The Golden Hour

This morning I left before 7 a.m. to go on my morning walk. Now that my leg is healing up (strained/pulled muscle) I can, again, get in my normal walk. I got into the habit of walking in the morning as it is relatively quiet, with a few people leaving for work, the children have not yet gone to school. There are usually only one or two people running or walking their dogs.

The weather report claimed there was light rain in my area, but I only saw piles of rain clouds sitting off the coast and to the south. As the sun began to rise higher, the clouds were limned with a golden hue, eventually turning white or grayish white. Other than the distant clouds, the skies were a light Robin’s egg blue with a large waning moon lowering into the western skies.

The birds are quite active early in the morning, dominated right now by black birds, noisy Grackles, the occasional mud hen, white ibis, mottled duck, feral Muscovy ducks, loud geese, woodpeckers, Egrets, Anhingas, and the occasional Great Blue Heron. I even watch a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks a couple of days ago, in one of our local ponds. Apparently, they have moved on.

I’m just going to put up some of my bird photographs from other forays into the various SE Florida wetlands; nothing is current.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that little foray into the secret lives of Florida birds. There are over 200 species of beautiful and unusual birds who make their home in Florida. Fortunately, feathers are no longer popular additions to women’s hats… the causal factor behind many birds being brought nearly to the point of extinction — fashion. Purely nonsensical in my book.

Anyway, Florida has many nature preserves, national forests, one national park (the Everglades), state forests and state parks that are preserving the last great open spaces of the peninsula. It is an interesting place that draws many people due to the mild climate and its beaches.

Years ago I would never have consciously chosen to live in Florida, yet here I am. The summer approaches with temperatures moving into the 80’s in late April. The start of hurricane season is just around the corner (officially June 1st) and Southern Florida is actually suffering from a prolonged drought. We could use a few tropical storms just for the water they bring. Hurricane season is also the rainy season… let it rain!

Enjoy your day/evening wherever you may be in the world.

Eliza

(c) All Rights Reserved, all photos by Eliza Ayres, http://www.bluedragonjournal.com and https://sunnysjournal.com