A little boat and an orange (clementine)

The Margaret B (or possibly D, I couldn't tell) looks just like the bigger cargo boats that go to and from the gas rigs, only smaller.

Closer to shore: the water under the pier was extra murky today with lots of floaty plant bits. Also, someone lost a clementine.

Random Shorebird

Saw this bird standing on the rocks today. Don't know what it is.

The peas are flowering!

Just noticed the flowers today.

The pea plants have grown up really fast since I first noticed them at the beginning of June. Here's where they were about a month ago. They were about halfway to top of the pier bridge rail then.

And this was late last week. They're taller than the pier bridge rail now.

I think this year when it turns into lots and lots of pods, maybe I'll harvest a few and see how they do in a stir fry.

An Egret

Today there was an egret standing in the shallows next to the gazebo.

It's probably fishing. There's a lot of fish in that area.

Juvenile heron maybe?

It looks a lot like a smaller version of the great blue heron, with typical juvenile seabird coloration instead of the slate blue. I'd never seen a juvenile of these before, so, pretty cool!

The Duke Again

A closer, yet cloudier picture of the Duke. It has a sign for live bait on the back, but looks more like a family-style tourism boat than a fishing boat.

Sea Oats

On most beaches, the sea oats (the yellow frilly things) are usually sitting on top of bare sand. At the boardwalk however, the dune is completely overgrown with vegetation.

A Diving Duck

A diving duck of some sort. I think this is the same mysterious bird I saw before - only much closer this time.

The Ferry, Busily Ferrying

There are two ferries that go back and forth between here and Fort Morgan on the other side of the mouth of Mobile Bay. They do that basically all the time, but it's been a while since I posted a picture, so here's one of them now.

Another Plant

A tallish dark green plant that has popped up all over on the west end of the boardwalk area.

It's got the beginnings of white flowers at the top.

Lots and Lots of Little Fish

Today at the DISL dock, the water all around the whole dock was filled with fish. Here's the view next to the back of the RV Alabama Discovery.

There were bigger fish jumping around too, and what looked like a green pipefish. It made me wish I had a dipnet and a spare fishtank to set up. Someone with a castnet would've had a ton of bait within minutes.

Weird Plant: The Sequel

These might be the beginnings of those really weird plants I noticed last fall. A whole bunch of them have popped up since last week.

Pelican on a Channel Marker

A brown pelican standing on a channel marker. This one is right next to the coast guard station. There's another channel marker farther out, also with a pelican on it. Pelicans seem to like standing on channel markers in general.

A Six Hour Fishing Tour Boat

I've seen this one go by a couple times now. Since it was going in, and it was around noon, I guess the tour goes from 6am to noon.

My first thought upon seeing the sign painted on its side is the three-hour tour of Gilligan's Island.

The Judy D

It's been a while since I posted a picture of a boat, so here's the Judy D heading for the docks.

The Mysterious Bird

That bird I don't recognize is still hanging around, though not close enough to get any good pictures. It seems to be some sort of diving waterfowl, like a duck but with the wrong kind of bill for a duck.

In other on-the-rocks news, a laughing gull was yelling its head off at another laughing gull standing next to it, and was a real pest about it, until the other one finally regurgitated a fish and handed it over. Since they both had breeding plumage, I'd guess they were mates rather than parent/kid.

Snapper Sign

A new sign at the boat launch near the boardwalk pier. Looks like something is going on with red snapper, which I assume means Lutjanus campechanus (them's good eatin'), and not all of the other fish that are both snappers and red (ex. Rhomboplites aurorubens), or sometimes are red and get sold as snappers but actually aren't.

DISL Dock Heron

There always seems to be a great blue heron hanging out at the DISL dock. It might even be the same one.

Some Birds and Some Bright Green Algae

To the right, an egret. On top of the pole, a juvenile laughing gull. Next to the pole in the middle of the picture, a bird about the size of the egret, but not white, and too small to be a heron. Not sure what that was.

