Fort Pickens Photo day...

I left my good camera in the car today once I reached Fort Pickens as there were rain showers all around. I'll get better Blue Angels photos this weekend when they have their official show practice, and their Saturday show. I did get a lot of random shots with my old Canon...



A vigilant least tern (Sternula antillarum) was defending the entire colony in the Fort Pickens road corridor (since there is no road in places, there is a defined area that traffic must use). There were only two nests in there, but she did a valiant job of keeping them safe!



A freshly hatched (within 24 hours, I would guess) snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) chick listened to mom's danger call and ran off, while mom displayed to distract our attention from her chick and her hatching egg. I didn't stay long enough to get a better photo because I wanted her to go back to her nest as soon as I'd checked it.



This killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) was sitting on a known nest when we walked by to see if it was still there. Like all killdeer, she does a great broken wing dance! I love their Latin name -- it's so appropriate as they call incessantly and loudly when chicks or eggs are about. Maybe it's not such a good idea to advertise the fact.



She went back to her eggs quickly, to shade them from the mid-day sun. What a great mama!



In all, it was a wonderful day at Fort Pickens. The lovely flowers, wee chicks and unhatched eggs everywhere made me think it was still spring.



There were so many great pictures I missed today, and so many that could have been better if I had my new camera. It's not worth risking it on a rainy day!



It's amazing how random rain can be at times -- look at the sharp wall here between sunshine and downpour.