Let me call you sweetheart...

I am dreaming Dear of you, day by dayDreaming when the skies are blue, When they're gray;When the silv'ry moonlight gleams, Still I wander on in dreams,In a land of love, it seems, Just with you.Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you.Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true.Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you.
The words to that song popped into my head as I watched this pair of yellow-crowned night herons on their nest today.  I felt so lucky to observe the two of them allopreening (mutual preening to reinforce pair bonds) and "billing" each other as they stood over their nest.  At one point, the male (at least I think it was the male) hopped over a few feet to pull a small piece of branch off a tree and then presented it to his mate who carefully placed it on the nest.  When she was done arranging the bit of twig just so, they turned to each other and started grooming each other's feathers, heads touching.  It felt incredibly tender to me.  I hope that I've captured some of that feeling here.
When I think back on my time in Florida, these night herons will be some of the birds I associate most closely with this area.  Being able to spend time observing them in the wild has been an amazing experience, one I will not soon forget.
Hubs and I took a few hours off this afternoon and walked several miles on the beach.  Temps were near 80 F, but the breeze off the ocean was marvelous and the sun was bright.  We just walked and chatted and made some big decisions about things that have been in limbo for us.  It was a good time.
I expect to get my rental D750 tomorrow, as well as my D600 - yay!  I plan to drop the D90 off to get it thoughtfully cleaned.  Salt air probably isn't great for cameras...
TTFN...
Debbi (27 days and counting)