Summer weather is here and many folks are hitting the beach. Our flooring is down and the furniture arrived on my birthday. Got to sleep in our bed instead of the floor. On Saturday, we picked the three pups up from our friend who has been keeping them for the last five weeks. They are so happy to be home. Been so busy with the move in, have not had my dock time so I too decided to hit the beach as a bird steward again.

Our local Huguenot Park beach hosts the largest nesting colonies of Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls in Florida. The Royal Terns are still nesting on eggs or sitting on hatchling chicks as are the Laughing Gulls. Due to the heavy afternoon rains and Florida thunderstorms they have been staying in the dunes. I only saw one gull with a chick on the beach. Soon, however there will be thousands. The Brown Pelicans were there in good numbers. The overcast skies were a welcome from the sun but not the best light for capturing the birds in their true colors. One plucky Boat-tailed Grackle walked by me with a real swagger. Guess he was trying to impress the females on the beach.

Everything happens for a reason. On my way home from bird stewarding the Editor called in a frantic asking where the water shut off valve was. While installing a last piece of baseboard, the contractor busted another water pipe in the bathroom. Fortunately, the new waterproof floors held up fine and they were able to deliver our furniture the next day. My office flooring however had not been replaced and did not fare so well. Now I get new office flooring too. I will be hitting the beach more often this summer and hope to have more photos of these nesting shorebirds to share. As soon as I get all these boxes unpacked that is.

Reflections on Broward is now "Mountain Musings"

Time to hit the beach..