Birds and space rockets

"I need an eagle in my life everyday.  Some days I need an extra eagle."         Jeemer

GOOD MORNING GOD!!

It's nice to see the temperatures finally warming up a bit… Things are moving along quite smoothly here on the intracoastal waterway

Glory Days continues to putter along at a slow pace taking it all in.  I would like to have a little more wind but I know I need to be careful what I wish for.  Two little wind is typically better then far too much. 

Here's a few things discovered along the way

Ospreys need their breakfast too… It was amazing to watch this guy soar through the air with the fish in his talons

Snowy egrets form a fine formation

I passed the lighthouse at the Ponce de Leon inlet…

This is the drawbridge at Haulout Canal. This is a unique little place where I stayed for two days fishing and taking pictures of birds

Osprey… Sometimes called the fishhawk.  Sometimes mistaken as an eagle.

Just fishing with grandpa along the waterway

This is what you DONT want

This is what you DO want. Dolphins cavorting In a feeding frenzy while gulls recover the scraps

I SO wanted to sit under this Tiki hut umbrella as I cruised right by

White pelicans tend to linger in groups along mud flats

I stopped my boat right in the middle of the ICW to go into this bait shop. The locals were extremely friendly… I don't think they've ever seen a sailboat tied up to their dock just to buy a little shrimp bait

Typical scene along the way… Kayakers , fisherman ,boaters, birds, clear skies

Entering the rookery…

White Ibis

Rosette spoonbill

Chatty white pelicans

There's always lots of activity in this rookery… I passed it last summer and vowed to return in a different season to see what different types of birds might be there

No one seem to mind that I parked my 33 foot boat overnight at the boat launch pier…

The next morn, I departed Haulover Canal early, Jan. 20, and traveled over a huge open bay that was smooth as glass… I glided freely over prismic waters into promising plaines as I approached Titusville.  It was magical. 

It seems there was a bit of serendipity in the air because unbeknown to me there would be a NASA rocket launch at 8:04 this evening.  So I soon arrived in Titusville, dropped the hook at 1 pm, and settled in for a nice long nap before the launch…. a short dinghy trip into town yielded a few groceries and a nice southwestern salad at a local cafe… I'm must a stranger in your town walking the street with a 10 day beard.  Feels good.

That night was extremely calm on the hook as you can see here. I had spent an hour at dusk setting up 3 cameras, tripods and gear for what I thought would be a great photo op of the launch… But alas, the launch happened so quick and my nighttime photo skills are a bit lame… tsk tsk… no worries.

I did manage to get this shot tho as the rocket lifted off and lit up the entire sky… it was pretty powerful thing to witness.   Funny thing, all the birdlife must've been confused or startled by it all because they woke from their slumber and started shrieking and cackling like the world was about to end when the sky lit up at night… 

When the roaring sounds finally subsided and the earth stopped trembling from the rocket launch, things seemed to return to normal… birds must've thought it was a bad dream that creeped them out.

That's it for now folks… I'll be taking a side trip to Port Canaveral on Wednesday to see what that's all about,,, then on to the town of Cocoa Beach… great town with a great anchorage.