Vacation

We picked a rainy, hot, and humid time to visit Virginia's Eastern Shore.  Sunday, before we left, I admired the hibiscus flowers and the spider web.  In Cape Charles I saw a pair of osprey circling, a mockingbird, and a couple of buzzards.  A saddlebags dragonfly cruised up the main street but my photos missed it..  By the time we arrived, the sky suggested a storm was brewing.  On Monday we drove around Chincoteague.  The road to get there looked like it was only a foot or two above high tide.  Low tide revealed oyster beds around the island.  Laughing gulls and egrets were everywhere.  We discovered that NASA Wallops is powered by a field of solar panels.  The dregs of Chantel passed through adding to the humidity. 

At lunch Tuesday, we watched what I think was a white ibis probing creek mud for goodies.  Small dragonflies congregated in the vegetation along the creek.  We had good weather for a boat trip around Chincoteague and Assateague.  The ride was a bit choppy but the wind was a relief from the humidity.  Oystercatchers loafed on the oyster reefs.  Island ponies grazed near the saltmarsh.  Egrets and cormorants joined the gulls.  An eagle sat on a stump.  Swallows darted through the air.  Dolphins swam in the strait between islands.  A thunderstorm held off till evening.   

The bed and breakfast where we stayed had some garden pools and I surprised a frog.  On the way home, we stopped at a plant nursery and I saw a red admiral, skippers, and a digger wasp on the flowers.  We had lunch in Onancock.  Jellyfish were pulsating beside the wharf.   When we reached the CBBT, there were large birds atop some light poles, that I think were eagles.  The weather was horribly hot at home and the pool water had dropped too low.  Apparently none of the rain on our vacation fell at home.   A Carolina wren visited the no melt suet.  The spider relocated to a safer spot.  I saw a monarch hanging around the butterfly milkweed.  K reported that a hive of some sort took up residence in a bush between the driveway and the sidewalk.  

Eastern Shore

Before I left, there was a downy woodpecker on the suet.

On the way over the CBBT, flotillas of dark ducks bobbed on the waves near the tunnel islands.  The wind tore spray off huge waves where the currents met.  Others in the car saw dolphins riding the waves.  Bits of ice fell from the sky but didn't stick as the temperature was several degrees above freezing.

Our morning meeting went well. The sleet had stopped by lunch time but the wind was still rough.  We went to a seafood place where I had conch fritters.  But then the afternoon meeting was delayed an hour. 

As we returned home, the setting sun colored a thin streak of overcast.  I saw two deer but they were barely visible in the shadow of forest.  Gulls, mostly great blackbacks, rode the thermals off the bridge asphalt. I saw a lighted fishing trawler in the distance.   It was quite dark when we reached land and dispersed.

Back home

The weather has been lovely for our trip.  I have about 250 photos, but I did not manage to capture the two dolphins I saw from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel this afternoon.  They were between Fisherman's Island and the Chesapeake Channel tunnel.  A sunflower greeted us at home and the argiope is still with us - she's made a fourth egg sac!

While on the road, I twice thought I saw a groundhog, but couldn't be sure.  I did see a hawk on a post this morning in New Jersey. 

Report from San Diego

Hummingbirds were frequenting the bird-of-paradise flowers around the convention center and the palm trees were bursting into bizarre bloom - dangling pink and magenta strings. I can find pictures on the net that match but none seem to be identified beyond "palm tree."

After the convention, we went whale watching. (Of course I'd left the camera back in Virginia.) While waiting for the crew, we saw what I think was a willet, a bufflehead, and mallards of course.

On the sailboat, we were lucky enough to intercept several migrating California gray whales who spouted and sounded for most of an hour. Their tail flukes are very rounded, not pointy like the classic picture. Coming back we ran into lots of dolphins and then saw sea lions on a floating platform. It was the most successful such trip I've ever been on, and being with just a few others on a small sail boat was great. If anyone has the opportunity, I highly recommend Sail San Diego.