Combining photo shoots with our first full (all four of us) family vacation in three years, we flew to South Florida for a couple of weeks of relaxation and shutter-clicking...sometimes, both at the same time. Several of the shots on the succeeding pages were taken from beach chairs, and I'll give one easy hint: not the ones involving alligators.

The first week we stayed on Sanibel Island, famous the world over for its wide, relatively unspoiled beaches and ample bounty of seashells. Sanibel also includes the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, renowned for cool-season bird watching, and also is a short bridge from Captiva Island. Our last sunrise on Sanibel's beach was the first morning of 2009, then we headed across the peninsula to Homestead. Stops along the way included Big Cypress National Preserve, the Miccosukee tribal village, and the north (Shark Valley) entrance of Everglades National Park.

During our stay in Homestead, did the obligatory Miami Seaquarium visit (50% NOAA employee family discount!), and spent a day on the Flamingo segment of Everglades National Park. The last couple of days of the trip, we stayed in the Keys, including a tour of Fort Zachary Taylor. In Miami and the Keys, we also had a great time with fine folks like Max and Linda Mayfield, Jim Leonard, Cheryl Chang, and Matt and Sherry Strahan. Huge thanks to the Mayfields and Strahans for their generous hospitality, too.

This and the following four pages contain a (mostly) random scattering of the images we liked best from our South Florida sojourn. Each thumbnail will open a script to view a 500 pixel long shot in its own white border. [If your browser blocks "Active X" scripting, just right click the bar and hit "allow". We run a harmless and nifty display program as you'll see.] Please browse with leisure those images that spark your curiosity, and come back again anytime.

===== Roger =====

Two nesting ospreys, Everglades NP, Flamingo FL	Kelvin-Helmholtz wave in cirrus lines up with breaking wave atop fractocumulus, Everglades	Resident trio at Dolphin Research Center, Grassy Key	Rear-lit red hibiscus, Sanibel
Gator dozing, Big Cypress Swamp	Cannon festooned archways, Ft. Zachary Taylor (Key West)	A great combination: sailing, convective sky and tranquil water, Key West	Endangered wood stork browsing tidal flats, Ding Darling NWR
Peaceful early morning beach, west Sanibel	Post-sunset "flat sun" effect off Sanibel	Jumping orca, Seaquarium	Non-rotating wall cloud offshore Sanibel
Iridescent spider web, Mahogany Hammock, Everglades NP	Sanibel Island sunset across the Gulf	Smallest U.S. Post Office, Ochopee FL	Great egret, Everglades NP
Aerostat behind scud, Cudjoe Key -- for drug interdiction and Radio/TV Marti	Staff-signed souvenir hurricane flags above lobby, NWS Key West	Jewel spider (Gasteracantha elipsoides), Captiva Island	Same spider, dark background