The Wandering Disciple

"We Stand Ready" isn't just a motto on the side of an aircraft, its a way of life for the men and woman of our nation's armed forces. A KC-135 from the Michigan Air National Guard stood ready on the ramp at Southwest Florida International Airport the past few days as crews awaiting their next assignment in the Sunshine State. (Photo: January 28, 2021)

In the shadows of the downtown skyline, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve provides an wilderness oasis in the hustle and bustle of city life.  Located on the banks of Lake Maggiore, the nature preserve provides hiking trails where you can spot some of Florida native wildlife.  (Photo: December 29, 2018)

Tortoises and turtles like the African Spurred Tortoise here have a connection with the prehistoric era over 145 million years ago. The turtle species began to diversify during the Cretaceous period and many species survived the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs. So when you see a tortoise in the zoo or a turtle in the pond, you are looking at a creature that has evolved from the age of the dinosaurs. (Photo: December 28, 2018)

Fort Myers, Florida: This week RSW turned into a mini military base thanks to a flurry of military movement. The Navy sent a few P-8’s through the airport this week and there were transient KC-135’s from Michigan and Ohio that spent a few days staged on the north ramp. A few large charter planes stopped by including a 737 from Saudi Arabi and the homecoming of the Crystal Air 777. Rounding out the cool planes of the week was Delta’s breast cancer research 767.  Here is a look at the aircraft that I saw at RSW this week:  60-0346 – KC-135 Stratotanker (Michigan Air National Guard)  62-3511 – KC-135 Stratotanker (Ohio Air National Guard)  168433 – P-8-Poseidon (US Navy)  168435 – P-8 Poseidon (US Navy)  169543 – P-8 Poseidon (US Navy)  169555 – P-8 Poseidon (US Navy)  N87HD – Dassault Falcon 2000  N116DA – Cessna Citation Excel  N225WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N228WN Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N261WN –...

A Great Egret comes in for a landing as the sun sets on the Venice Audubon Rookery. This park features an lake with an island known as a rookery. A rookery provides a safe nesting site for birds like the egret and other wading birds. The rookery creates a castle type arrangement for the birds, the water from the lake keeps predators like raccoons from raiding the nests. So each night as the sun sets, there is always a flurry of activity as the birds return to the island for the night. (Photo: December 25, 2018)

A manatee chomps down on a head of romaine lettuce at ZooTampa. The manatee, also known as the sea cow, is a large vegetarian marine mammal and spends its days lazily chomping on greens. Because of their slow movement, they become victims of boat propellers way too much. As a result, ZooTampa operates a large scale manatee rehabilitation program in which they rescue, rehab and return manatees back to the wild once healthy. Those that can not be released find a home here at the zoo. (Photo: January 23, 2021)

  A quad of Southwest jets shine during the Golden Hour at Tampa International Airport.  TPA is a focus city for Southwest Airlines with a heavy presence of the colorful LUV birds.  From Tampa, Southwest connects travelers with over forty destinations.  In fact Southwest is the busiest air carrier at Tampa, serving almost 7 million passengers a year.  (Photo: January 23, 2021)