Howdy Folks,

Windy day in paradise today. Mother Nature sure is whipping up the winds off the Gulf of Mexico which has also churned up the waters. Gulf was quite rough this afternoon, rougher than I've seen it in quite some time. Quite a few surfers taking advantage of the rough waters by catching the waves.

Here are a few picks from today's walk on Bonita Beach at Big Hickory......

Here are a couple surfers waiting for the next wave..

View looking over one of the jetties into the pass..

The tip of the jetty stick out into the Gulf waters..

Below is only a few of the birds in the flock of "Skimmers" resting on the beach. If you look closely, you will notice that the lower beak on these birds is longer than the upper beak. These birds are called "Skimmers" because they fly only an inch above the surface of the water with their lower beak in the water. When the beak hits a fish, it closes extremely fast to catch the fishy.

Since today is extremely windy and the water quite rough, these birds are not able to skim the water for food, so that chose to rest instead.

And to finish up today's walk, I came across Otis the Tortoise having a little lunch. Otis is a Gopher Tortoise. These are a protected species, so it is illegal to bother him.

Hope you have enjoyed the pictures from today's adventure in Southwest Florida.