Great Blue Heron

One of the joys of patroling at Ft. Pickens is the number of Great Blue Herons I get to observe. 

Little spouts!

For about an hour this morning, during the earlier portion of my patrol, I watched funnel clouds dropping down here and there from a long line of rain clouds in the Gulf of Mexico.  I was hoping I might be able to capture a photo or video of one as it  made contact with the Gulf and started sucking water up into the funnel, but none progressed to that point.

Dark clouds started on the southwest horizon and crossed the island diagonally to the northeast.  I managed to stay behind the system, but could see heavy downpours in the Gulf.   Waterspouts are intriguing to watch, but can wreak havoc if they come ashore.  Which ever way they head, you should head the other direction!  Remember, simply put, waterspouts are are tornadoes which occur over water.