It's hard to believe that Christmas is only a few days away. Have we been here for 3 weeks already? Where does the time go? On Monday we went out looking for a "game" that only Walmart sells. We tried to order it online as they didn't have any in the stores. Unfortunately their online ordering system doesn't work when you enter a Canadian address as part of credit card billing. So off we went to see if Customer Service will help. They were very pleasant to deal with and the game was ordered with their assistance. Laura was quite happy as they love to play games together as a family.
Afterwards we headed to Murrells Inlet for a walk before heading to Huntington Beach. While the temperature was nice, the wind was blowing off the ocean making it feel much colder. I guess the birds felt the same way as they were mostly in hiding. We took a long walk along the road heading towards the North parking lot in search of the Barred Owl. We weren't successful but it was an enjoyable walk. As we were walking we observed that many groups of Red winged Blackbirds were arriving.
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Pied Billed Grebe with a great catch for dinner |
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| Blown Pelican making a quick getaway |
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| Snowy |
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| A mix of Redwing Black birds and Robins |
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| Great Egret |
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| The end of a beautiful day |
We returned to the park on Tuesday after our round of golf. We played at Wachesaw in the morning and then headed back to Huntington for the afternoon. It was quiet again with very few the birds out which was surprising to me as it was a nice day. We still had an opportunity to see the Eagle, Osprey and other birds. Each trip is something different.
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Osprey |
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Great Blue Heron
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On Christmas Eve we stayed at the Condo for the day. The weather was amazing. It hit 22c and was so nice. I even brought a chair to the beach for a couple of hours. I took my camera with me and spent time photographing the pelicans diving into the water and also spotted 4 Common Loons again. They are such a pretty looking bird. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed watching the dolphins playing from our balcony. They were a fair distance away but still close enough to see them jumping. It was a fairly large group. This most certainly made our day.
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| Common Loon peaking over the wave |
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| Common Loon |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Brown Pelican dive sequence |
We had a visit from Santa as well. I've seen this person before and am amazed at the distance he paddles along the beach.
Later in the afternoon as we were sitting on the balcony we spotted some dolphins jumping up in the water. Pictures don't do it justice and all I can say is that it was the most amazing thing that Ralph and I have ever seen. What a great "Christmas Eve" present to receive.
We went to the Christmas Eve service at Faith Presbyterian Church. We had a really interesting service which was filled with bible reading all which pointed to the birth of Jesus. The service ended with each of us lighting a candle and the lights of the Sanctuary turned off as we sang Silent Night. It was really beautiful.
On Christmas morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. There was no service at church today so we enjoyed a nice breakfast together and headed back to Huntington Beach for a few hours. We thought it might be quiet there but we were wrong. There was nonstop traffic into the park. I think it's partly because entrance was free and because it was such a beautiful day. There were plenty of birds to keep us amused. There were at least 5-6 Osprey out and we saw the Eagle as well although it was only for a fly by.
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| Osprey shaking off the water with a fish in his talons |
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| It's mating time again - Mergansers |
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| Female Merganser displaying her crown |
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| Best dressed Snowy Heron - wearing her Christmas feathers |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey takeoff |
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| Osprey takeoff |
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| Coopers Hawk |
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| Great Egret |
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| Osprey leaving water with a fish |
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| Osprey |
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| Male and female Mergansers |
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| Juvenile Ibis |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey takeoff |
After we returned in the early afternoon we noticed that the brown Pelicans were very active in the ocean. I spent some time out on the balcony enjoying the action while Ralph enjoyed the football game. It was another amazing day.
Friday was Ralph's birthday. 67 years old. We enjoyed a nice breakfast out at Seasons - 10 Fold Biscuits. It's a local restaurant that makes amazing breakfast. Afterwards we thought we would do a little Boxing Day shopping. It's nothing like at home with lots of people crowding the malls. There were some really good sales but not many people taking advantage of them. I think that Black Friday is the bigger sales day here in the USA. The weather was a little cooler but not bad and a sweater was fine.
We woke up to an amazing display of colour on Saturday morning. This was the best sunrise we have had since arriving. The sky got redder and redder as time went on. It was so beautiful to enjoy.
We headed down to Sunset Beach later in the morning and met up with our friend Rick. We waited over 1.5 hours before seeing the Eagle arrive. We were just talking about leaving (I was at the truck putting my camera away) when Ralph alerted me to look up into the sky and sure enough there was one flying back to the nest. We figured it was bringing food as there is a baby currently being fed. During that time, the other Eagle flew out in search of food.
Over the weekend we noticed that the Condo was getting pretty busy with people check in and out. I guess the Christmas patrons are leaving and the New Years Eve partyers are arriving. It's the busiest we have seen since we got here. We enjoyed a quiet day on Sunday.
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| Osprey |
