Ahhhhh......

Ahhhhh, the beautiful Gulf Coast. About seven miles of white sandy beach.

And the number of birds, and bird species, there is amazing. And not just seagulls either.

Terns (these guys), egrets, ibis, cormorants, kildares, pelicans, sandpipers, blue herons....whew, swallows, frigate birds, hawks (watch out for them), plovers......

And they are not bothered by people at all.

Whoa, dudes. They fly around all over like this, like I am not even there. And they all take off at once, like this, which can be a little unnerving. Good thing they have the latest GPS software.

Later I was in the water when a school of fish went by and the birds started dive bombing all around. I wasn't so concerned about what the birds were trying to eat. I was more concerned about what birds do after they eat.



Now if you look closely, above, you'll see a dolphin surfacing out there.

What? Look closer.


Okay, is that better? See him?

You think that's easy taking a picture of a dolphin? You think you go down there and you say "Hey dolphin, yeah you. Hold it, one, two three, hold it, hold it."

And...in this picture the dolphin is fighting...a great white shark. Yeaaahh... An incredibly rare shot. Unbelievable!


And what montage of Florida would be complete without its most ubiquitous resident - the gecko.

They skitter scatter everywhere. But, like the birds, they really aren't too fussed by people. My toes aren't too far from this little guy.

So I was able to swish him in one step. ....just kidding! It took two or three.