Mardi Gras parade, Port Aransas style

A little late in posting a Mardi Gras theme, but there is no hurry to get anything done on the island.

The parade started off with a golf cart, of course!

A side view of the leading golf cart. These things can be get in the way legally around the island.

Love that paint job. I recognize the driver as someone who works at my park.

No parade would be complete without a pirate dog.

The Gaff, a favorite watering hole, is running with the pirate theme.

Self-explanatory, I guess. There may have been some writing on the car, but I must have missed it.

What a lame way to get beads.

A few old cars

That's Maverick, one of my neighbors. He's a good boy. Not sure how he scored his beads.

The parade begins and ends at the Gaff. Cold beer and tasty pizza are the offerings here.

Final stop on the way home is the Tarpon Ice House. The Ice House frequently offers free live music, as well as more cold beer. A ice house was a place to store ice prior to the invention of the refrigerator. I haven't heard this reference outside of Texas, but it may be common elsewhere.

Banner morning at the Birding Center

I had a wonderful morning at the Bird Center today.

An American White Pelican was enjoying the sunrise when I arrived.

It wasn't long before a Harrier Hawk came screaming by, flying low over some ducks.

A Blue-winged Teal slowly paddled by.

A Black-crowned Night Heron also took the opportunity to do a duck-flyover.

It wasn't long before a Brown Pelican appeared voicing his opinion of all the low flying activity.

Meanwhile, a Snowy Egret was having a very ugly bad-hair day. I had big fun photographing this bird.

The Brown Pelican might have been feeling neglected and started splashing behind me. It was either taking a shower or trying to scare up some breakfast.

Charlie, the resident Great Blue Heron showed up to give me some company. I've never seen him catch anything while fishing next to me. It may have been looking for a hand out.

A male Red-winged Blackbird was preening on the other side of the boardwalk. Females are brown.

A Green-winged Teal groomed himself while his female friend snoozed indifferently.

And finally, a Tri-colored Heron caught a bit of breakfast.

All in all, a wonderful morning to photograph birds. While I've photographed this birds before, never with so much fun. To top it off, it's supposed to be 75 degrees today. It just doesn't get much better than this.