Clear skies - January 29 - February 4, 2024

We woke up to a beautiful and clear sky today. The temperature was around 15 by the afternoon. We decided to spend the day at Holden beach searching for sharks teeth, shells and sea biscuits. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the beach and had a long walk. The perfect way to spend the day. On the way home we enjoyed a snack at World of Beer.  

Tuesday was a quiet day for us. I walked the beach a few times and also tried my hand at water colour painting. There are lots of YouTube videos showing the technique but I do find that many of the artists don't provide a lot of detail. For me, I think I'll be learning for the next while through trial and error lol. 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all golf days.  We played rounds at Myrtle Beach National, Myrtlewood and Wild wing.  It was fun.  We got to see plenty of wildlife at the courses which we all enjoy.  

To finish off the week we went to see how the young Eaglets were growing.  It's amazing how large they are getting.  We expect that they will fledge before we go home which would be exciting see.  I don't think I've ever seen really young eagles flying around so I look forward to that.

Throughout the week we were blessed with some amazing sunrises.  I just loved the colours in the sky.  It is a perfect way to start the day.

The week was finished with a short trip to Huntington Beach where Ralph and I both had a new birding lifer!!  We saw both the Sora and a Virginia Rail.  It was so exciting.  Both birds are very skittish and very difficult to capture on film.  It was a fun afternoon.

From -4 to 24c- January 22-28, 2024

Monday morning was a chilly one. As I went to the beach to photograph the sunrise I had an opportunity to talk to the security guard at the condo and encouraged him to take a peak out of the door. He was amazed at the colour and thought that because they were calling for rain, it would be a wet a dreary morning.   How wrong he was. I do find the pictures are nicer at the beach level and I plan to take every opportunity to enjoy doing this.

I met up with John and Grace who were out for a walk. The temperatures gradually got nicer as the day progressed and I was able to enjoy a nice walk in the afternoon.  We enjoyed a nice sunset as well.  What a blessing it is to stay by the beach and enjoy God's majesty and beauty.

We were blessed with another beautiful sunrise on Tuesday morning. I hope I never take these beautiful mornings for granted.  

We had a round of golf planned for the afternoon at Litchfield so we decided to leave early and go to Murrell's Inlet and see what changes had taken place since last year and also to enjoy some delicious coffee.  There is a coffee truck (Brown Fox) there that makes an amazing cup and we always enjoy one when we visit.  I was surprised at the number of egrets and heron that were there. Lawrence and Teresa went there as well as they also like to go for a walk there.  Afterwards we spent a short time at Huntington Beach killing time while we waited for our golf round tee time.  

On Wednesday we decided to see how the eaglets were doing.  We met up with our friend Rick there and had a nice little chat.  There were a few photographers all gathered at the lake waiting for one of the eagles to return to the nest with food while the other stood by and watched over the babies.  They are around 3 weeks old now.  Amazing how fast the time goes.  After a while the other photographers left and Ralph and I hung around.  There wasn't much bird activity but enough to keep us engaged.  We saw a beautiful red tailed hawk which I was able to capture and when the other eagle arrived, Ralph was able to get some great shots.  I had wondered closer up the road to see if I could get a better shot and ultimately was in the wrong place at the time the eagle arrived.  We were there about 3 hours. It was a beautiful day so we had no complaints.

Can you see the two little heads on the left side of the nest?

We woke up to a very foggy morning on Thursday.  It must be the change in weather.  We had another round of golf planned for the afternoon at Burning Ridge.  It's a nice course and was in good condition.  Since it was room cleaning day we left early and spent time browsing at the Outlet Mall and Golf store prior to our game.  It was a nice afternoon and the temperature was beautiful. We did get some rain while golfing but it was a drizzle and nothing bad.

It was really foggy again on Friday morning when we woke up. We were surprised how it dissipated as soon as we left the beach area.  We had heard that the Cedar Waxwings had arrived at the park so we packed a lunch and headed back to Huntington. There wasn't very many birds around today.  You never know one day from the next.  We saw a female merganser enjoying a bath and an osprey came by to do a little fishing.  Because of the warmer temperatures we have been having the last few days the alligators have also started coming out.  We also found two Black Crowned Herons deep in the marsh along the straight road.  It's funny because we walked right by without seeing them.  It just shows that you need to take your time and open your eyes.  

While we were at the park, the fog started rolling in again.  We walked to the beach to have a look and I was surprised at how dense it was.  

We had another foggy morning on Saturday.  I guess that's the joys of living by the ocean.  

