I set the alarm early this morning again but couldn't convince my husband to get up with me. I can't blame him. It was 33*F this morning and on my walk back after the sun had come up, I noticed frost had covered the grass. But it was really worth it. The clouds made for a dramatic sunrise and due to the temperatures steam rose off the gulf.
Palm trees and frost on the grass
This morning we decided to drive over to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. It was moved to a new location in the fall of 2019 and so seems quite new. They have quite a few animals for a small zoo with a large pond in the middle.
Ring-tailed Lemur
Swan
Tiger
An Eagle flew over while we were visiting the zoo
I think these are some type of geese.
A flock of American Robins - Is it spring already?
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Great Egret - Probably a neighbor taking advantage of the zoo's pond
An airplane flying over caught this egret's attention
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a small parking lot on the edge of the Gulf Shores State Park and took a short walk.
Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Mockingbird
Along the road that borders Gulf Shores State Park, we saw something quite unusual - a 26 mph speed limit sign.
Late afternoon, we headed back to the beach. Our goal had been to sit and listen to the waves for a couple hours through sunset but the clouds completely disappeared and the wind had really picked up making it quite cold. So we watched the Brown Pelicans fish for a while (which was so fun). And then when they moved on, we picked up our chairs and headed to our warm hotel room.
These next five were taken using my new neutral density filter.
I can't believe this gull stayed still for over 20 seconds!
See the gull that could sit still and the one that couldn't
Laughing Gulls were trying to get in on the fishing with the Brown Pelicans
This Brown Pelican caught a fish
That is a Common Loon on the left - they don't look near as pretty in the winter.
See the next photo for where this dive bombing pelican lands
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