Eastern Seaboard

Downy Woodpecker, Leaning Against Stiffened Tail Feathers for Support ~ Dryobates pubescens ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
Downy Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens Huron River and Watershed Michigan bird acrobatic forager black and white fauna frequent members of mixed flocks drum rather than sing songs oldest almost 12 years short bill white spotting males have red nape shrill whinnying call eat mainly insects excavating nest holes takes 1 to 3 weeks undulating flight pattern
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Great Blue Heron ~ Ardea herodias ~ Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida
Great Blue Heron in flight river Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens Coral Gardens Florida bird Ardea herodias slow deep wingbeats bluegray plumage tucked in neck long legs powder down night vision oldest24 years massive silhouette long orangish bill black crown head plumes largest North American heron wild black stripe over eye daggerlike bill water rocks reflections
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Flying Dragon Waterfall ~ Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens ~ Delray Beach, Florida
waterfall cascade water falls steep incline cataract shower torrent overflowing chute downfall gush stream flow plunge downrush watercourse spout falling stream rush tumble spill Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens Delray Beach Florida nature
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Little Blue Heron ~ Egretta caerulea ~ Port St. Lucie, Florida
"i'm very happy being me, although sometimes I'd love to be a bird so that I can fly." ~ Joy Fielding
blue and purple bird Egretta caerulea aigrette plumes white during the first stage of life oldest known 13 years Little Blue Heron Garceta Azul Aigrette bleue daggerlike bill small heron purple maroon head dark blue body bird water Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard ocean sea seaside rocks yellow eyes stand and wait predator fauna Eastern Seaboard species of High Concern 2016
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Royal Terns (with Laughing Gulls) ~ Thalasseus maximus ~ Port St. Lucie, Florida
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus greatest sea fisherman Ancient Greek bird redorange bill black cap during breeding season lives on the coast only found near salt water seabird webbed feet more streamlines than gulls black legs patchy in winter Atlantic Ocean Port St. Lucie Florida sand seacoast saside diving bird fiercely defensive of nest and young ocean beach oldest 30 years banded in North Carolina short forked tail inflight fauna
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Leap of Faith ~ Brown Pelican ~ Port St. Lucie, Florida ~ Pelecanus occidentalis
“Wings are like dreams. Before each flight, a bird takes a small jump, a leap of faith, believing that its wings will work.” ~ J.R. Rim
Pelecanus occidentalis Brown Pelican Port St. Lucie Florida oversize bill sinuous neck plunge divers oldest pelican 43 years seabird in flight leap of faith stretchy throat pouch surf updrafts strong swimmers Eastern Seaboard Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard seaside seacoast rocks water squadrons echo motions of waves sea ocean brd nature fauna animal
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Brown Pelican, Juvenile ~ Port St. Lucie, Florida ~ Pelecanus occidentalis
“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”
~ Marc Riboud
Pelecanus occidentalis Brown Pelican Port St. Lucie Florida oversized bill sinuous neck squadrons echo motions of the waves plungedivers oldest pelican 43 years seabird inflight stretchy throat pouch surf supdrafts masterful fliers strong swimmers Eastern Seaboard Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard sea ocean seacoast waves water bird
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Pair of Wood Storks in the Rain ~ Mycteria americana
"Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts." ~ Paramahansa Yogananda
wading bird Wood Stork scaly head Mycteria americana bald headed bird Florida Port St. Lucie black and white wings longlegged wetland bird swamp habitat soar on thermals uncommon in U.S.federally threatened primarily not migratory Eastern Seaboard
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Little Blue Heron ~ Egretta caerulea ~ Port St. Lucie, Florida
"i'm very happy being me, although sometimes I'd love to be a bird so that I can fly." ~ Joy Fielding
blue and purple bird Egretta caerulea aigrette plumes white during first stage of life oldest known 13 years plus Little Blue Heron Garceta Azul Aigrette bleue daggerlike bill small heron purple maroon head dark blue body bird water yellow eyes stand and wait predator fauna Eastern Seaboard species of High Concern 2 rain
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Windswept Snowy Egret ~ Egretta thula ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
"It is never too late to go quietly to our lakes, rivers, oceans, even our small streams, and say to the sea gulls, the great blue herons, the bald eagles, the salmon, that we are sorry." ~ Brenda Peterson
