldered Hawk – 9400-cropped
Red Shouldered Hawk - 9266
Red Shouldered Hawk – 9266

Loxahatchee Sunrise

Photo by Lee Smith

We walked in darkness, we took photos of the moon, we traveled along an endless path that was interrupted by a beautiful sunrise.

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Loxahatchee Sunrise - 9118_19_20
Loxahatchee Sunrise – 9118_19_20

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