A Day at the Bay

I woke up at 5 PM, and decided to sneak out and go fishing. Sunrise was 5:45, and when I got down to the boat, I had sunrise on one side and a rainbow on the other. It was a full bow, about as tall as it can get because of the low sun angle

If you look carefully you can see a trace of a double rainbow. I know rainbows are supposed to come after the rain (at least in biblical telling), but this one marked a shower line which came and overwhelmed me while I was fishing at "Location X", kicked up 20 kt winds, and sent me home with my tail between my legs. But I did have time to determine there were no fish to be had this morning.

After lunch, Skye and I walked back down to the beach, and Georgia met us down there. I saw this on the way down, near the swamp.  Buttonbush, I've seen it before and never figured out what it was:

Buttonbush is a native perennial shrub, named for the round flower heads, which begins to bloom in early summer.
. . .
The inflorescence is a single globular head of flowers, on a long stalk from the terminal stem or from a leaf axil.

Flowers: The small white 4-parted tubular flowers that grow out of the round 1 inch wide head have a long protruding style, twice the length of the corolla, which is clearly evident in the photos. The style has a knobby tip. The white corolla forms 4 lips which flare outward slightly. The four stamens have dark anthers and do not protrude from the corolla; the receptacle has fine white hair; the calyx is short and green with 4 teeth; each flower is sessile. The entire head is on a very long stalk (peduncle) from the leaf axil and terminal stem bud.

The Wineberries are ripening. And people, or birds are eating them as fast as they ripen. Considered a non-native invasive species, I rather enjoy them.

One of the Green Herons that hang around the harbor stayed around for a photo-op.

Temperatures were in the low 70s at the beach, under partly cloudy skies.

We found some 24 teeth, of which this Snaggletooth symphysial tooth.

The Kudzu has reached it's summer glory, cloaking the cliffs in green and giving the Whistlepigs plenty of cover. Its spread onto the beach is limited by the tide, as the vine shrivels at the first touch of brackish water.