Birds (Again) and Dinner with Friends

Sunday, 13 January
Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 65F / Hi 74F (18C / 23C)

It was another day that was a mix of clouds and sunshine.  But no one’s complaining.  Not even about the humidity, which was up there again.  As long as there’s a breeze to keep us from overheating, we’re good.

We started our day off with what turned out to be a two hour walk.  For a change of pace, we reversed our usual walking routine this time.  Instead of starting out on the beach along Pensacola Bay, we started out by going east along the Gulf of Mexico.  We had the beach to ourselves and kept up a pretty good pace to our Pensacola Bay cutover point at the campground registration building.  Then it was a slow stroll with frequent stops going west along the bay to the campground.

Anyone home?
We think this is a Remnant of the coastal artillery system built to protect the area in
the early 1900s.  No signage, so we’ll have to remember to ask a ranger about it.

Lifeguard station aground; it’s too far from the beach to do swimmers any good.

The boat pier is a popular perch for pelicans and gulls.

I see one cormorant amongst the penguins Pelicans.
[Yes … I do know the difference between the species … wink, wink]

The gull and merganser convention was still going on off-shore, but the birds were very quiet this morning.  As a bonus, a small bunch of the gulls were resting at the edge of the beach, giving me a better opportunity to get acquainted.  They tolerated my presence well, flying off every once in a while, but returning immediately to the spot across from where I sat watching them.

Bonaparte’s Gulls is my best guess.

Bonaparte’s Gull

Even when most of the gulls took off for a short flight …

… A couple of them always remained behind to babysit the Sanderlings.

Sanderlings

The gull and merganser convention broke up …

… when this fisherman got too close for comfort.

Proof that Judy was right when she identified the waterfowl
amongst the gulls as Mergansers in the Saturday post.

After returning home we relaxed for a bit before the afternoon portion of our day — which was easier on the feet as we drove to Navarre to check out a few campgrounds.  We especially liked the waterfront sites at the St Rosa Sound RV Park and Emerald Beach RV Park.  The former has monthly rates for these premium sites; the latter doesn’t — but they have small decks overlooking the water.  We might treat ourselves to a stay at one of them one of these years — and a treat it would be considering their hefty pricing!

The best part of our day, though, was yet to come — dinner with Chuck and Anneke at their home.  Those of you who follow their blog know that they came off the road mid-year in 2012, bought a house in Florida so they can spend more time with family, and shrunk their 39-foot motorhome to a smaller View and became any-timers.  They have a lovely home, and we enjoyed a very nice seafood meal with them there last night.  Thanks for the invite guys!  Have fun in Freeport — and remember to blog about it ;-)

(Alas — no photos from dinner.  Chalk it up to having too much fun to remember to take out the camera.)