2/18 Jupiter, Florida

The rain finally stopped and the temperatures are a little warmer, so I got packed up and went out and about today.  Seems like I have been stuck indoors for a long time! 

First stop was the Jupiter Lighthouse. 



There are 105 stairs to the top, which was not too bad, other than there was a railing on only one side, but I was careful, as falling and getting hurt is one of my major concerns. 

Here are a couple of views from the top showing the Jupiter Inlet where the Loxahatchee River empties into the Atlantic Ocean:

My next stop was a small park near the Jupiter Inlet.  It was windy and I immediately slid on my rear down a dune, almost landing on this guy:

After brushing the sand off myself, I headed down the beach to the inlet and saw this guy.  Yes, he had only one leg, but seemed to hop around just fine.  I think he is a western sandpiper.

Here's a small flock of birds.  The ones with the orange beaks are royal terns. There is one juvenile royal tern in the lower middle that looks like the others but has a black beak:

It was really windy and rough, but since it was a school holiday, there were a lot of kids out surfing, or at least trying to surf. I did not actually see many really riding waves, but they seemed to be having fun anyway.

It took about a dozen tries, but I finally got a photo of a pelican diving for a fish:

 

They seemed to be doing pretty good and seemed to be catching something at every dive in this small area near the pier.