Alarm went off at 5 this morning... and I was at Port City Java (the Wilmington answer to Starbucks) by 6. Met up with 9 members of the Cape Fear Audubon Society and headed for Shackleford Banks. I did not have to drive! Took about 2 1/2 hours with one stop. We met about 8 more people there, including the leader John Fussell, III, author of A Birder's Guide to Coastal North Carolina and our leader. Ferry ride was eventful for those who know one bird from another.... we saw all kinds (who knew there was more than one kind) of godwits, willets, plovers, dunlins, sandpipers, terns, oystercatchers, herons, egrets, warblers and more! I loved the passion of the leader and people; the weather was perfect.
Somewhere during the festivities my camera stopped working. I kept getting an ominous Error 99 message. I tried everything I could think of but could not get it to work. I had charged the battery overnight and didn't think I had another battery. When I got home just now I found the other battery in the camera case. I had it with me all the time! That seems to have done the trick. And now I can not get my computer to load the SD disk, other than these two pictures. So it has been/is a technical challenge.
We did see horses! That is (get ready Anne) AWESOME! To first hear horses in the distance and then see them appear on an island in the middle of nowhere is a first for me. I was told there are 114 horses on the island and they are completely wild, never fed or watched over. Amazing!
Our leader was a bit more adventuresome than some of us were ready for. We spent at least an hour ankle to shin deep in the marshlands. My sneakers & socks were not happy.
Stopped for dinner on the way home and arrived back at Lion's Gate around 6:30, showered, hosed off my sneakers, put on my pajamas, and now am ready to pour a glass of wine and be done for the day.
Your day sounds Awesome! (with a capital A)
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