An oystercatcher couple were feeding along the shoreline right when I walked out on the beach.

Upclose. He was digging pretty deep.

A dowitcher also digging for food.

It was dig deep day at the beach. Even the ibis were doing it.

A snowy egret cruising for tiny fish.

Turtle nests were everywhere at the park. I’ve never seen so many nests there before. The rangers keep them roped off and has even relocated a nest if the turtle lays the eggs right in the middle of a main tourist area. Taken with my Iphone. Update – on 7/20, the park reported having 86 turtle nests there. This is a record!

A busy day for some photographers. I think they were shooting a great blue heron. When you fly down from across the country, you’re out there concentrating and getting the most for your day. Kind of like what I did when I was in Arizona for vacation. Every day was packed. It’s nice to know I can stop by here for a leisure stroll and get pictures if I happen to see something fun. The guy in the bright blue shirt is the famous photographer, Moose Peterson. I have his book Captured and love it. I stayed away from his group since I knew they were busy but I have chatted with him before in the parking lot a few years ago.

Before I left the park, I stopped by the fishing pier to see if anything interesting was going on. There’s always snowy egrets chasing after dropped bait fish.

A great blue heron staring down at me from the shelter.

Someone had asked me how I had gotten the close up pictures of the bird’s face looking down at me. I took the above with my Iphone. There are several rain shelters on the pier and the birds hang out on the roof. You can walk right up to the edge of the roof and they stare down at you. They want to know if you’re going to throw them some food or fish.

Crazy cormorant on the light post was giving me a big yawn.

Overhead, a frigatebird flies by.

“Sailing takes me away…”

Off into the wild blue yonder! The view from the end of the pier.

Another perfect hot sunny morning at Fort Desoto park.

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