Early Day at Back Bay

I'd hoped to have a photo of the full moon in perigee rising over the Atlantic yesterday, but we got socked in by soupy weather.  This morning, the wind was still blowing strong, and the clouds were thick, but I decided to take a four mile hike early in the day at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.  Often, one sees more wildlife early, and I was not disappointed.  I saw pelicans, various gulls, a cardinal, a great blue heron, a green heron, two turkey vultures, and various other creatures - several of which I will mention later in my "What Am I" series.  For now, here are some photos of my overcast and blustery morning at Back Bay.

I started out taken the board path to the beach,

 walked past the dunes,

studied the sandy home of a crab,

and watched the wild surf for a while.

 From there, I headed away from the Atlantic, and started hiking down the East Dike pathway.  It was here that I ran last February, not long before the Shamrock Half Marathon.

 Wetlands of several kinds are on either side of the dike trail.

 I hiked to a large impoundment where I saw this great blue heron and a number of American egrets.  I quite often see wildlife here.

 Just across from the impoundment is this wetland area.  Note all of the little islands and all of the edge between the worlds of land and water.

From here, I turned around and hiked back out the way that I came.