In the last post, I commented on Thursday morning at 8:01am as follows:<\/p>\n
Thanks, all, (for the good wishes).<\/p>\n I slept through the night. I walked around the house at 6am with my iPhone flashlight; we are unscathed. We never lost power here at ILE. Jennifer did lose power at her home in nearby Babson Park.<\/p>\n As is often the case, the storm was pretty much a big fizzle with the usual trees and power lines down. It certainly was not the 100-year storm they were predicting. Unless you lived on the coast below Sarasota, there was not much damage. The storm surge at Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater was approximately \u201c1-3 feet.\u201d There was and is lots of local flooding.<\/p>\n with love, artie<\/p>\n ps: And yes, I will be heading down to the lake soon.<\/em><\/p>\n As it turns out, by pooh-poohing the storm, I spoke much too soon. <\/p>\n While Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Pete fared much better than they did with Helene, there was some damaging storm surge well to the south, though not as severe as predicted. The storm, however, claimed at least 17 lives, none by drowning. The deaths included at least five due to tornadoes in St. Lucie County on the East Coast (!) just 70 miles from my front door. Floodwaters rose to more than six feet in Lithia, near the Alafia River, about 20 miles southeast of Tampa. There were 3.4 million power outages, and early estimates are that Hurricane Milton caused $50 billion in damage.<\/p>\n While the Amazing Mets will be playing for the National League pennant soon, the roof blew off Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 in St. Petersburg. I had no internet for 26 hours, and Jennifer in Babson Park still has no power. But all in all, I and my friends were blessedly lucky. Again.<\/p>\n Even though I was amazed at the sharpness of the young Great Egret in flight at only 1\/640 sec., my favorite of the two images in the last blog post was the Cattle Egret in the rain for the rain streaks, the shallow blue puddle, and the layers of color. <\/p>\n On Thursday, a two first-ever-for-ILE Royal Terns were flying over the pier, surely brought here by Milton. The day before, I had a first-ever-for-ILE fly-by Merlin. With north winds and cloudy skies, photography down by the lake has not been consistently good. With more of the same forecast for this morning, Saturday 12 October 2024, I will head down to the lake at about 8am. Whatever the heck you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.<\/p>\n Please remember to use the B&H links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT<\/a>. You will be amazed at how much you will learn! <\/p>\n If an item \u2014 a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head \u2014 for example, that is available from B&H and\/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and\/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.<\/p>\n If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here.<\/a> Or, click here<\/a>, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail<\/a><\/center>.<\/p>\n In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And\/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear. <\/p>\n This image was created on 10 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estaates, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 12-24mm f\/2.8 GM lens<\/a> (at 15 mm) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera.<\/a>. ISO 1600. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1\/250 second at f\/5.6 (stopped down two stops) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:23:16am on a cloudy morning. <\/p>\n Lower center Tracking: Expand Spot\/AF-C with Bird-Eye\/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.<\/p>\nSupporting My Efforts Here<\/h3>\n
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\n \n \n \n Image #1: The 2021\/22 Bald Eagle nest