windswept snowy egret Egretta thulla elegant heron white plumage yellow feet plumes New Smyrna Beach Florida beach coast water sand shells wings bird black bill beak feathers Atlantic Ocean Eastern Seaboard Atlantic Seaboard sea ocean may run the waves to forage threat is habitat loss
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Snowy Egret ~ egretta thula ~ Eastern Seaboard
“Photography is an austere and blazing poetry of the real.” ~ Ansel Adams
Snowy Egret bird Egretta thula beach shore Eastern Seaboard Florida seaside seashore sea coast white plumage black legs yellow feet curvy plumes shorebird oldest17 years heron mediumsized long slender bill spear fish waterbird forager migratory
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Snowy Egrets ~ Egretta thula ~ Eastern Seaboard
fauna Snowy.Egrets Egretta.thula New Smyrna Beach Florida Eastern Seaboard Heron white plumage shorebird oldest17yearsl bird
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Willets in Winter ~ Tringa semipalmata ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
"To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be." ~ Rachel Carson
Tringa semipalmata shorebird Willet Playero Aliblanco Chevalier semipalme feed day and night short to longdistance migrant sandpiper bird fauna. nature on the wing Florida New Smyrna Beach coastline wildlife sea tides
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Willets ~ Tringa semipalmata ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
"I have a room all to myself; it is nature." ~ Henry David Thoreau
Willet Tringa.semipalmata bird shoreline beach Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard seashore shells distinctive wing markings shorebird piercing call winter colors longlegged straightbilled coastline coast coastal water sand eggs apparently tasty oldest known willet least 10 years heavy barring on breast heavy motting on back feed day and night short to longdistance migrant sandpiper black and white stripe on each week only during flight
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Sanderling ~ Calidris alba ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
"May your love be firm, and may your dream of life together be a river between two shores - by day bathed in sunlight, and by night illuminated from within. May the heron carry news of you to the heavens, and the salmon bring the sea's blue grace. May your twin thoughts spiral upward like leafy vines, like fiddle strings in the wind, and be as noble as the Douglas fir. May you never find yourselves back to back without love pulling you around into each other's arms." ~ James Bertolino
Sanderling Calidris alba bird New Smyrna Beach Florida sand beach water wings beak bill Atlantic Oceean Atlantic Seaboard sea seaside seashore sea coast coastline coastal beach coast peeps sandpiper obsessive wave chasers extreme longdistance migrants breed on high Arctic tundra usually monogomous widespread shorebird stout black bill populations declining
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Snowy Egret ~ Egretta thula ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living." ~ David Attenborough
egret Snowy Egret New Smyrna Beach Florida ocean sea beach bird Atlantic Seaboard Atlantic Ocean heron white plumage black legs yellow feet coast breeding plumes once worth twice the cost of gold white heron sometimes chase prey through the waves water bird forager
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Close-Up of a Woodstork ~ Mycteria americana ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Mycteria americana Wood Stork New Smyrna Beach Florida wader bird soars on thermals balheaded bird just over 3 feet tall harbingers of spring and birth in mythology oldest recorded was 20 years massive long heavy curved bill white bird black flight feathers scaly head football shaped body uncommon in U.S.federally threatened tántalo americano tantale d'amérique
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Snowy Egret ~ egretta thula ~ Eastern Seaboard
“If you see something that moves you, and then snap it, you keep a moment.” ~ Linda McCartney
on the wing fauna Snowy Egret bird Egretta thula Eastern Seaboard Florida seashore coast white plumage black legs yellow feet curvy plumes shorebird oldest 17 years spearfish water bird forager migratory long slender bill pond grass water
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Skies over Canaveral Seas (Panorama)
"Tell me and I will forget, teach me and I will remember, involve me and I will learn." ~ Benjamin Franklin
sky clouds Canaveral National Seashore Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard water waves tide sand tidal pools white caps blue New Smyrna Beach Florida Eastern Seaboard beach beach flora seaside vista landscape seascape ocean sea
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Brown Pelican ~ Pelecanus occidentalis ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
