For Memorial Day weekend we decided to head out to the nearby beaches since we both enjoy walking on the beach. I was looking forward to taking photos and Richard liked the idea of eating at one of our favorite beach restaurants, the Conch Republic, a casual seafood restaurant.
If you happen to be near Reddington or Madeira Beach, stop in for lunch or dinner and if all you crave is a Mojito and some of their awesome fish spread or peel and eat shrimp - go anytime.
I like their logo so much, one year I bought T-shirts as souvenir gifts for my friends.
Their outside patio floor is made of deep sand and seashells.
Their building colors always make me think of, "It's five o'clock somewhere":)
and in fact they do play a lot of Jimmy Buffett.
Their only other restaurant location is in Key West, Florida
Yup - that grouper is fresh!
I don't know what it is, but ever since gather had their birdwatching photo essay contest, I see birds everywhere.
No kidding - there was a guest who brought his cockatoo...
.... then I noticed this little beggar coming around for crumbs ... 
Two Mojitos and a shrimp dinner later, we are off to our beach walk.
The rainy season here in Florida came early this year and the sky looks strange. I saw my first sea fog on the horizon, but we remained undaunted by the weather.
Given that it is a holiday weekend the beach was not as crowded as we feared. We walked for awhile before we saw the first seabirds.
(This pic was taken at the same beach a few months ago, but for some reason the algae was gone this time.)
These rocks are the same, yet they look different every time we come here, so I always take a photo of the rocks.
In stretches we almost had the beach to ourselves.
Seagulls
Next thing I know Richard is asking, "Are you getting that?"
Heck, no, I'm blind as a bat and it took me a few moments to focus on the water, pelican, seagull and constant wave action.
The Seagull is riding the Pelican in hopes of getting some of the fish.
What a sight ...:)
We watched the pelican expertly catch a couple of fish and ...
off he flew ...
We wandered off too and
look what we found ...
We're still guessing what this may be ...
We like to watch all the surfers,
fishermen, swimmers and kite flyer's
on this beach.
Today, the pelicans steal the show.
Preening ...
In twosomes ...
... and even threesomes ...
Flapping those wings ...
or - well, I'm not sure what they are doing here.
Fascinating creatures these pelicans. He looked so cool I couldn't resist editing the photo above - merely cropped and color enhanced.
I think they are all presentable now:)
Our walk turned into an interesting afternoon and evening,
not just because there was a band of sea fog at the horizon and the sky looked strange ...
The band you see right above the ocean is created by sea fog.
... but, we found a colony of shore birds nesting and encountered one of the prettiest water birds I've seen - yet.
For now I will leave you with two last shots of the pretty scenery to enjoy.
We left about the time the sun penetrated the clouds,
the golden hour before sunset.
Thank you for coming along to see the beach and the pelicans!
TO BE CONTINUED ... for now I'm off to a little Memorial Day BBQ get-together with friends.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend everyone!
All images copyright 2009 Rose H.
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Comments: 37
Wow, wonderful photos!
Rose I love all of your photos, your new camera really takes such sharp photos and with your fingers on the trigger you really get some fantastic shots. I love the capture of the seagull riding the pelican, that one is just too funny.
Fantastic, just fantastic, and an absolute delight for eyes! I think you should publish your own photo album, dear Rose! :-)
Blessings and best wishes - S.
What great photos. It looks like a fantastic place.
That is a really great pictorial and textual essay, and you have many great shots -- especially the pelicans.
George - thank you:) The pelicans were a delight to photograph even if they didn't hold still for a minute. I confess I enjoy taking my readers along for the stroll and I enjoy sharing a good restaurant find.
that is a whelk egg case....each little thingy holds many teeny-tiny mini 'whelks', (babies) that grow to big shells! i have some of those that were washed up from tears ago.....its so awesome!
Robyn - thanks for the info - I'll look it up. It sure looked like snake skin or eel skin at first.
As usual, on my stupid dial-up connection, only a few of your photos downloaded to see them... Cripes... Anyhoo, I want to know about the "Gather bird photo contest". I never heard of it. Do tell!
Jean - I wondered why you of all people didn't take part in it. The contest was to win a truly excellent bird book - Birds of North America and I believe a $50 giftcard or American Express.
