elizabethforys's Identifications

On this day, after meeting a relative at CityWalk in Orlando, Florida, I took a detour east to Canaveral National Seashore then headed North to Anastasia State Park.

At CityWalk, a stranger described the weather as "getting ominous". I sat outside and listened to a choir perform "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"—as the music crescendoed, so did the clouds. A cool darkness rolled in and covered the sky, though bright white light still seeped through in patches. In the air, there was a power—undeniable, unexplained.

Various counties along Florida issued tornado warnings. I was grateful for my safe arrival to Canaveral. At the gate, Carlos was amused by my plan to photograph birds on such a day. The seashore looked like this. An hour and a half later, heavy rain pelted the car’s windshield with a loud force, which was my cue to leave.

I arrived to my next stop, Anastasia State Park, in the early evening, but well before sundown. There wasn’t a cloud in site. Steel blue skies and sunshine seemed mismatched with an intense wind. It swept light-colored sand from the dune back-and-forth across the darker sands of the vast, wide beach. The winding paths of uplifted sand looked like flowing rivers, ocean bound.

No Surf Scoters were bobbing around offshore, but plenty of human surfers. With a high wind gust of 31 mph recorded 3/4 mile inland, who knows what greater winds the ocean delivered. After about an hour, I headed to Duval County for dinner, before finally returning home.

• My favorite species of the day: Merlin.
• My favorite photo of the day: this Sanderling.