Early morning sunrise

In the afternoon (just after lunch), I was sitting on the balcony enjoying a cold cup of water and basking in the sun.  Within an hour it went from bright beautiful sunlight to the thickest fog ever.  It was pretty amazing how fast the fog moved in,  The beach stayed foggy for most of the day,

We enjoyed a quiet day on Sunday.  It was a little cooler but still nice for walking the beach in the afternoon.  I've started to find more sharks teeth as well.  The last week there has hardly been any shells washing up.  It's amazing how things change at the beach.

The weather is changing again - January 15 - 21, 2024

What an amazing start to the week. The temperature today hit 17c.  It was perfect golfing weather.  Even though they were calling for rain (which never came) we still planned an outing.  We golfed with the 6 of us at River Club.  It was a fun afternoon.  In the morning before golf, Ralph and I went back to Huntington for a walk and some bird watching.   There weren't many as the tide was up, which limited the number wading in the water.  We weren't disappointed though as we discovered a small group of little blue herons and snowy egrets.  Such fun to watch.

I've been experimenting with different techniques with my camera.  Here I tried to "blow out" the background so that only the bird was visible. While I like the detail in the heron I'm not happy with the background. Thankfully I have lots of time to experiment. 

On Tuesday rain was forecasted for the day. We stayed home and read. I took a few walks along the beach and did some shelling as the rain didn't amount to much. We had a short lived but beautiful sunrise again this morning as well. 

These two photo's show the underside and topside of a "brittle starfish.  This is the first time I have ever seen this.

Wednesday arrived sunny and cold. -2 with a windchill of -9c. It's the wind that makes it feel cold especially when it comes off the ocean. It was a good morning for an early walk. Just in case, I took along a bag for those beautiful shells that sometime arrive with the high tide. I wasn't disappointed. I found a few good ones. As well the sunrise was amazing at the beach as I was walking. What a beautiful way to start the day. 

I am always amazed at what I find on the beach.  Yesterday I found a water logged wallet that was emptied of its contents and a pineapple?  Where would that have come from?? Today I found 4 pairs of sunglasses in the morning and another pair in the afternoon. It's crazy how much stuff washes up on the shore. 

While walking along the beach I saw this little guy washed up. I felt bad for it so I turned it over and pulled it back into the ocean.  It might a small stingray?  We're not sure. Shelling was good and I found a few more whelk's.  It must be the right time of year to find them.  

On Thursday morning I was up early and ready to take a few sunrise photos.  I really enjoyed going to the beach to take the shots so I decided to do that again this morning as the colours seemed very promising.  I wasn't disappointed.  It was cold though at -4c but there wasn't much wind making it easier to stay out.  After taking a few shots I thought I would walk along the front of the beach near our condo. I had met John and Grace and they started walking the opposite way looking for shells.  I don't normally stay by the condo as I find there is always lots of people walking there and I prefer to be on my own. I'm glad that I walked where I did as I found a few beautiful shells.  I sure was happy.  I guess the colder temperature kept people inside this morning.  

We stayed home today to listen to the funeral service from Robbie Dehaan (Wilf's brother). It was a very heartfelt and moving service.  It is so nice when the Minister actually knows the person he is talking about.  It was so personal and showed how much he was loved by his family and the home where he lived.  Rest In Peace Robbie.  You are with the Lord now.

In the afternoon we went to Huntington.  It turned out to be a beautiful day and we spent a couple of hours enjoying the birds.  What a great day we had!!

Common Loon

Friday morning started as a dull and cloudy day. The temperature wasn't bad sitting at around 7c. Sadly the beach was groomed and all the shells were gathered up. All I could find was broken pieces. We golfed this afternoon at Tradition.  The sky cleared and it was nice and sunny. I was even brave enough to wear a skirt.  The wind was chilly though and I don't think it got much warmer than 16 or 17c.  We had a fun round.

The temperature has continued to drop and we were advised to be prepared for a cold weekend.  I dressed up nice and warm for my walk this morning. There were lots of shells on the beach and I found a beautiful starfish.  We're planning to go out for dinner this evening to "celebrate" Christmas.  We had planned this last year already.  We're going to a restaurant called 42nd St Bar and Grill.

Dinner was really delicious. It's a place I would recommend and go to again. We all had amazing meals. 

On Sunday morning we woke up to a very chilly morning. I was thankful that we had clear skies and that the day warmed up a bit in the afternoon. It was definitely a hat and gloves kind of day. 

We've had a really nice and relaxing time so far and we look forward to the next week. The weather looks more promising even though they are calling for rain.  Most of the time it doesn't amount to much.  We have a couple of rounds planned as well which we are am looking forward to.