Snowy Plover chicks

Gulf Islands National Seashore is full of these adorable Snowy Plover chicks.  Right out of their nests, they could probably outrun the average person!

The Observation Tower

The World War II Observation Tower at Battery 234 in Ft. Pickens is silhouetted at daybreak.

I've noticed there are still a couple of Full Moon Walks at Langdon Beach (which is located with Ft. Pickens Area -Gulf Islands National Seashore) scheduled this fall:

Full Moon Walks (Ft. Pickens) at Gulf Islands National Seashore

Dates: 9/22/2010, 10/22/2010

Time: 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Location: Langdon Beach gulfside

Details: Full Moon Walks Wednesday, September 22, 6:30 p.m. and Friday, October 22 6:00 p.m. Enjoy the full moon on the beach while learning about the importance of dark skies to the park`s endangered sea turtles. Meet at Langdon Beach, gulf side. (1 hour)

Fees: $8.00

Contact: Steamer Lawhead
850-934-2629

Sunday at Pensacola Pass

It is great to see boats, fishermen, and lots of sea and shorebirds at the western tip of the island at Ft. Pickens and Pensacola Pass again.

The gold of the dawn

Night's darkness is the bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn.”

~~ Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

June Grass

It was startling to see huge mats of June grass (Cladophora) which washed ashore around Langdon Beach this morning. As you can see in this and the following photo, there was also a sheen on the water.


I have no way of knowing if the sheen is related to oil or algae, but I will share one link about June Grass/Cladophora which you may find interesting: Definition of Cladophora.


Under the heading of "You can't teach common sense", I made a note of two swimmers splashing around and having a grand time just 50 ft. or so from this mess. Onlookers just shook their heads.

YIKES! It looks like 'gators or rows of alien creatures crawling ashore!

Bizarre, isn't it?!

Tropical Storm Bonnie

Tropical Storm Bonnie is beginning to impact our area. Ft. Pickens Area - Gulf Islands National Seashore will be closing at 10:00 p.m. tonight since the surf is anticipated to build rapidly tomorrow. Even a high tide can occasionally cause the road to flood, but with a Tropical Storm coming near, the west end of the island is most certainly going to be breached. News reports are currently warning of 8' - 9' waves on Saturday and up to 12' on Sunday.

Campers are currently being told they must leave Ft. Pickens today and that the campgrounds will not reopen until the storm has passed and the area inspected for damage/hazards to campers.

With incredible timing, the first sea turtle nest we had this year (June 4), an endangered Kemp's ridley who wandered all around that day, is scheduled to be excavated this afternoon. The eggs will be loaded in special containers and Fed Ex'd to the Atlantic Coast where they will hatch and be released into oil-free water. Considering the location of this nest, it could have been flooded or washed away.

Hopefully I will be able to share photos of the excavation portion of the relocation with you later tonight or tomorrow.

To all my little hurricane buddies from Minnesota to Louisiana and all points in between - high alert!

Great Blue Heron

A beautiful Great Blue Heron watches Pensacola Pass from the western tip of Santa Rosa Island.

The herons in this area seem much less intimidated by people due to the fisherman around Ft. Pickens who either ignore them or give them handouts.

Ft. Pickens

At least I'm making it to my computer now. This break has given me a chance to organize my photos a bit and I came across this photo taken a couple of weeks ago at Ft. Pickens. It's a great place to spend an afternoon, especially with this cooler weather.

Ft. Pickens portion of the Florida Trail

Not far from the Ft. Pickens Visitors Information Center inside the fort there is a small white building that folks frequently overlook. Next time you are there, check it out more closely and you will notice a path where the northern terminus of the Florida Trail begins.

This small section was mentioned in Gulf Islands National Seashore: The Treasure of the Gulf Coast as the path of a railroad which ran from Langdon Beach to the Fort with supplies.

Now it is just a path for people to enjoy hiking through the wetlands, across the canals and on toward the beautiful white sands of the the beach.

