The monthly bird count at the Indian River Club started at sunrise and carried through a brief ethereal white murk till the Sun finally got high enough to burn off the fog. At that point the magic vanished and we returned to the reality of driving golf carts around a golf course counting various bird species. Below is a sampling of images, some enhanced to catch the feel of the day. Thank you to Joe Carroll, Roz James, and Susan Boyd for this fun, early morning adventure.

The golf course in the fog. The place is far more wooded than this picture lets on.

An alien view of the bird count, a false color image of the Sun rising behind a pine tree to allow highlighting of the Red-tailed Hawk perched on a limb.

A raft of Lesser Scaups.

The fog made for an interesting collage of Glossy Ibis silhouettes.

Mixed company for breakfast: a Little Blue Heron, two White Ibis, and a Glossy Ibis.

Sandhill Cranes strutting across the golf course.

A formation of Mottled Ducks.

White Ibis on final approach.

An old friend, the Osprey.

A Florida Scrub-Jay undergoing trap training. When the bird becomes fearless enough to enter the cage to retrieve the food, a real trap will be substituted to catch the bird for banding.

Psychedelic Tricolored Heron – in reality, actually posing in a ditch in shallow water with some rather interesting reflections, to say the least, so a little color enhancement helps bring needed drama to this otherwise mundane throwaway shot.