Week 17 - Wow!! Where did the time go?

It's the start of our last "full week" in Myrtle Beach.  Where has the time gone? We sure have kept ourselves busy while being here and it's hard to believe that we are in the downward stretch.  It's time to slowly pack things up and think about going home.  Our last day in Myrtle Beach will be March 31 and we plan to take a few days to drive home  We look forward to seeing the family again.

Monday started off with a beautiful sunrise.  We have a round of golf planned at International Golf club. Ralph and I played here in December and it will be nice to play it with everyone else.

Golf was fun and the weather was absolutely perfect. We might even come home with a suntan lol. 

After  our round, Ralph and I drove to Huntington Beach to see if the straight road was opened.  They are doing work on improving the water control structures,  dredging around the rookery island, adding a well  and performing some trimming of the overgrown bushes.  As a result the straight road is not always open.  This is an important time of year, especially if  you want to focus on the nesting activity of the Egrets.  Thankfully the road was open when we arrived so we were able to see some of the work that has been done and also see the beginning of the nesting activities.  They are quite far away, but I still tried to captured some of the activity.

Tuesday was a quiet day with some packing being done and a nice walk along the beach.  All our books are read, so we've started listening to an Audio book.  It's a long one (20 discs) so that should last until we get home.  

Wednesday was another day of golf. We have a round booked at Sea Trail - Jones course which is right near Sunset Beach. We went first to see the Eagle's where we met up with our friend Rick as well.  It was quiet for the first while with the Eagle spending the time in the nest with the Eaglet. Some Osprey's arrived and then the Eagle came rushing out as well.  It's always fun to watch the interaction.

Osprey

The Grackles have arrived

Eagle keeping watch over the nest

Eagle

Pelican

Eagle on the chase

I know their up there somewhere

Coming in for a landing

Mockingbird surrounded by no-see-ums and/or knats.

On Thursday we saw activity on the water with the beach restoration project.  They seemed to be on the move and went down to the sound end of Myrtle Beach taking with it, the super long pipe.  Surprisingly it came back later in the day.

Tug Boat checking out the pipe

Heavy machinery

All different boats were used

Pipeline (assuming for sand removal)

While I was enjoying my coffee on the balcony in the afternoon I observed the Bonaparte's Gulls enjoying the waves.  I eventually went down with my camera to get a few shots.  They are fun to watch and there was many along the beach enjoying the day.

Friday we enjoyed a round at Lion's Paw in North Carolina.  We haven't played this course in a while so it was fun to enjoy a round here.  That is the nice thing about being here, the variety of golf is almost endless. There is a hole on the course where the wisteria is very abundant. It is so beautiful and it makes me feel like I am in a fairy tale. I love it. 

We went to Sunset Beach before our round and although it was quiet there I was able to capture this fun photo of an alligator where it looks like it is waving to us.

Saturday we went back to Huntington Beach State Park for the day.  We enjoyed how the Wisteria is really starting to bloom and also the beginning of the Egret and Anhinga rookery is forming.  Here are a few shots of our visit to the park.  The beautiful blooms of the Wisteria are present everywhere. We had thought that we might miss it because of the long cold winter but at last South and North Carolina is bursting with colour.  The Azalea's are beautiful all along the golf courses and the Wisteria is climbing through many of the forests and gardens. 

The rookery is growing and each time we visit we see more birds.  Sadly it's quite far away and many of the birds are deep in the reeds making it a challenge to photograph. It's still very pretty to see from far off.

The chase is on

Gathering nesting material

Mating mask

The alligator activity is becoming  more predominant in both ponds.  These are ones photographed along the straight road.  They are gliding silently in the pond and sometime lying in the mud when the water level goes down.  We laughed when we saw the one gator covered in seaweed.

Gator camouflage

This gator is participating in a study and has a tracker on its neck

A beautiful Osprey  was overlooking the pond along the straight road.  It was interesting that nobody noticed it quietly sitting in a tree watching the activity below.  

I've got  my eye on you

With talons like that you have to be very careful how you scratch your itch

Blooming tree's make a nice background

Sunday we enjoyed two very good sermons and relaxed at the condo.  It's time to think about going home.