Julie's National Parks

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK (02/2011)

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This is why this is my favorite National Park!

This was a very nice sighting - A Barred Owl

hiding way back in the mahogany hammocks!

On the Anhinga Trail, there were a lot of nests

of anhingas with their babies

Cute little green heron fishing

An anhinga with a bigger catch!

Great Blue Heron

Cormorant (beautiful turquoise eyes!)

Red-shouldered hawk (I am surprised he sat

so still with me so close to him)

Wood Storks

Osprey

Purple gallinule

Turtles thermal regulating

A little nest of baby gators

And LOTS of adult gators all over the park

Boardwalk through the mahogany hammocks

Gumbo limbo tree

Cypress trees

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM AT THE LORRAINE MOTEL

The National Civil Rights Museum was birthed out of the success of the civil rights movement and the tragic violence that occurred at the Lorraine Motel, taking the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 4, 1968, while Dr. King stood on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel, he was assassinated, felled by one bullet. His life was cut short at the age of 39. Read more about the museum at http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/home.htm

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The motel was left exactly as it was on the

day Dr. King was assassinated. His car is

still parked in front of his room

Room 306 - Dr. King's Room

James Earl Ray shot Dr. King from a bathroom window in this

roominghouse, which is across the street from the Lorraine Motel

CHASSAHOWITZKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1941, is comprised of over 31,000 acres of saltwater bays, estuaries and brackish marshes at the mouth of the Chassahowitzka River in Florida. The refuge was established primarily to protect waterfowl habitat and is home to over 250 species of birds, over 50 species of retiles and amphibians, and at least 25 different species of mammals, including the endangered West Indian Manatee.

The Whooping Crane is the most famous endangered bird in North America. In part because it is large, distinctive, and photogenic and partly because, since 1967, Canadians and Americans have cooperated in a successful recovery program to safeguard it from extinction. Operation Migration is an organization that promotes the conservation of migratory species through innovative research, education and partnership. Every year, they leave Wisconsin and lead young whooping cranes to Florida behind an ultralight – thereby teaching them how to migrate. The birds spend the winter at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. When the weather is warmer, the cranes fly back to Wisconsin (or wherever they decide to go), on their own. For more information, go to Operation Migration’s website: http://www.operationmigration.org/index.html

Today was the Annual Flyover Event at the Dunnellon, Florida, Airport. It is a spectable to behold to see these endangered birds fly behind these planes. This was the final leg of their migration, and they will spend the rest of the winter at Chassahowitzka.

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IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO SEE WHOOPING CRANES

Pilot Richard van Heuvelen had one bird following him

Pilot Joe Duff had four cranes following him

There were a lot of people there for the flyover

Nobody seemed to mind the freezing temperature -

it was worth the wait

U.S.S. ARIZONA - PEARL HARBOR (World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument) (03/1981)

"A Day that will Live in Infamy" The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the final resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors who lost their lives on the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, by Japanese Naval Forces. This loss of life represents over half of the Americans killed during the worst naval disaster in American history. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of O'ahu was the action that led to the United States’ involvement in World War II. The memorial, dedicated in 1962, was built over the remains of the sunken battleship U.S.S. Arizona without touching it. The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial Visitor Center was opened in 1980 and operated by the National Park Service. The sunken remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1989.

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Arial photograph of the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

“To the Memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941, on the U.S.S. Arizona" — Inscription in marble with the names of Arizona's honored dead.