Monday, 16 February 2026

Week 11 - is the cold finally over?

We played our first round of three golf games that we have booked for this week.  We're being optimistic that the weather will get warmer.  The temperature is 2c as I write this but we are expecting it to go to a high of 7c.  Winter golf at it's finest.  We are booked at Arrowhead in the afternoon so we can enjoy the warmth (hopefully).  When I got up I didn't think too much of the sky and wasn't planning on taking any photographs. I ended up changing my mind and set up  my camera on the tripod.  I was not disappointed.  It was too cold to stand on the balcony in pj's so I set it up to automatically take a photo every minute.  All I had to do them was watch from inside and step out and  make adjustments periodically. These are my favourite shots, pushing the aperture to 20 to get the star effect.  


During our golf round the Airforce flew two fighter jets overhead.  The sound of them flying is so loud and watching was pretty incredible.



On Tuesday we went back to our favourite park (Huntington Beach)  and we met up with our friend Rick while we were there.  It was a beautiful day with the temperatures reaching around 19c.  We spent the morning there and then on our way home we stopped at the Myrtle Beach State Park and walked the Pier in the hopes of seeing the Northern Gannets.  We met up with Lawrence and Teresa at both parks and we got some great shots.  

A quick stop at Murrells Inlet to see the Pelicans

Black Bellied Plover

Great Egret 

Alligator enjoying the sunshine

Osprey

While we were at the Pier we saw quite a few birds in the water including Common Loons, Seagulls, Terns, Cormorants and Northern Terns.   We also so some Dolphins swim by.

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannet


Dolphin
Dolphin

Great Egret

We enjoyed a nice round  of golf at Prestwick on Wednesday.  It rained a  little but not bad enough to cancel gold.  Thankfully the temperature was nice.

On Thursday Ralph and I decided to go back to the Pier at Myrtle Beach State Park.  We were hoping to see the Gannets again but didn't see any.  It's not surprising as we are starting to reach the time when the birds start travelling north to their breeding grounds.  We were disappointed though as they are beautiful to watch and very challenging to photograph.  We went to the nature center and saw some beautiful song birds as well.


Cardinal

Carolina Wren

Baltimore Oriole

Purple Finch

Titmouse

It looks worse than it is... a controlled burn of shrub at Brookgreen Gardens


Lots of Pigeons at the Pier

Common Loon

Pigeon
Two sundogs in the sky


Friday we played a round of golf at Sandpiper Bay.  It was a fun round and we enjoyed some nice temperatures.  We went to go see the Eagles by Oyster Bay after our round and met up with Rick for a while.  Sadly we didn't see any Eagles so we only stayed for about an hour.

It's always difficult photographing into the sun. Silhouette of a Kingfisher

Can you find the Great Blue Heron?

On Friday evening right at dinner time we experienced a blackout at the Condo.  Thankfully we had candles so we had some light.  The blackout lasted a little over 2 hours.  Dinner was cheese and crackers along with a  glass of wine and beer.

Candlelight


On Saturday we decided to go back to Huntington Beach for the day.  As we were driving into the park I noticed an Osprey in the tree so Ralph let me out early as we were driving to to the parking lot.  I managed to get a few shots before I noticed a juvenile Eagle flying around.  As he got closer to the tree, the Osprey left quickly and the Eagle flew in and spent some time enjoying the view.

Osprey


Juvenile Eagle

Juvenile Eagle

Juvenile Eagle

Juvenile Eagle

Juvenile Eagle

Juvenile Eagle

Juvenile Eagle

After the Eagle left, the Osprey returned to the tree. It's their favourite place to eat the fish that they catch.

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

Great Blue Heron

Stork

Stork

The week ended with a rainy day on Sunday   It was a good time to relax  between services and read a good book.  We did enjoy an interesting sunrise in the  morning.







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