Jack Hellein

Kraft Gardens: The Egret Hatchlings Have Hatched!

I stopped my bicycle under the shade of one of the oak trees laden with egret nests. Would today be the day that the hatchlings finally made their appearance? Since January, in the trees above Alabama Drive at Kraft Azalea Gardens, the egret pairs have been meticulously constructing their rookeries.

A newborn great egret stretches his wing above a sibling as Dad or Mom stands guarding the nest.
One of three egret hatchlings in one of the many nests at Winter Park's Kraft Azalea Gardens along the shores of Lake Maitland.
An egret hatchling mistakes a sibling's beak as the source of his or her next meal.
Two of three egret hatchlings play Janus in their Winter Park rookery.
A dinosauresque egret hatchling gives us his scary stare.

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For Emily

Park Avenue, Photography

I walked up Park Avenue from Fairbanks this Tuesday evening, camera in hand, not sure where I was heading. My destination came to me in Central Park as I stepped up to the newly refurbished “Emily” statue at the same time two young women sat down on a bench on the opposite side of the fountain’s circle.

The lights of the fountain caught my eye as the indistinct conversation on the other side slowly rose and I set up my tripod and camera. Setting my exposure and releasing the shutter, I sat down on a the bench near me, gazed up and watched softly illuminated clouds sail past against a blue-grey sky.

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The Last Residence in the Park Avenue Shopping District?

Park Avenue, Photography

Walking through the Hidden Gardens courtyard off North Park Avenue, the light caught my eye. Party lights hovered above and the dark skies of blue hour softened the view. As I set up my camera on a chair near The Ancient Olive entrance, a woman inside the shop stepped to the doorway to ask me if everything was OK.

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Seven Oaks Park – Rare New Green Space in a Built Out Community

Orange Avenue District, Photography

Speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Seven Oaks Park last Saturday morning, Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight commented, “Opening a 2.4-acre green space in a built out community is something rare,” with an awareness of the challenges that had to be overcome to bring the park into existence.

City planning for the park occurred during the pandemic, increasing the effort required to communicate in the early stages. The years that followed brought design and construction challenges. Now that the park is completed, however, all those challenges melted away like the morning fog and the skies were blue by 9:00 when the ceremony began.

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