A visit from Woody

Do you remember the Woody the Woodpecker cartoons? I certainly do so it was a thrill to get a visit from old Woody himself today. 

Actually this beauty is a pileated woodpecker and according to the Cornel Lab of Ornithology it is "one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Listen for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood."

Well, Woody here was whacking on one of the trees in my front yard and hopefully he found a tidbit to eat before a mockingbird started dive bombing and chased it away. 
In case you want to reminisce... give a listen here. I've been whistling it all afternoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PWcc3y_NlY

Everyone on their post

There are several large pilings that mark the line between our vehicular traffic beach and that which is designated a natural habitat area where no vehicles are allowed. Occasionally you will see a gull perched on one of the pilings. However, this morning each one of the giant pilings had it own very sentry... Royal Tern sentries, in fact.

Silly but I thought it made an interesting display on such a picture perfect day.

(Again, you can click on the photo to make it large enough to see the detail.)

Perfect beginning

The sunrise was spectacular, the waves were inviting and it was a perfect 70º with a gentle breeze. Was I grateful to be able to savor every second of this? You bet I was! 

Since I can't share it ALL, I can at least share this photo of the sun and the waves. Enjoy!

FIRE!

If I'd been looking at a forest I would have thought this morning's sunrise was a forest fire! It took my breath away in its blazing beauty.

 Over the next hour the progression was just as stunning.

Lest I forget... scenes like these remind me

why I enjoy starting my day with the rising sun.

Happy final day of March!

.

And the following day...

Another glorious start to the day. Different but just as awe inspiring as yesterday's glory hallelujah.

Yes, I DO know how lucky I am to be able to see the sunrise on the beach every day.

Glorious start

I like to call this a glory hallelujah kind of sunrise. A great start to ANY day.

A picture is certainly worth a thousand words here.

Royal Banding

In the winter our beaches are home to many migratory birds — both the human and the feathered kind — each coming to enjoy our warm sunshine. 

Among my feathered favorites are the Royal Terns. They are delightfully vocal and sometimes appear to be scolding each other. In fact they remind me of the human species where one is scolding and the other studiously paying no attention. Forgive the amateurish video but this gives you an idea of what I mean.

However, what intrigued me today was several of the Royal Terns had bands on their legs. I'd never noticed this before and had to find out what I could. Apparently their breeding and nesting grounds are along the coast of North Carolina and Virginia and several scientific groups band the young before they begin their migration south. Most end up on the east and west coasts of Florida and some have even been tracked as far away as the Dominican Republic. Here are couple of the cuties with their gleaming silver bands. Most on the right foot and only one I saw had his on the left. 

So, if you just pay attention, you are likely to learn something new every day.