They asked for submitting your best birdwatching photo essay. Nana of sevencutiepies won. The group was the parenting group.
DK Publishing also ran a separate contest just for the book where all you had to do was comment and they randomly picked a name.
Look for my e-mail! (tomorrrow:)
Gorgeous photo essay Rose. I read in a comment that you have a new camera. Which one did you get?
Thank you for posting your photo at Pretty Pictures.
Kat - it's not entirely new. I got it for Christmas and I've been experimenting with all it's features ever since. I think I really still need a photography class. At any rate - love my camera - Olympus SP-565-UZ. I plan on getting a lens for it at some point and I want to learn how do do panorama shots with it.
I've still got plenty to learn.:) - meanwhile I've also started playing with picnik.com and I downloaded photofiltre, but haven't used it yet.
Gorgeous photos! The seagull on the pelican is too funny... silly birds!
And yep, that wierd thingy is an egg case :)
now those are some awesome pictures!
What a wonderful photo essay. That is exactly the kind of restaurant we love to look for. My husband would have had the conch chowder, it is a favorite of his. Love the water, love the birds...the perfect way to spend a day.
Oh wow, this is awesome Rose. I just love that restaurant, what a neat place. Those pelicans are beautiful and you have such wonderful shots of them. Love the seagull hopping a ride, that's just too much. What treasures you have found on the beautiful beach in your neighborhood. Thanks for sharing these wonderful scenes.
This is featured in my group and Thanks for posting to Animal & Nature photos, videos and posts.
Nana - THANK YOU so much for the feature!:)
BTW - I think that unidentified object is a snake skin that a snake has shed. I saw some of these up the mountains in the pond and was told that's what it was.
So maybe it is an eel skin or some sort of snake like creature that lives in the ocean.
We thought it was eel skin or maybe a snake skin too, but Robyn F. is right - these turned out to be whelk eggs - babies that grow into shells.
Amazing, the things you learn on gather.
I should have read the comments:( It is amazing how much information and knowledge is available from our friends here. Thanks.
What wonderful photo's Rose, I loved them all. I laughed out loud at the Pelican resting his head on his own back - that was just too funny to me! Enjoy your bbq!
Your essays are always great!
Rose, These are fabulous photos! Thanks for sharing your superb day with us. Lunch at the Conch? I'd be too busy looking at the delightful decor and the view to eat. Great gymnastics displayed by the pelicans. What a lovely time you had.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments - they are all appreciated!
Rose great shots! Was the white bird friendly? I adore your palm tree shot against the peachy wall, great color! The mossy rock is phenomenal as is the Pelican with it's head tilted back and the sunset shot. What great work! I enjoyed them very much.
Congratulations on being featured on ~Gather Photographers and Photo Shop Artists Review~
Spartan - THANK YOU so much for the feature - I am honored!
I have many wonderful and fond memories from my High School days surfing and skim boarding at Redington and Maderia Beach. People who think you can't surf on the West Coast of Florida are...wrong! Back in the ancient days of my youth there was a "Teen Club" on Maderia Beach called "The Surfer's Club" that we frequented every weekend that we were not on the other coast surfing at Cocoa Beach!
Superb photo essay Rose!!! I love their logo also, what a neat Tshirt that would be. I especially loved the sea gull hitching a ride, I've never seen that before ;-)
And love that cropped pelican photo...looks like yoga to me ;-)
That is a great logo. I love natural floors and ground cover- it's neat that they didn't go with plain old concrete.
The building looks like a sunset- it's awesome!
A Cockatoo on a leash...how cute. That isn't a sight here in PA ever. Birds are such great companions. I love all of your bird photos. The Pelican resting his head on his back is so cool.
What a strange thing to find. I'm glad that you figured out what it was. How weird! I've never heard of anything like that before.
Hope your BBQ went well!
oh my gosh... your photos always blow me away... fantastic shots of these birds and nice commentary... LOL... i love to come along on your exciting journeys... thank you for always sharing... much love and hugs...
Absolutely stunning photo essay! You made me want to pack my bags and head to the beach myself. Aren't pelicans amazing? To be so prehistoric looking, they are most graceful. Thank you for taking me on this beach trip.
Thanks for sharing!
Looks amazing. Wish I was at the beach...
Very nice! Love, love, love the ones of the pelicans!!!
Gorgeous photos