Another week of fun - February 12 - 18, 2024

Wow!! How the time seems to fly by. I can hardly believe that on Saturday Jordan and Hailey will be arriving.  We are really enjoying ourselves although it would be a little nicer if the weather warmed up.  It's been a much cooler winter this year.  Thankfully it hasn't stopped us from doing things for which we are grateful.  Most mornings around 6:30, I go out with my camera to capture the sunrise.  I usually check out the weather forecast the night before and make sure everything is ready to go (in case I sleep in lol).

We got out golfing three times this week. Asher joined us for two of the three rounds which was nice.  We golfed at Burning Ridge, World Tour and Wild Wing.  All three courses were fun to play and we got to enjoy seeing some wildlife while on the course as well.  

The gangs all here

Juvenile Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

We haven't been to Huntington Beach in a while because there really hasn't been any birds around.  Instead we have amused ourselves by going to see the Eagles and doing some consignment store exploring.  

It's been fun watching the Eaglets grow and it won't be long for them to leave the nest. We had a perfect morning for viewing them on Saturday. We showed Lawrence and Teresa a good area by the road into Oyster Bay Golf Course where you can view the small Eaglets better while bringing you a little closer for picture taking.  Earlier in the previous months you weren't  able to see them at this location because their nest had gotten so large and they were sitting much lower.  Now they have grown and are standing more upright and jumping up and down flapping their wings making it easier to see them.  It is fun to watch.

Wing flapping

Keeping a close eye on what's happening

Fish time

Watching us watching him/her

Siblings 

The 2nd eyelid which protects the eye while diving into the water and I am assuming from particles in the nest

Getting hungry again

This Eagle was sitting really far away (close to the Intercostal waterway) but still had a view to the nest.

More fish - this goes on all day (they are well fed)

Time for a much needed rest

While photographing the Eaglets I kept hearing this thump, thump, thump and right in front of me was this beautiful Pileated Woodpecker putting on a lovely show

On Saturday night, close to midnight we picked up the girls at the airport. Thankfully it's only about 10 minutes away from our condo.  We're so happy that they arrived safely with their luggage and that the flight went well. We ended up having a late night as we caught up on how their day went and of course, enjoyed a late night snack.  Travelling makes you hungry.... We were all pretty tired on Sunday morning.

On Sunday we invited everyone over for coffee after church and later in the afternoon we drove out to Huntington to see what birds were around.  Sadly there was only 1 that we saw (well a few ducks off in the distance).  We still enjoyed a nice walk and got lots of fresh air.

The pollen is starting to arrive.  I sure looks pretty in the water.  This reminds me of a wave.

We have lots of activities planned for this week so I'm sure the time will pass by quickly.  We're looking forward to making new memories with Jordan and Hailey.

Time marches on - February 5 - 11, 2024

The week started off chilly again with the wind blowing.  The waves are coming from the north and flowing towards to the south (kind of).  There haven't been any shells on the beach for a while now.  It's amazing how the currents in the ocean control what is deposited onto the beach.  Some days there are so many shells and sharks teeth and other days there is nothing. It was a quiet day with book reading and we went to Lawrence and Teresa's to watch the hockey game.  These are good days to catch up and relax.

Tuesday went to see the Eagles.  It was a really cold day to see them. We sat in the truck until we saw one fly by with either food or nesting materials. They were incredibly active which was fun to see.  We had intended to only stay for a couple of hours and ended up staying till almost 2 in the afternoon (from 8:30 in the morning)  what a fun day it was.

Juvenile from last year

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were golf days again. We played at River Club, Myrtle Beach National West course and Tradition. The weather throughout the week got progressively warmer which was nice. While golfing at Tradition we heard a beautiful owl call when we were on the 16th hole.  While we didn't get to see the owl, we were all excited at hearing it. There were lots of hawks on all the courses along with deer and other beautiful birds.

Since we enjoyed our time with the Eagles so much on Monday we decided to go back again on Saturday. John and Grace met us there and we showed them where the nest was and they also had a chance to see the babies. They weren't quite as active but we still got some really great shots.  When we came back to the condo we saw that the tide was at a "super low" and I was able to walk out really far. I went to see what I could find and met up with John and his grandchildren. Carolyn had arrived for a weeks vacation. How nice to see them. There were plenty of shells in clumps along the beach and even a few sharks teeth were found. It was so nice out that we could walk in the water in bare feet. 

Sunday turned out to be another nice day.  The sunrise was beautiful and we were blessed with a very good sermon at Faith Presbyterian church.  His sermons can be found on Sermon Audio and I think we will download some of his and listen to them when we're driving in the truck (Pastor John Irwin).