Ft. Pickens afternoon

My mother has been here for a week and this afternoon we drove out to Ft. Pickens so that she could see it for the first time in five and a half years. The last time she was able to visit was in the spring of 2004, the year Hurricane Ivan destroyed the road.



A storm was beginning to move across the area and the sky darkened over NAS in the distance, but it was still beautiful at the fort.

The next moment

"The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose."

~~ Arnold Bennett

Beauty

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

~~Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962)

Great Blue Heron

I was happy to be able to capture a few more photos of Great Blue Herons at Ft. Pickens this morning.


Graceful and elegant.

Good news for Ft. Pickens!

People who enjoy camping at Ft. Pickens will enjoy this photo more than any of my 'pretty' shots! Last weekend I noticed heavy equipment and large spools of cable like these lined up in the park. Once again we will have electricity available in the campgrounds, and the houses and stores will not be dependent on generators!

Snowy Egret

"I bet if I hunker down real low she won't even notice me."


I enjoyed watching this snowy egret work his way around a tidal pool this morning. He was beautiful!

Twilight memories

No matter where I go or how long I live, one of my favorite memories of this island will always be of a Great Blue Heron standing motionless and silent atop a dune, in silhouette against the sky.

Wild palm

This is one of the natural (wild) palms growing on Santa Rosa Island. It is a sabal palm, also known as a cabbage palm, located on the beach near Ft. Pickens, which you can see in the background.


The seeds of a sabal palm are small, so even though sabal palms are known to be fast-growing, we can only imagine how old the tree might be.


Silhouette of the same palm tree as I passed it on patrol one morning.

Fly by

I've always wanted to capture a moment like this for my blog: Sometimes on patrol at the western tip of the island, dozens of birds of varying species will race along side me on the shore.


Gulls, pelicans, black skimmers, willets, herons, osprey and sanderlings are all plentiful near Ft. Pickens.

I'm still not sure how I managed this shot except that I was using a slow shutter speed just seconds before and then panned this heron as it flew past. It ended up with the heron looking almost transluscent like a watermark.

Terns at Ft. Pickens - Redux

I was able to track down a local expert, birder extraordinaire Lucy Duncan, and she was able to provide a tern translation, if you will, for yesterday's tern video. Once I read it, the scenario - which I'm seeing frequently in the bird colonies now - became very clear! You'll have to ignore the raucous calls of a loud sea gull out of camera view, though you see his shadow flying over a couple of times. Here is Lucy's wonderful translation of the interaction I captured:

TERN TALK

Youngster: "I'm here. Feed me, feed me now. I'm here. Don't forget me! Now! I'm hungry. Why don't you feed me? What? Why? Huh? you expect me to go out and get my own fish?"

Adult: "It's time for you to do it yourself. I'm not going to be around all your life, so get used to it."

Youngster: "I don't know how. You're not fair! Feed me, feed me, feed me."

Adult: "Scram, I'm scratching. A tern has to be careful how they look, you know."

Youngster: "But Mom-om-om, I'm hungry! I'm here!"

Adult ignoring the kid: "Just go try. See? Little Sammy's doing it. Go on. Scram."

Eventually the juvenile catches on, and prompted by hunger, starts fishing on its own.



Thanks, Lucy!

I'm really going to miss patrol days at Santa Rosa and Ft. Pickens where I have the privilege of seeing bird colonies, spectacular sunrises, and dolphin activity. There is only a month left to go, if that.

At civil twilight

The sky was awash with beautiful shades of rose, mauve, peach, and dusky blues this morning before dawn (also known as civil twilight), as I neared Pensacola Beach, about forty minutes into my patrol.


The water can often reflect the soft colors, as can the sand for a brief time after daylight.


Turning around and toward the western tip of the island where the old fort stands, I looked back for one last shot.

So beautiful and peaceful. Life is good.