Between the Raindrops...

Despite the rain, I went out for a walk this morning and saw the elusive Magnificent Frigatebird. Their wingspan is so long, they can't land on the ground but have to land up higher so they have space to spread their wings and take off. This is a female who has the whitish area in the chest. The male has a bright red pouch in the same area which he puffs out to impress the ladies. The picture isn't great as it was pretty far away (with a male but you couldn't see the red patch) and it was still raining so to save the camera.... It is easy to identify them by the shape of their wings and the length!

My boys just watching for dinner. Note the light gold on their heads. During the breeding season, they have a very striking gold head. (I just LOVE pelicans.)

Yesterday morning in a slight respite from the rain, I went down to the beach for a short walk and was treated to frolicking dolphins! They were in quite shallow and were riding the waves and generally having a good time.


This is our everpresent egret who decided I was no threat and stopped by the pool for a drink of fresh water. I suspect this is the same one hunting for skinks the day before!

The weather has been pretty awful. We all decided it was because we hadn't assigned anyone responsibility for insuring good weather! The skies are bound and determined to make up the 16 inch rain deficit in the time we are here. We have never had serious rain when down here (well maybe one day a year), but all it does is rain..... Supposedly the weather gets better tomorrow and stays that way for awhile. Hopefully there will be lots of shore and wading birds for my trip down to the Everglades early next week!

I did pick up quite a few nice but smaller shells this morning on a long walk in the intermittent rain!