Sunset walk and bird ballet

With early morning temperatures that are already too warm for black long-haired dogs, our daily walks now wait until the sun is putting itself to bed. After the extreme heat of the afternoon, the cooler night air brings out not only humans and canines, but the birds as well.

(These aren't the greatest photos - I seem to be having trouble with the settings on my camera, which continually tell me I have to use a tripod even when I am just taking ordinary photos in ordinary light. It never used to do that, so I'm not sure what settings I have changed to bring this about. You can see the photos better by clicking on them to enlarge, then using the back browser to return to the blog.)

Our stroll along the seawalk as the tide is on the turn provides some interesting shots - from humans and their dogs who appear to be walking a briny balance beam...

Walking on water



...to seagulls who pull crabs and herring and seaweed from the shallow waters...

Bird and Boat


...to a trio of herons doing aerial acrobatics in the cool night air:

Heron acrobatics

I watch the sun go down and manage to capture the heron in flight. In the second shot, the cargo ship behind him is being loaded at the mill, which is actually quite a distance away - I was surprised how close it appeared.

Heron silhouette

Heron and Cargo ship

I try to get Charley and Sadie to pose on the beach, but Sadie is much more interested in nosing around in the shells in the hopes of finding a tasty morsel of oyster or crab or prawn.

Nom nom nom


We watch the sun turn the sky to crimson, and slowly make our way back home as night falls.

Golden Sunset