Naomi Roe

It is one of two living species in the genus Alligator within the family Alligatoridae; it is larger than the other extant alligator species, the Chinese alligator. 

Photographed in Ocala National Forest.

Photographed in Myakka River State Park, Sarasota.

This is the only species of golden orb-web spider indigenous to continental North and South America. In the United States it is commonly known as the "banana spider".

The main web of a mature female may be as large as one meter in diameter, not counting the main filaments that anchor the web between trees; such anchor filaments may be two or three meters in length. A yellow pigment in the silk lends it a rich golden glow in suitable lighting. 

The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide shelter for at least 360 known other animal species. They are threatened by predation and habitat destruction. This species of gopher tortoise is the state reptile of Georgia and the state tortoise of Florida

The great blue heron was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae. It is the largest North American heron and, among all extant herons, it is surpassed only by the goliath heron Ardea goliath and the white-bellied heron Ardea insignis.

Camouflaged in the long grass.

A female Black-necked agama (Acanthocercus atricollis)

Black-necked agama (Acanthocercus atricollis)

The Glen River is a short river in County Down, Northern Ireland. The two mile course flows north east from the foot of Slieve Commedagh and Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains into Dundrum Bay at Newcastle, descending 1,500 feet (460 m).

The ice house, located in the Mourne Mountains along the Glen River route up Slieve Donard, dates from around the 1830's. It was built the third earl of Annesley. Ice would have been collected from the river during the winter months and stored for use during the rest of the year. It is deeper inside than its exterior as the lower section has been covered by earth on the outside with the inside being finished in well dressed stonework. The Ice House was restored in 1996 by The National Trust.

One of the many waterfalls along the Glen River.

The north east section of the forest contains a Heritage Stand of Scots and Corsican pine planted in 1927.

The plants are well known as the original source of the heart medicine digoxin (also called digitalis or digitalin). Due to the presence of the cardiac glycoside digitoxin, the leaves, flowers and seeds of this plant are all poisonous to humans and some animals and can be fatal if ingested.

It is quite a fast flowing river with many small waterfalls and deep pools. The bedrock is composed of granite in the upper parts, becoming dark shale lower down. It flows through Donard Forest and Donard Park and is crossed by five bridges. The path that runs alongside the river is commonly used by walkers climbing Slieve Donard.

The upper lake at Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains National Park.

Glendalough is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. The valley was formed during the last ice age by a glacier which left a moraine across the valley mouth. The Poulanass river, which plunges into the valley from the south, created a delta, which eventually divided the original lake in two.

This is a panorama which overlooks the upper lake.

They were introduced to Ireland by Lord Powerscourt in 1859, at his estate near Glencree, Co. Wicklow. In the 19th century, many exotic animals were introduced to several countries. Unfortunately, these often cause problems in their new environments. In this case, red & sika deer are closely related, and so they began to interbreed.; The result is that now all the deer in Wicklow are hybrids, a mixture of red and sika deer.

Photographed in Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains National Park, Ireland.

Scrabo Tower, which is visible from most of north Down, was built above Newtownards in 1857 as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry who was one of the Duke of Wellington's generals during the Napoleonic Wars.

The tower is nestled above Strangford Lough and to the west of Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland.

I spent a few days down around the lower Zambezi soaking in the beautiful landscapes and wildlife. The lower Zambezi is truly breathtaking. 

The Lower Zambezi National Park lies on the north bank of the Zambezi River in southeastern Zambia. On the opposite bank is Zimbabwe's Mana Pools National Park. The two parks sit on the Zambezi flood plain ringed by mountains. The area is a world heritage site. In fashion with the current trend in Southern Africa, there is talk of linking the two parks to form a massive trans-frontier park.

Long Exposure (30 minutes) - Bangor, Northern Ireland

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. They are named so because the point from which they appear to come, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. The name derives in part from the word Perseides (Περσείδες), a term found in Greek mythology referring to the sons of Perseus.

Photographed from Bangor, Northern Ireland - August 2015

Random footage and photographs put together to form a highlight video of my time in Florida.

The Ocala National Forest is the second largest nationally protected forest in the U.S. State of Florida. It covers 607 square miles (1,570 km2) of Central Florida. It is located three miles (5 km) east of Ocala and 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Gainesville. The Ocala National Forest, established in 1908, is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River and the southernmost national forest in the continental US. The word Ocala is thought to be a derivative of a Timucuan Indian term meaning "fair land" or "big hammock". 

This was on the way back from some of the many springs hidden within the forest.

Lake Louisa State Park is a 4,372-acre (17.69 km2) Florida State Park located south of Clermont, in the northeast corner of the Green Swamp and the southwestern shore of Lake Louisa. It is made up of bald cypress, live oak and saw palmettos. In addition to Lake Louisa, the park contains Hammond Lake, Dixie Lake, Dude Lake, Bear Lake and several smaller lakes.

