Monday, Monday...

I started off early, before sunrise by about 45 minutes. I was quite surprised at the amount of traffic on the freeway at this hour at the beginning of the week! It was around 6/6:15 a.m. on a Monday morning. Don't fret...I had both of my hands grasping the steering wheel, and the camera mounted on the dash, with the timer set to count down by seconds. Seriously, most any other given day at that hour, the traffic is pretty non-existent. I don't know what brought on the large amount for so early in the morning. Anyway, I was naturally headed to the beach for a sunrise photo op....since the clouds were broken. By the time I got to the island it was still a mix of clouds and clearing. I was headed to Whitecap Beach. Over the JFK causeway bridge, dropping down onto Padre Island, then driving about 4-5 miles further south to the intersection taking me to the Gulf of Mexico. Here, there is a slew of hotels and apartments lining the coast, a large parking lot for the locals to park for the day and walk the seawall, the jetty, or head toward the pier that is about 3 miles down along the sandy shore. When I arrived, the parking lot was quiet, lots o' cars, but no other humans walking around like zombies. Once I got to the seawall, lights were seen on the horizon. It was kinda dark, still, on the horizon, and the lone object was of interest to me. I turned on my camera again, and put use of the zoom lens. It was a ship. I don't know what kind of ship, but a ship none the less.



I was a bit disappointed in the sky directly above the horizon, yet the clouds above ME were perfect for a gorgeous color show of fire.   As I walked along the beach, with intentions of at least a 5 mile hike, I now know where everyone was .... they all had their cameras aimed at the sky for the lights to be turned on. Eventually they [and I] were rewarded. A beautiful sunrise afterall.

Along the beach, I didn't see too many waterbirds. Sanderlings, Willets, and tons of gulls [laughing, herring, and ring billed]. One tern and one G B heron. Several Brown Pelicans flying the sky and soaring along the wave crests in search for food. The laughing gulls were putting on quite a performance courting, mating, all dressed in their breeding plumage colors! I got pictures which I'll show in a continued series of posts. By the way, I found the LARGEST moon jellyfish I have ever seen!!! Usually the ones I see often enough are about the size of a saucer. This one was at least 12 inches in diameter...a large serving plate!! In order to show you in comparison, I put my hand in front of it and took a 2nd photo...

I will continue this trek along the coastal bend in another post. The wildlife seen and a bit of gull porn. And then a 3rd installment of the sunrise thru my zoom lens.