Despite a thunderstorm booming right overhead at some unearthly hour I was up and about at 2:45am and out the door on my way by 3am. I stopped just down the lane away from the trees for five minutes and saw 4 of the Perseid meteors which was nice. The temperature at that time was already 73F (22.7C) with a low lying mist along the lane from the thunderstorm rain. A nice quiet low volume traffic drive down to Bombay Hook and I got there at 5:45am. Sunrise was 6:13am so I was in place where I wanted to be in plenty of time. Damn! It was a steamy though, 85F (29.4C) and even in the dark the nasty biting flies were active. My lens instantly fogged up due to the humidity but I managed to keep it clear while I was photographing. In the end I had to turn off the A/C to stop the windows from misting up. I was slowly driving around with the windows open which of course attracted all the flies. Lots of bug spray helped a little. The tide was almost in and the majority of shorebirds and egrets were distant and as the sun rose so did the heat haze which doesn't help with a long lens. I left Bombay Hook quite early to drive to a nearby retention pond to see the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. I knew I should have brought the 500mm. From there I took a trip South to Port Mahon but by this time it was 90F (32.2C) and very harsh bright light with lots of heat haze so although I took a few shots I headed home. All in all a nice early morning out.
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| Nearly Sunrise |
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| Just after sunrise |
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| Halberd-leaved Rosemallow (according to the Seek App on my iPhone) |
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| Black-bellied Whistling Duck |
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| Black-bellied Whistling Duck |
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| Blue Grosbeak |
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| Assorted Egrets |
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| Curious Fox |
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| Forster's Terns |
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| Great Egret |
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| young Green Heron |
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| Semipalmated Sandpiper |
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
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| Swamp Rosemallow (again according to the Seek App) |
