The Birds Are Back!! - Saturday - August 27, 2011

Nancy here: Yes, it is me again.  One of these days, when Mr. Retirement finds time, he will be writing the blog again! You know it is very difficult being retired and sometimes he just needs to take a little break ;o))

As we have already reported, Miss Irene cleared out of here earlier today.  After dinner, Bill suggested we go down to Huntington Beach SP and see how things looked there.  When we got there, we checked the beach, but it was high tide and there was no beach to walk on.  So we drove over to the salt marsh causeway and walked out on the middle board walk.

It only took a moment to realize that the BIRDS ARE BACK!! What was really interesting is that the first birds we saw were Wood Storks.  These birds are not usually here until the colder weather sets in.  However, they were everywhere.  Perhaps escaping Irene further north!!

We watch this fellow walk around and kick up the bottom to see what he could find to eat,
Eventually, he took off and join the others further up in the marsh.

As we headed off the boardwalk, we spotted this deer in the marsh grass.

Here is another bird, a Willet, which we don’t usually see.

Next, we walked across the causeway.The marsh grass looks fine.  Hard to believe a hurricane was here less than 24 hours ago.

The Snowy Egret above and the Great Egret below were fun to watch as they battled over the prime fishing spot:o))

Above is an American Bittern which we rarely see around the park….cool!!

Further out the causeway, we spent quite a bit of time watching this Wood Stork cross the causeway. This is when I wish I had a video camera…
Up on the sea grass…
Up on the rocks…
Check out the side walk…
Just duck under the rail…
Stop traffic for a couple minutes…
Do the ducking thing again…
Into the water and hopefully, better fishing!!

Love this photo of the Snowy Egret with the wind blowing his hairdo around.

By now, the sun was setting which means the bugs were getting bad, which means Bill has headed to the car, which means it is time for me to stop taking pictures. 

Of course there is always time for ONE more ;o))