A Laughing Gull

Here's a closeup of a laughing gull on a post. A lot of the other ones on the rocks are sitting in pairs. I guess nesting season is about to start.

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere

The whole boardwalk area is covered with these white flowers right now.

Also, purple flowers - the same kind as from a month ago, but now there's a lot more of them.

And also these yellow ones that started blooming weeks before the purple ones.

Ducks (and other assorted birds)

Lots of bird activity today at the boardwalk, including these ducks, which are pictured because they were sitting relatively still.

Not pictured: laughing gulls and pelicans flying around in big circling flocks. Also, a whole lot of small passerines have arrived in the area, probably on their way farther north. Dauphin Island is a major stopover point for the spring migration. I tried to get a picture of a chickadee but failed epicly, and once again wish I had a better camera than an iPhone 3.

There were also dolphins swimming around right by the line of rocks, but of course they weren't going to hold still for pictures either.

Some Bad Shots of Oysters

Some oysters growing on one of the posts that holds up the pier. One of the pier's railing boards got in the way on the left, alas.

Another attempt at a good picture of the oysters, this time without the railing in the way. Unfortunately, it gets silhouetted out when it's sunny.

Since then, it's either been too sunny, or the water level has been too high due to lots and lots of rain. One of these days I'll get a good shot of these oysters - if they're still there by then.

Laughing Gulls

The rocks were covered with laughing gulls today. They've switched over to their breeding plumage with the black heads.