Almost every morning, Robyn has walked our park near sunrise.

She has help waking up for it….but then one or the other helper usually goes back to sleep.

Not only does she catch views of the boil as its warmer water opens out into the cooler run and fog rises, not only does she see the landscape bathed in the glorious orange/gold of sunrise, not only does she hear the wildlife begin its day of chirps and calls and rustling through the underbrush, she also gets to meet so many members of our wildlife community up close and personal!

All within a single view yesterday she had a pair of otters in the water, a pair of bald eagles and a pair of osprey fishing, and several manatees in the water!

She took all the following photos this morning, with a little help from the marina operator who had to move a pontoon boat from storage to the dock.

Which leads to one caveat: the eagle was a surprise, and Robyn shot while standing on the moving boat under throttle….

The amazing thing is that the photo of the eagle with its wings outstretched is shown here full-frame….it was that close! The same is true for the manatee.

The final two photos are of the same Osprey. I’m still surprised by the dramatic difference of its coloration from underside to topside!