Sunrise on the island

A heron is silhouetted in the sunrise at the western tip of the island. If you click to enlarge the photo you can see Bob Sikes bridge in the distance which spans Santa Rosa Sound.

Perfection!

From the Gulf of Mexico...


to Santa Rosa Sound, it was a picture perfect day on Pensacola Beach.

I love taking walks on days like this - low 80's and a nice breeze, big fluffy clouds in the sky and the surf kickin' up. Just perfect.

Tea time

I forgot to post this interesting photo a week or so ago, but I still wanted to share it with you. When I was taking photos from a Portofino unit I noticed the water in Santa Rosa Sound had turned the color of tea. In the years I've lived here, I've never seen it look this way, so I quickly wrote a couple 'experts' to see what was going on.

Mark Nicholas, a biologist at Gulf Islands National, and Chips Kirchenfeld of Coastkeepers both wrote back to explain recent flooding of major Alabama rivers had resulted in large amounts of suspended sediment washing into Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa Sound. That sediment contained high levels of Tanin, a natural product from leaf material breaking down (stay with me - think Earl Gray tea leaves). So, in a way, our water turned to tea!

Mark added that although it is a natural watershed process, it can get compounded by all the lawn/farm fertilizers and herbicides that get washed along with it.

Click on the photo to see our Santa Rosa 'tea'.

A walk with me

Come take a walk with me! It's a beautiful day on Pensacola Beach and the water is so clear.


By-the-Wind Sailors are still washing ashore by the hundreds, thousands even, and I find them fascinating little creatures. I'm just happy they don't sting, though they can irritate your skin if touched.


What a hairy shoe! Looks like someone lost it a long time ago and it's just now washing ashore covered with sea grass and barnacles

I'm very happy to see the gulls are indeed chowing down on the By-the-Wind Sailors which have washed up. The more they eat, the less stinky it will get!

Portofino beach chairs and umbrellas are set up.

Fly by!

A dad and his little boy watch the sea birds and dolphin in the distance.

Unfortunately spring break always bring some who don't respect the beach and spend most of their time here racking up bad karma. Please help protect our beautiful island and marine life.

What a peaceful scene.

Heading back home, I walked out to our neighborhood dock on the sound side. So inviting, don't you think?

Looking west you can see Bob Sykes bridge (the toll bridge across to the island) in the distance if you enlarge the photo.

Redheads converge on Pensacola Beach!

Redhead ducks (Aythya americana) , that is!


Hundreds of them converged on the Sound behind our neighborhood this afternoon. Yesterday there were fifty or more, but today there were probably ten times that many.


Thanks to a neighbor, Maria Weisnicht, who called to give me a heads up, I was able to get a few shots. Wish I'd had a stronger telephoto lens with me.


Must be something very good down there. Click on the photo and you'll see more than half of them are head down in the water. Maybe they're just trying to warm up their tiny tushes in this cold weather! ;-)

Waitin' for Fay

The sun sets on Santa Rosa Sound as the wind kicks up waves that look like scalloped lace on an old-fashioned wedding veil.

Be gentle, Fay!

Sunset on the Sound

What a beautiful evening for a walk along Santa Rosa Sound.


In the distance you can see a kayaker as the sunlight spills across his path .