Kind of a So-So Day

I haven’t been out to Fort Pickens since before Christmas. But Jerri convinced me that it was time for me to go and check on Ospreys and such. So I ventured out today, parked at Battery Worth (as usual), and headed west on the bike trail. It was warmish and cloudy, but not at all bad for a late-January day.

The bike and I made it to Turtle Bridge and stopped for a while. No Ospreys to report yet, except for a couple that I saw off in the distance (probably some of those young males that hang around here all winter because the instinct to migrate hasn’t kicked it yet (or maybe, so I imagine, they’re just typical teenagers who want to hang out in the old neighborhood while mom and dad go off to South America for the winter.)

So – no Ospreys. But I did see some unusual Great Blue Heron behavior that seems note-worthy. For one thing, they’re all wearing their finest feathers and fluff, so they’re at their most beautiful and colorful.  Like this guy who just happened to fly past.

But while I was standing on Turtle Bridge talking to some folks, we noticed GBHs soaring in and settling back in the tall grass, near the Sound. First one, then another. And finally a third.

I’m not sure you can see it, but there’s a GBH down there in the grass just below where this guy is about to settle down.

I didn’t hang around to see what they were going to do, but I’ve never seen them congregate like this before – especially not on the ground. These birds are most at home in the tall Pines. It’s very unusual to see them on the ground at all, unless they’re stalking some unaware fisherman’s bait bucket.

Soon it was time to return home (which for the next couple of months is a condo just outside the gate to FP), for lunch.  UUUMM! Left over pizza from Georgio’s and an Ultra Amber.

Then Jerri spotted pelicans diving into the shallow water right out front. So they were fun to watch for a while, although still pretty far away.

I thought this guy looked pretty comical, flaps down and about to hit the water.

And then …

… the tremendous splash. I couldn’t tell if it was a successful dive. But there were two or three pelis out there plying the waters – just for our entertainment, of course.

Meanwhile, back at Turtle Bridge … sometimes I just look around, and appreciate what a beautiful place I have before me. The water, the woods, the light, are all different every time I’m out there. And today, for whatever reason, this little scene at the base of the bridge caught my eye.

So, I’ll close today’s entry with that. Just some fallen reeds, and a jumble of leaves, against the calm, black waters.

I wonder if this little body of water even has a name. Or does that even matter?