Les Saintes - Guadeloupe

Les Saintes or Iles des Saintes (Islands of the Saints) is a small archipelago and part of the larger archipelago of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas territory of France located in the French West Indies. Guadeloupe consists of Les Saintes, Marie-Galant, and La Desirade. Les Saintes is comprised of nine islands: two larger inhabited islands: Terre-de-Haut Island and  Terre-de-Basse Island and seven smaller uninhabited islands: Îslet à Cabrit, le Pâté , le Redonde,   la Coche , Grand-Îlet , les Augustins and les Roches Percées This photo was shot overlooking Baie des Saintes from the top of Fort Napolean on Terre-de-Haut. Les Saintes has been ranked by several travel sites as one of the most beautiful bays in the world. I have to agree, it is pretty spectacular. 

Fort Napolean.

A canon at Fort Napolean.

A view from the Plage de Figuire.  That is Grand-Îlet in the background.

Shot this photo swimming in Baie de Pompierre looking at les Roches Percées.

Plage de Pompierre as seen from swimming in the Baie de Pompierre.

Baie du Marigot.

A Yellow-Crowned Night Heron at Plage de Grande-Anse.

A view of Rue Benoit Cassin. We had lunch here at the Smooth'Sea Bar a Jus.

Our rental scooter, we affectionately named L'Escargot - for it's sluggishness. 

Another view overlooking Baie des Saintes. For comparison, the very first photo of this post was taken from Fort Napolean, which is all the way at the top of the mountain to the far left of this photo.  

 Terre-de-Haut, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe. May 2014. 

Pointe du Piton - Guadeloupe

The Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Pointe du Piton. Northeast coast of Guadeloupe. While the view from here is breathtaking, just out of frame at my feet was a mound of garbage, because for whatever reason many islanders in the Caribbean think the ocean is their own personal landfill. May 2014.

Olympus TG-2 iHS  

Lionfish - Guadeloupe

I photographed this beautiful Lionfish (Pterois volitans) while snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea just north of Deshaies, Guadeloupe. While it is an incredibly interesting fish, it is also an invasive species in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea where it is wreaking havoc on the native fish populations. The Lionfish is native to the southern Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is also venomous, and will sting you if threatened. The sting is extremely painful and may cause headaches, paralysis, sweating and respiratory distress. It is not considered deadly to humans but just the same, I backed off when it proved interested in me. The thought of a venomous fish swimming inches beneath me as the ocean current pushed and shoved me just feet from the rocky island edge made me a little more than nervous. May 2014. 

Olympus TG-2 iHS

Sunset - Deshaies, Guadeloupe

Sunset view from our beach bungalow at the Langley Resort Fort Royal.

Deshaies, Guadeloupe. May 2014.

Nikon D7100 | Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX II.

Windfarm Sunset

Shot this sunset, at about 60 mph from the train, returning from Chicago one summer evening. Benton County, Indiana. July 2011.

 

Nikon D300|Nikon AF-S18-55 f/3.5-5.6G DX VR

American Goldfinch

An American Goldfinch (male) conducting a pre-flight inspection?

June 2013.

Nikon D300 |  Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS

Bryce Canyon - Lightning II

Bryce Canyon, Utah. August 2013.

I ended up with two lightning shots from Bryce Canyon last year. This is the second one, the first one was posted October 18, 2013. You can use the search box in the right hand column and enter "Bryce Canyon" or you can scroll down the right hand column, through the Blog Archive, to 2013 (select it), scroll down to October (select it) and then scroll down to 'Bryce Canyon - Lightning' and select it for those who want to go back and look at the previous lightning post. If you use the search box to the right,  all blog posts relating to your keyword search will appear at the top of the page above the current post (and you can select from that list). The first lightning shot is definitely the better of the two. Enjoy!

Nikon D7100 | Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX II.

Western Scrub-Jay

A Western Scrub-Jay at Colorado National Monument.

Grand Junction, Colorado. August 2013.

Nikon D300 | Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IF-ED

White-Crowned Sparrow

A White-crowned Sparrow near the back-yard feeders.

February 2013

Nikon D300 |  Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS

Cedar Waxwing

A Cedar Waxwing I spotted on a morning walk.

November 2013.

Nikon D7100 | Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IF-ED