Pensacola Lighthouse – Around Big Lagoon State Park

There are a number of lighthouses around the state of Florida, and the first one we came across was the Pensacola Lighthouse, just outside Big Lagoon State Park.  This lighthouse was completed in 1859.  It is currently maintained by the Navy, and is actually on the grounds of the Naval Aviation Museum.

Pensacola Lighthouse

This was our first view of the lighthouse, and the building off to the right in the image is part of the keepers’ quarters.

Pensacola Lighthouse – side view

This viewpoint is from the yard just outside the keepers’ quarters.  The very mature and tall tree gives you some perspective about how tall the lighthouse is.  Altho it’s 150 feet tall, it sits on a bit of a bluff, so that it’s 191 feet above sea level, making it the highest lighthouse in Florida!

Lighthouse and Keepers’ House

Here’s a slightly better view of the keepers’ house portion of the structure.  What was interesting about this, is that the keepers’ house is actually a duplex, able to house 2 families.  One side of the duplex is a museum, made up to look like it did when keepers actually lived there with their families.

View from the Lighthouse

This is the view from the lighthouse, in front of the keepers’ quarters.  If I were up in the lighthouse, I would have a view of the site of 3 forts that used to be within view of the lighthouse.

Lighthouse Bloom

Closer to the ground, I noticed this lovely white bloom.  I don’t know what the name of the flower is, but seems to be keeping with the flavor of the color of the lighthouse and keepers’ quarters!

Enjoy!

 



 

Heron – Big Lagoon State Park, FL

One of my favorite water birds is the heron.  Here are some images of a wonderful bird in the wild, searching for food, and then taking off for better hunting ground…..

Heron from Observation Tower

At first, we were high up on an observation tower when I first spotted this guy.  Good overall view, but I needed to get closer to this guy!

Heron in the Grasses

This is more like it.  Here I am, down on the shoreline, about 30 feet from this guy.  He doesn’t seem to be bothered at all that I’m so close.

Looking to Open Water

Then, he turned away from the nearby grasses.  Is he seeing a better feeding spot somewhere else?  He’s still not reacting to me, so I don’t think its discomfort or fear of me.

Launching

Wow!  I have never been so lucky to be able to get this type of shot so close up!!  The amount of stretch he gets is amazing!

Flying

And, he’s off to search in greener (or buggier?) pastures!

Enjoy!



Big Lagoon State Park – Wonderful Scenery

Big Lagoon State Park offered some wonderful scenery, both from up high on an observation tower and walking along the boardwalk above the marshy terrain…..

Shoreline

We were up in the tower and I thought I’d capture this view of the shoreline of the lagoon – this is the big one just off the Gulf of Mexico.

On the Shore

I’m not sure how driftwood (and stumps) got to be washed up on shore, since it doesn’t appear that there’s any tide to speak of here, but, here you have it!  It makes for a nice photo focal point, in any event!

Christmas Colors

I know it’s been a few months since Christmas, but that was the first thought I had when I saw these berries and these very green leaves on a shrub just off the boardwalk we were on!

Big Lagoon Shoreline

Here’s a view of the shoreline from lower down, almost at ground level.  There was a boardwalk because the ground would have been much, much too marshy for us to walk on otherwise. 

Songbird

As we were walking along another sandy path, I heard some incredibly loud singing from a bird somewhere off in the distance.  Only, it wasn’t in the distance!  I was right under the tree where this little guy was singing – he had the loudest voice that could be crammed into a tiny little body!

Enjoy!