Sunrise at the St. Augustine Inlet

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I planned to launch the kayak before sunrise in another location today. I launched from the boat ramp at the Villano Bridge. The winds were calm. It was the kind of trip where it did not matter whether I got good pictures because the experience was amazing. I love the beautiful colors of the sunrise reflected on the water. Regis and I usually look for the gifts of the day having no expectations of what the experience will bring and being delighted with what shows up. Today was like that.

As I was leaving the area around the boat ramp, I found some dolphins frolicking in the water. I have never launched out of this boat ramp and not seen dolphins.

I saw a flock of black skimmers flying.

There was a snowy egret beautifully illuminated by the morning sun.

I have been wanting to get a picture of a bird taking off from the water in the morning sun. I got this picture today. It is a double-crested cormorant.

I stopped to watch the gulls, etc. making a raucous on a sand spit. A single picture would not do, so I pulled out my cell phone to get some video.

Remember that I am bouncing around in a kayak with these pictures. In spite of that, I managed to get this picture of a pelican flying.

As I was heading back to the launch, I found this red-breasted merganser. I have never been this close to one and I was thrilled at the opportunity.