~Sunset for Sunday~

Howdee all,

A few days ago after my

Crab love encounter and the Pelican photo shoot. We ended that wonderful day with a Beautiful

Sunset ~

the sun behind the Palm tree…I move to get a better angle…Its low tide in the Indian River…The pale pinks touch the water…Birds fly overhead toward their overnight accommodations…Brown Pelican…Getting home before dark…The setting sun starts to glow more orange…I see the sun behind a distant building…lovely and serene..Then…the fireball appears to the right of the building..Glowing ball of fiery sunI zoom in for a better view…ahh..that’s what the building looks like..The sun sits on the horizon…I then zoom back out…And we leave as the sun slips below the horizon…

Jeff and I are still in Jensen beach, Florida… we move north in a few days to Merritt Island area for some New awnings on our ten year old RV (HOMEY)~our old awnings are full of holes..

While there we will do some birding and explore the area.

Brown Pelican photo shoot

Howdee all,

Here in Florida the Brown Pelicans know where to hang out…

Your local fish cleaning station…Waiting for some easy fish to come in…

If anyone knows my wardrobe color scheme~they know I wear mostly Brown and Beige..so ..these birds remind me of my wardrobe..:)

  I Love the brown and beige colors of these pelican against the blue water.Look at that blob of cute…I had a great time shooting away…

Juvenile dirty brown all over with white belly, pale line along middle of underwing. Bill gray-brown. Yearling similar, but more gray on back and with some white feathers on sides of head and neck. Bill becomes paler and may have some yellow or orange.

Adult…

Adult Breeding
Plumage is primarily gray and brown, marked with a blackish belly, yellowish head, and chestnut or cinnamon brown nape and hindneck (Terres 1980; Farrand 1983; Harrison 1996).

Adult Non-breeding
Plumage is similar but duller to that of the adult coloration during the summer season (Farrand 1983; Harrison 1996).  The nape and hindneck are mostly white with occasional tinges of yellow. via Smithsonian research at Fort Pierce website

 

Both Sexes have the same coloration at each phase.Striking…colors of the adult..While the Browns of the juvies blend into a warm softness..

What color scheme is more attractive to you?The more dramatic yellows, brown-black and gray with the pop of red around the eye?

Or the warm brown tones of the young Pelicans?Take a look at both color schemes together…

Adult and Juvenile

I like them both..but I favor the warm browns..

Oh…..Have you seen those feet?

Big and webbed they hold up this large critter…I know..what your thinking just about now..…

Allot of Pelican photos!…

ha…

If you know me I am not one to easily weed photos …

Although, I really did take out lots..

Really I did .:)Juvi and AdultThis one looks like a painting…

Ok..humor me…

Yes..Dawn, it looks just like a painting!

Alligator? Nope..just the end of this awesome bill…

While looking at all these Brown beauties…

I noticed this fellow…

and what caught my attention was its feet…Quite different than the Black beautiful feet above…these are worn and gray and very old looking…cuts in the side of the leg…

And it was banded…I tried to capture all of the number…it looks like

1118- I couldn’t make out the number to call or where it was from…

I have been spending the morning googling to find out where to report the tagged bird…anyone out there know who to call?

Ok..that’s enough of Pelicans for now, I need to go back and get some shots of the pouch…these fellas were relaxing so they weren't showing off that famous pouch..more to come next photo shoot.. :)

In the meantime…you MUST go check out my

Featured Bird Blogger of the Week

At Birdingblogs.com

You are going to love the photos!

~I fell in Love at the beach~

Howdee all,

Yes you heard me..I fell in Love yesterday…

It wasn’t the first time~and I am sure it wont be the last:)

Jeff and I went for a ride to see Hutchinson Island…

We stopped at Blind Creek Park~a 400 acre preserve in between the Indian river to the Ocean.

Ocean side~View looking north~

View looking south~Looking east~

~a very quiet beach and no high-risesLooking down ~

I see many shellsSome nice shells here~

Jeff and I collected a few~

And then…………..

I saw it…And~

I fell in Love~It seemed to be following me as I picked shells…

Wanting to be noticed?

Cute little seedy black eyes, pale blue back and fuzzy yellow legs~

I admired it for quite a while…

Isn't it adorable?

I didn’t know what kind of crab it was at the time…I walked on and left the crab as I picked up shells~

Then I saw a few Gulls with a crab….

OH NO

I chased the Gulls…

and it dropped what was left of the crab…

Two pieces…

My new love?

I ran down the beach to see if My Crab was still there…

And there is was…

still out in the open…

Jeff and I didn’t know how to protect it so we built a small shelter.

I began to worry about it…

a few gulls flew overhead…

they saw it…I saw some holes at the high tide mark  about twenty feet away….

I thought maybe it had come from one of these holes…So Jeff took a stick and the little crab grabbed onto it…he then put the crab at the edge of the hole..and it slid in sideways …fitting perfectly…

We left thinking my new Love was safe..

When I came home I googled and found out my Lovely crab is a Ghost Crab…

they live in holes at the high tide line…

I hope my little friend is ok…

I like to think it is..My new Love :)