Navarre Beach Trip - Sunday, August 30, 2020

This has been such a strange year.  The COVID-19 pandemic has cancelled countless vacation plans, forced us both to switch to teleworking full time, eliminated most in-person social opportunities, and expanded online shopping as we all try to stay home as much as possible to decrease spread of this virus.  But after five months, we needed to find a way to get away as safely as possible.  So we booked a room at our favorite hotel right on Navarre Beach (one of the quieter beaches on the gulf within driving distance of our home) for weekdays after the start date of most schools in the south.

It wasn't as quiet as we had hoped and the hotel parking lot reflected a very geographically diverse group of tourists from Colorado to Michigan to New York and Pennsylvania and everything in between.  And people on vacation (or maybe the type most likely to vacation during a pandemic) are in general a bit lax on mask wearing and such.  But we were able to generally stay far away from other people.

We left home Sunday morning with plans to stop at the Gulf Breeze Zoo before checking into the hotel.  This Zoo is a really unique zoo in that a large portion of it is only accessible by train and for that portion, the train drives right through the exhibits with ducks and animals regularly crossing the tracks.

Sometimes the most interesting animals in a zoo are the animals that choose to make it their home and are free to come and go.  This great blue heron was sitting on the edge of the pond just feet from our train as we passed it.  It must have been used to the trains passing by because it didn't even flinch and didn't seem too concerned with how close we were.

As we were getting ready to leave I spotted this green heron perched on the edge of the turtle pond.  We saw him catch a fish or something and then eventually flew over to the duck pond and found a spot in the trees.

This snowy egret, a common Florida egret, was sitting in the duck pond.  

I suppose zoos can be a great source of both food and protection (as long as they pick the right exhibit to make their home).

There were also a few interesting animals that actually belonged there.

This rhea was sitting on a nest of eggs.

There is something about pink birds that always catch my eye.  Here is a scarlet ibis.

This Scottish Highland Cow knows how to cool off on a hot summer day - stand directly over the sprinkler!

Flamingos - another pink bird

These Axis Deer keep their spots for life.

After the Zoo, we picked up some food at a local grocery store and checked in to our hotel, the Springhill Suites Navarre Beach.  We were able to get a balcony suite over looking the island.  Here is our view.

I stepped out on the beach for a few minutes before relaxing and eating supper in the room and then we headed out to catch the sunset which did not disappoint.

Laughing gull - black and white photo

Laughing Gulls - What's so funny?

Sanderling

Willet

Sanderling

Photo curtesy of my husband - you can see me with my tripod in the far right of the photo

Navarre Beach Trip - Monday, August 31, 2020

After a busy day yesterday, we decided to take it easy this morning.  It was a perfect morning to enjoy coffee and breakfast leisurely on the balcony.  Because of COVID-19, our hotel didn't have their full hot breakfast but had breads and pastries, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, coffee and juice which was enough.  

Then we headed out to the beach.  I decided to try something a little different this time and not drag along my big DSLR camera, so the few photos I did take this morning are all from my iPhone.  

We walked about 1.5 miles down the beach, away from all the hustle and bustle of condos and hotels and found a quiet part of the beach where we could lay out.  We tried using the cheap umbrella we had just bought at the grocery store but within moments, the wind picked it up and took it down the beach.  If a kind gentleman hadn't stopped it, we never would have caught back up with it.

A black skimmer with a group of laughing gulls

A couple laughing gulls practicing social distancing

Here is a small crab that was playing peek-a-boo with my husband as he lay out.  So my husband named him Timmy and took a short video of him.  We kept seeing glimpses of larger crabs but never could get a photo of one.

Sandpipers

The Navarre Beach Fishing Pier - the longest fishing pier in Florida

Our hotel

With dew points in the upper 70s and highs in the 80s, mid day gets pretty oppressive outside so we took the chance to enjoy some down time in the room with plans to get back out to the pool or beach again when the sun was a lot lower in the sky.

We went back down to the beach during the golden hour, before sunset to try and get some more bird photos but a 76 degree dew point with a temperature of 83 degrees created some humidity issues with my lens that took a lot longer than normal to defog.  So I will end today's post here and enjoy the gulf breeze on our balcony as the last light of the day fades away.

Tomorrow we go home, but not before trying to figure out where all the pelicans hang out so I can photograph them.  So far I have only seen them flying in the sky at a distance.

Navarre Beach Trip - Tuesday, September 1, 2020

 We set the alarm early so we could be on the beach in time to catch the sunrise.  With a dew point of 79 degrees and a temperature of 82 degrees, I made sure to put my camera equipment on the balcony to acclimate while we got ready.  And even with doing that it took a while on the beach until the lens was fully defogged!

The clouds are what made this morning's sunrise especially beautiful.

Once the sun was up, we stuck around to photograph the birds and crabs in the beautiful golden light.

Laughing Gull

A tern - I think it is a Sandwich Tern

Brown Pelicans

Sandwich Tern - Just before he grabs a fish from the water

Great Blue Heron

Laughing Gull
Ready!

Set!

Go!

Wilson's Plover and a Sanderling

Wilson's Plover and a Sanderling

Wilson's Plover and a Sanderling

Wilson's Plover and a Sanderling

Little crabs like this one burrow in the sand.  You never know when one is going to pop up and say hi.

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Then we grabbed some breakfast and went back to the room to enjoy a leisurely breakfast on the balcony.  There wasn't as much of a breeze and the humidity was high but I still loved sipping a cup of coffee in the salty air near the gulf.

Before heading out of town and back home, we made one more stop at the Navarre Beach Marine Park which has some walkways out to the beach on the Sound side of the island.  Here the water is calmer and the beaches are less crowded.  I only encountered one family as I was walking along but discovered quite a few new species of birds (well new to me at least!).  

Willet

Greater Yellowlegs

Short-billed Dowitcher and a Greater Yellowlegs

Short-billed Dowitchers and a Great Yellowlegs

Short-billed Dowitches

Great Egret hiding in the grass reaching for something...

Reddish Egret (white morph)

Reddish Egret (white morph)

This might be a Solitary Sandpiper but I am not completely sure.

Great Blue Heron

Juvenile Black Skimmer

Juvenile Black Skimmer - practicing yoga?

Juvenile Black Skimmer

Laughing Gulls

I had hoped to photograph a pelican or two here but only saw one, flying over, after putting my camera away on my walk back to the restrooms.

It was so good to get away for a few days.  Unfortunately, now it is time to get back to reality.  I'll just have to starting dreaming of our next trip to the beach.