To the right of the egret, the rocks on the bay-facing side of the line has become covered with bright green algae. It's like that all over. It looks a little like moss, but that wouldn't grow in the salty bay waters. 

The egret is not pictured because this shot was actually taken yesterday. I've been super lax about actually posting my pictures lately. Will try to do better (after some minor cheating by back-filling older pictures earlier in the month...).

New Boards

Well, the yellow caution sign is gone, and they replaced the board with the hole in it, and also another one. But not the one that was sticking up (not pictured), I guess because it stopped doing that after some heavy rains soaked it back flat.

Also, another new board on the way to the pier. (It's two narrow ones together, actually.)

The one that I mentioned several months ago is also doing a fine job of blending in with the older boards now.

Many Small Flowers

This kind of yellow flower is back in bloom.

Also, the basic yellow daisy looking things. There seems to be at least a couple different species of them.

The morning glories are back and starting to take over the higher-elevated areas.

Finally: these tiny two-petal purple things. I haven't seen these before, and they're close to the edge of the boardwalk area. Not sure if they're marsh plants or grass.

Bird Poo and a Caution Sign

It looks like a whole bunch of birds decided to roost on the east side of the pier recently. The line of poo keeps going off to the right, halfway down the bridge.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the boardwalk: a hole has appeared, and someone stuck a yellow Caution sign in it.

Pontoons

Busy day at the boat launch today. There was one boat coming, one boat going, and a boat with blue pontoons just sitting there docked.

Also, the water level has been really high for the last several weeks due to all the rain we've been getting.

Some NOAA equipment

Random equipment sitting in the middle of the dunes, bearing NOAA logos. Not sure what they're for, probably monitoring something. No educational signs explaining them. No warning signs to keep away, either. They've been there for at least as long as I've been working down here. I've yet to see anyone tend to them.

Peas?

Saw some more small green plants that have started sprouting near the dead pea trees. Maybe these are the new peas?

Going to watch these all year now, just to see what they do. :)

The Duke

I've seen this boat go back and forth several times now, so I guess it warrants mention now. Must be part of the summer boating tourism season.

Burrs

It's been warm long enough now that Sticky Seeds season seems to have started back up. After every walk, I have to check my shoes and get these off before I go inside. Otherwise, I end up stepping on them while wandering around in my office in socks.

They're a pain in the neck. Or, more often, under the fingernails.

Snails

The water level has been really high lately. (By coincidence, we've also had a lot of storms in the past few weeks.) The plants that are right by the water line, and currently in the water, were covered with periwinkles (small snails).

Lots of Little Boats

Summer boating season seems to have started. There were lots of little boats going in and out from the docks today.

A couple fishing boats. Not pictured: a larger boat that said "6 hour fishing tour" on its side.

One of the small commercial boats that say "PILOT" on the side. These dock in the same place as the big vessels like Gulf Glory and MS Joy.

A Snake

... or possibly a legless amphibian. It was in the middle of running away while I was taking its picture.

An Otter Trawl

The back of the R/V Alabama Discovery with an otter trawl set up on the A-frame. Otter trawl is the most common way to collect a bunch of random fish from the middle of the water column for educational purposes.

So basically what happens is that the trawl comes up with fish in that green net currently on the table, and then they dump all the fish onto the table to look at.

And then when they're done looking, just put the fish back overboard.

Two Kinds of Spartina and Possible Peas

The plant in front has darker green, wider leaves than most of the Spartina along the boardwalk. And there's lots of other ones around there that look like that, so it's not just a fluke. Must be a different species.

Meanwhile, a candidate plant for future peas? The central stem is pretty woody. There's lots of these around where the dead pea trees are. I still think that's an awful lot of energy to expend on building a structure that large and stout for only one year, but then, I'm neither a plant nor a botanist.

Two Gulls on the Same Post

Two laughing gulls standing on the same post. That's a new one on me. They usually chase each other off, and the biggest bird wins. I'd guess these must be mates.