Good morning. 🌊🌊🌊

13 November 2025

I got up about an hour later than usual this morning. I’d stayed up late last night—well, late for me—watching a series on BritBox called The Good Ship Murder. It features a former detective inspector turned lounge singer and a ship’s first officer who solve a murder onboard in every episode. That’s right: a regular murder of one of the passengers seems to be a standing feature of the cruise. What a fantastic marketing ploy—“Be the lucky passenger.” Come on aboard, we’re expecting you. 🛳️

Charlie just barked, so I got up to let him in. But he only looked at me, so I shut the door and came right back in here. I’ll wait until his barking sounds a bit more insistent. He’s a strange character sometimes—perpetually on the wrong side of the back door. He’ll stay outside without complaint, as long as someone’s out there with him. Once I finish this morning’s dispatch into the digital void, I’ll grab my camera and we’ll both go sit outside and watch the birds.

In just about a week, we’re headed east again. We go every year—Thanksgiving with the family in a small house in a small Georgian town. My wife is from there. I sometimes call it Georgiania, just to hear her say, “That’s not how you say it.” For the same reason, I jokingly call Canada Canadia and Chanel No. 5 Channel 5. It’s all just to get a reaction. There’s something delightful about walking into the perfume department of a store and asking for help finding some of that Channel 5. Some people get the joke right away. Some don’t.

“Ship happens.” — CruiseMummy.co.uk

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” — Mark Twain

“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.” — Orhan Pamuk

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #ForestersTern #morning #shorebirds #cruise #murder #dogs #language

At the Shore

It will be a scorcher today, how about a beach scene. It's interesting that shore birds at the beach almost always face the ocean. In this photo there are royal terns (Thalasseus maximus) with the orange bills, Forester's terns (Sterna forsteri), the smaller birds in front, and there are some ring-bill gulls Larus (delawarensis) mixed int among the terns. I took this photograph and Holly
Beach, Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico.

I don't post all of the photos that I post here to my Pixels gallery, but I post the photos I like best. Some don't make the cut. I usually wait a couple of days and see how I feel about it then.

You can check out my gallery at:

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #birdphotography #beach #GulfofMexico #RoyalTerns #ForestersTern #ringbilledgull

Beach Ballet

It was hot today in a lot of places, so I thought maybe a beach scene would be cool. 😎🪭

This is a scene from Holly Beach, Louisiana, the birds are various gulls and terns.

I don't post all of the photos that I post here to my Pixels gallery, but I post the photos I like best. Some don't make the cut. I usually wait a couple of days and see how I feel about it then.

You can check out my gallery at: https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #birdsofmastodon #RingBilledGull #ForestersTern #RoyalTern

Silhouette in the Sky

Tomorrow, I need to get some work done. I've been "lazying" around for a couple of days. In my defense, I took my wife to a doctor's appointment early, early this morning which took up half the day and I pretty much napped the other half. I've no defense at all for yesterday though, I just didn't feel like doing anything. It happens. 😆

I took this photo down at Holly Beach, Louisiana last year. I'm pretty sure that the silhouetted bird is a Forester's tern. There is something majestic and mysterious in the figure of a bird's silhouetted against dark clouds; don't you think so?

If you have a minute, take a look at my gallery. The below link will carry you there:

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #HouseFinches #birdsofmastodon #tern #ForestersTern #clouds #sky

Shoreline Serenity with Terns

I saw these Forster's terns (Sterna forsteri) at Holly Beach, Louisiana about a year go during the spring of 2023. I like this photo partly because of their reflections in the tidal pool.

I don't post all of the photos that I post here to my Pixels gallery, but I post the photos I like best. Some don't make the cut. I can say right now that I like this photo and will post it to my gallery. I usually wait a couple of days and then see how I feel about it then.

You can check out my gallery at: https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #birdphotography #ForestersTern

Tern Trio: Masters of the Tidal Pool

These are some Forester's terns (Sterna forsteri) that I saw about a year and half ago down at Holly Beach, Louisiana.

"Like most terns, Forster’s feeds primarily on small (1–4-inch) fish, which they hunt from the air and capture by plunge-diving from heights as low as a few feet to as high as 50 feet or more. When foraging, most fly along shorelines or just offshore, about 20–25 feet above the water. They normally make a shallow dive, but in some cases, they take prey nearly a foot below the water’s surface, submerging the entire body." - allaboutbirds.org

You know, the photographs that I post here are not quite a vivid as the same photographs that I post at my pixel's gallery, because here, I reduce the size of the photos and usually make a slight reduction in the quality of the photos to make them easier to load.

Take a look:
https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

#photo #photography #photographer #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #ForestersTern

Let's all go to the party.

These are a bunch of royal terns (Thalasseus maximus), Forester's terns (Sterna forsteri), and ring billed gulls (Larus delawarensis). The focus is on the Forester's terns closer to the bottom of the frame. This was at Holly Beach, Louisiana.

"Flashing slender, silvery wings and an elegantly forked tail, Forster's Terns cruise above the shallow waters of marshes and coastlines looking for fish. These medium-sized white terns are often confused with the similar Common Tern, but Forster’s Terns have a longer tail and, in nonbreeding plumage, a distinctive black eye patch. Where Common breeds on outer beaches and barrier islands, Forster’s nests farther inland, on edges of freshwater marshes and saltmarshes. It is the only medium-sized tern species found in the United States mainland in winter." - allaboutbirds.org

#photography #photographer #photographylovers #bird #birdwatching #birdphotography #birdsofmastodon #RoyalTern #ForestersTern #RingBilledGull

Let's Cool Off.

Here are a bunch of mostly royal and Forester's terns. There is a gull on the left side, maybe a black-billed gull. On the bottom right is a sanderling racing the waves.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #RoyalTern #ForestersTern #sanderling

Bird Beach Party.

I'm not sure where my focus is on this photograph. Perhaps no where because it all seems slightly out of focus. I like looking at it none the less. The beach on a hot day is what the doctor ordered.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #beach #seascape #gulls #terns #sanderling #ringbilledgull #royaltern #foresterstern

Holly Beach.

This is a scene from Holly Beach, Louisiana, on the Gulf of Mexico. The birds are various gulls and terns.

"Holly Beach, also known as Cajun Riviera, is a sandy beach in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, where you can camp, fish, and enjoy the Gulf of Mexico." - wikipedia.org

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #RingBilledGull, #RoyalTern, #ForestersTern #sanderling #beach #GulfofMexico #ocean #waves #sand