Dude! Get off my back!!

Oh, what a morning I had.  I was up before the crack of dawn to see Hubs off on his long drive to AL.  Since I was up and fueled with tea, I decided to head down to Fort DeSoto.  Should have left a little earlier because I was driving during the best part of the sunrise.  But, that didn't stop me from taking about 700 pics once I arrived at the Fort.  

I was spoiled for choices today - I got some shots that were technically quite good and others that were, to me, very interesting.  I saw all kinds of cool behavior including a pair of crows dueling on the ground while being yelled at by their flock-mates; and a pair of oystercatchers courting on the beach.  I also saw a new (for me) gull - a pretty little thing.  

So my blip choice today was one of the behavior shots that I especially liked as it will always remind me of FL.  While I was at the Gulf Pier, I started to hear a big ruckus out on the water - as I watched, about 30 pelicans arrived, shortly joined by at least 100 cormorants and the ever-present Laughing Gulls.  Seems that there was a school of bait fish just off the beach and the birds were in a full-on feeding frenzy.  It was amazing to see - and the noise level (thanks to the gulls) was astonishing.  I sat myself down on the beach and propped my elbows on my knees (human tripod) and fired off shot after shot, trying to capture some sense of the total chaos and bedlam that was unfolding before me.  

I finally picked this shot because you can get a little sense of the action.  The peli had just dived headfirst from the air, and managed to scoop up a bill-full of fish...the gull was trying to figure out how to get inside the pelican's bill...and the cormorants just happened to surface in the middle of it all.  Fish were flying and my shutter was clicking.  

If you've got the time/interest, have a look on Flickr where I've posted 12 pics, Starting here with the fighting Fish Crows and finishing with a sunrise shot of the Sunshine Skyway, with no post processing.  I'm pretty happy with the way that last one came out.  

Tomorrow morning, I'm off to Sarasota to meet up with Blip's own Outdoor Guy (aka Tim) for a some birds and a tour of his fishing place.  He's promised me a white pelican...  

Happy Monday, people.
Debbi