Below, it is in the distance.
A beached utility pole, must have blown over in a windstorms. From the look of the wood, it’s been riding the ocean and on the sand for quite a while.
Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.
🐾
Wilson’s Snipe Gallinago delicata
It is 2:30 a.m. Through our barely open bedroom window, the reassuring rumble of Pacific Ocean high-tide lulls me back to sleep. At 7:30, Jello puts her nose on my pillow to awaken me. While she has her breakfast, I make a to-go mug of cafe au lait d’amande, and, rain or shine, we head out. 
Canada goose flocks are flying over regularly on their way north. First I hear them…
then they are above me…
and they fade away.
Every beach jaunt provides different variations on the scene; low vs high tide, windy or not, overcast, misty or blue skies, and then there are the birds.
Above, the tide was extremely low and the sky overcast. Do you see Jello? She provides a sense of how “far out” this tide is!
On this heavy mist and strong wind morning, the tide is churning closer. A resident pair of mature Bald Eagles are perched on the drift wood snag. When it’s wet, I leave my Panasonic LUMIX home, so this was captured with my iPhone.
On a clear, mild morning walk, I was able to capture shots of Black-bellied Plovers in full mating plumage.
Plovers, Sanderling, Sandpipers and Dunlin mingle together as they migrate. Sometimes there are flocks of fifty to a hundred working the edge of the shoreline, and flying full pelt just above it.
Returning through the dwindling marshes, the Killdeer adults divert to protect their young.
If you look closely, in the middle of all that grass above, you will see a tiny Killdeer fledgling. Below the Mallard family paddles to safety.
All around the grounds, young apple trees are blooming.
While I take in their beauty, Jello munches on some delicious greens. Our morning isn’t over, but the day has started just right!
Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.
Thank you Anne Christine for a chance to wish everyone “top of the morning!”
https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/lens-artists-photo-challenge-93-morning/
White-throated Sparrow – Zonotrichia albicollis
Mallard hen with young – Anas platyrhynchos
Bald Eagle lift-off – Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Long Beach, Washington ~ USA
Immature Bald Eagle perched on a large drift wood snag.
Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.
For thirty years my husband and I vacationed on Orcas Island, WA – USA. Memories of the peaceful place we stayed would help power me through each year of counseling high school students. When I arrived, my body, mind and spirit all slowed to a quieter pace.
After I retired 9 years ago, we decided to go other places and have since settled into our condominium at Long Beach, WA for our get-away-from-it-all fix. Lately, I’ve been thinking a visit back to Orcas is in my future. How far in the future? Time will tell!
Thanks to John for inspiring a virtual visit to a lovely spot!
https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/2020/04/11/lapc-92-going-back/
Savannah Sparrow – Passerculus sandwichensis
Pair of Pine Grosbeak – Pinicola enucleator
Male Pine Grosbeak
Northern Harrier – Circus cyaneus – male with twig in beak.
Male Ring-necked Pheasant – Phasianus colchicus
Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.
My name is Jello and I’m a “blue-tick” Beagle. My folks adopted me five years ago when I was four and we have lots of fun adventures together.
I got really sick to my stomach the other day. Not sure what it was that I ate in the dunes, but mom hopes it won’t happen again.
On our morning walks, I get to roam wherever my nose takes me. Scents of night-critters draw me along deer trails into the depths of the dunes.
Before cresting the berm, Mom whistles for me and I race past her to roll in the soft sand.
When the wind is strong, the sand hurts my eyes, so we don’t stay long. When it’s not windy, we meander along the shoreline lazily.
Back home I get a brush-down and a cookie, followed by a long nap!
Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.
🐾
Easter morning is sunny and calm. White-crowned Sparrows call from trees along the Discovery Trail, and an immature Bald Eagle sweeps above me with a fish in its talons. As I crest the berm to the beach, low tide and swishing waves invite a stroll along the shoreline to a beautiful, large piece of driftwood that came ashore overnight.
Drifting along with my thoughts, I note how disconnected from time I feel. Hours wash onward, as a daily routine develops.
The marsh shrinks, large flocks of geese fly north, and the Harrier hunts above the dunes.
Lindy Low LeCoq 