After a rainy week, the weekend was a burst of sunshine! While the temps are still cool, the weather was glorious. There is just something about sunshine that brightens up my mood.

As is typical, we planned our weekend walks around the low tide so we have an ample walking beach. The tides were not particularly low this weekend, and because of the storms earlier in the week, the surf was still in a turmoil.

Teenagers in our area see the appearance of sunshine as an invitation to practice for summer. They arrive at the beach in their bikinis and trunks, play games on the shore, (that smashball game is still quite popular–you know, the one where a group surrounds a mini trampoline like thing, hitting the ball onto it trying to get the next person to miss), and even plunging into the chilly Pacific Ocean. (The water temperature has been hovering around 57 degrees lately…brrr!)

In my jeans and jacket with my camera around the neck, I headed out to walk a few miles and take some photos. I did shed my jacket mid-walk, enjoying the warm sun and cool sea breeze as I opened up to photo possibilities. The challenge at this point is that I have taken probably thousands of photos at the beach. I photograph the surf, the sky, the people, the birds, any sea life, sea shells, rocks–the list goes on. So it’s hard to find something new for the subject of my photo. So instead, I look for a new angle, different lighting…even a new story to tell myself.

I’ve noticed the pelican overhead the last couple of days. They seem to be practicing flying in formation, perfecting their Vs as they glide along the coastline. Today there were also some shorebirds hanging out in groups, searching for snacks as they chased the foam along the edge of the shore. I watched some young girls also chasing the foam…and now and then they would eye the birds and lunge toward them, making them fly up in a group and then settle further along the shore.

And I got lucky enough to move in with my camera just as one of the birds took a moment to strike a pose for me. And voila! A jaunty little bird portrait was the result. I love the tilt of the neck, almost looking over its shoulder at me.

How did you spend your weekend?