Two small streams, Big Creek and Little Creek, flow north from the Green Swamp through the park into Lake Louisa. Lake Louisa is the source of the Palatlakaha River, one of the headwaters of the Ocklawaha River.

Spanish moss is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly the southern live oak Quercus virginiana or bald cypress Taxodium distichum. 

There were a few of these still with flowers around Dude Lake in Lake Louisa State Park, although they normally stop flowering towards the end of November.

One of the creeks that flow into Lake Louisa. I always love the dark contrast of the creek water compared to the bald cypress Taxodium distichum trees.

Lido Key is a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota, Florida in the United States. To its north is Longboat Key, to its east is Bird Key, and St. Armands Key and to its south is Siesta Key. It is part of the city of Sarasota. The island features numerous sandy beaches facing the Gulf of Mexico, as well as a park called "South Lido Park", which has a beach and a woodland trail.

Sunset over the mangroves accompanied by a small rain shower.

One of the many nature trails. This one follows along the river.

This species is found in subtropical oceans around the world and often grows to over 6 feet (1.8 m) long and is a type of ray-finned fish. I came across this solitary fish at the house reef in Marsa Shagra, Marsa Alam, Egypt.

Photographed during a night dive on the house reef at Marsa Shagra in Marsa Alam, Egypt.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the bluespotted ribbontail ray as Near Threatened. Although still relatively common and widely distributed, this species faces continuing degradation of its coral reef habitat throughout its range, from development and destructive fishing practices using cyanide or dynamite. In addition, its populations are under heavy pressure by artisanal and commercial fisheries, and by local collecting for the aquarium trade.

"Traditionally, the parrotfishes have been considered a family level taxon, Scaridae. Although phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis of parrotfishes is ongoing, they are now accepted to be a clade in the tribe Cheilini, and are now commonly referred to as scarine labrids (subfamily Scarinae, family Labridae)."

Photographed at Gabel El Rosas (Nemo City), Marsa Alam, Egypt.

Clownfish form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones and are unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. The sea anemone protects the clownfish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals and occasional dead anemone tentacles. In return, the clownfish defends the anemone from its predators, and parasites.

In case of danger, the porcupinefish can inflate itself by swallowing water to deter the potential predator with its larger volume and it can raise its spines.

The porcupinefish concentrates a poison, called tetrodotoxin, in certain parts of its body such as the liver, skin, gonads and the viscera. Tetrodotoxin is a powerful neurotoxin. This defensive system constitutes an additional device to dissuade the potential predators.

House Reef, Marsa Shagra, Marsa Alam, Egypt.

Klunzinger's feather star fall under the following taxonomical hierarchy; Animalia - Echinodermata - Crinoidea - Comatulida - Mariamtridae - Lamprometra.

Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). Crinoidea comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live both in shallow water and in depths as great as 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). Sea lilies refer to the crinoids which, in their adult form, are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk. Feather stars or comatulids refer to the unstalked forms.

They are often found on fire corals, gorgonias and sponges. 

In terms of body mass, it is the largest moray eel. The giant moray is carnivorous, it leaves its lair at night to actively hunt its prey along the reef. It mainly feeds on fish and occasionally on crustaceans. It is known to engage in cooperative hunting with the roving coralgrouper (Plectropomus pessuliferus).

This particular eel was rather inquisitive of my camera, particularly the strobes.

They are found in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, at depths of between 3 and 20 m. This species is one of the few fish species to have long-term mates. In the wild, the fish eats hard corals as well as benthic invertebrates.

Also known as the devil firefish, is a species of ray-finned fish native to the western Indo-Pacific region. The common lionfish is frequently confused with its close relative, the red lionfish (Pterois volitans). The scientific name is from Greek pteron, meaning "wing," and Latin miles, meaning "soldier."

I was lucky enough to be able to visit the school run by the Same World Same Chance organization in Kibombomene, where I had the chance to spend time with some pretty awesome school kids.

Some of the young school kids at the Same World Same Chance run school in Kibombomene, Zambia.

I absolutely loved spending time with these kids. So much joy and happiness ! They sure could teach me a thing or two about posing.

So happy I had the chance to help paint a part of this mural in the school library.

She was leaving for a new job in Venezuela (I think!), so the girls threw her a fantastic leaving party. As, I am sure you can tell, the girls were pretty sad to have to say goodbye.

Ireland's Natural History Museum, sometimes called the Dead Zoo a branch of the National Museum of Ireland, is housed on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland. The museum was built in 1856 for parts of the collection of the Royal Dublin Society.

I always find it fascinating how some mid-terraced buildings can be so derelict, but surrounded by others that are perfectly fine.