"And to lose the chance to see frigatebirds soaring in circles above the storm, or a file of pelicans winging their way homeward across the crimson afterglow of the sunset, or a myriad terns flashing in the bright light of midday as they hover in a shifting maze above the beach -- why, the loss is like the loss of a gallery of the masterpieces of the artists of old time." ~ Theodore Roosevelt
brown pelican Florida Pelecanus occidentalis New Smyrna Beach onthewing Eastern Seaboard Fauna Atlantic Ocean seasde bird sinuous neck flight echoes waves plunge dive comeback thanks to pesticide regulations oldest recorded age 43 years giant bill seabird stocky graygrown yellow head white neck coast bird awkward gait on land masterful flier highly social
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No Boundaries
“I like geography best, he said, because your mountains and rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.” ~ Brian Andreas
Indian River Florida New Smyrna Beach river water sky clouds dock ripples boundaries
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The Patrol ~ Indian River North, Florida
Indian River North Florida Brown Pelicans birds sign patrol fauna onthewing
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Big Sky ~ Indian River, Florida
"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all." ~ Emily Dickinson
Indian River Florida clouds weather sunset New Smyrna Beach evening Eastern Seaboard atmosphere meteorological conditions climate
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Black Vulture ~ Coragyps atratus ~ Canaveral National Seashore, Florida
black vulture Coragyps.atratus Canaveral National Seashore Florida bird black plumage bare black head poor sense of smell fierce family royalty most numerous vulture in Western Hemisphere 34 million year old fossils silvery patches on underside Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard follow Turkey Vultures to food monogamous beneficial scavenger
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Forster's Tern, in non-breeding plumage ~ Sterna forsteri ~ New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri bird birdinflight nonbreeding plumage New Smyrna Beach Florida wings beak shoreline coast seaside seashore tern waves water sky Atlantic Seaboard Eastern Seaboard onthewing fauna mediumsized tern masked bandit commashaped black ear patch in winter plunger Species of Moderate Concern
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Low Tide
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
low tide seaside sea sea coast seashore seascape Atlantic Ocean water tide plants sea level sealevel fluctuation beach beach front sandy beach New Smyrna Beach Florida coast plants seaside garden shoreline shore flora
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Osprey ~ Pandion haliaetus ~ Canaveral National Seashore, Florida
Osprey Canaveral National Seashore Florida Pandion haliaetus bird birdinflight Atlantic Ocean Eastern Seaboard ocean raptor hawk reversible outer toe wings angler bird of prey bone breaker white underparts white head with brown line conservation success story hooked black beak
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Bird Flying High ~ Eastern Seaboard
"Bird flyin' high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Breeze drifting by
You know how I feel...."
~ Songwriters: Gladys Knight, Al Claiborne, G. Garcia, Edesio Alejandro Rodriguez
wings sunlight bird in flight sky clouds bird ocean sea
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Over the Ocean
soaring waves tide sea ocean pelicans Atlantic Ocean nature birds brown pelicans seaside birdsinflight water sky journey seacoast
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Sea and Sky ~ Southern Outer Banks, North Carolina
"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over."
~ John Masefield
ocean sea pelicans Southern Outer Banks North Carolina water sky waves clouds birds seascape tide Eastern Seaboard
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Garden Path by the Sea ~ Maine Coast
"The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him." ~ Auguste Rodin
seacoast garden path garden path lupines flowers sea Atlantic Ocean Maine Eastern Seaboard purple lupinus lupin plant legume family ornamental plant food source perennial bluebonnets quaker bonnets legume macro flower
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Low Tide ~ Winslow Cove, Maine Coast
"If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." ~ Vincent Van Gogh
Maine coast low tide Winslow Cove Penobscot cove water tide rocks ocean Atlantic Ocean Eastern Seaboard nature
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Tide Pools ~ Southern Outer Banks
“Perhaps this is the most important thing for me to take back from beach-living: simply the memory that each cycle of the tide is valid; each cycle of the wave is valid; each cycle of a relationship is valid.” ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh
beach Emerald Isle North Carolina Eastern North Carolina Eastern Seaboard sand late afternoon water Atlantic Ocean Bogue Banks Crystal Coast seaside ocean waterscape tide sunlight coastline shore seashore sea sky wave dog person coast island barrier island
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The Sea ~ Southern Outer Banks
"When you grow up by the sea, you spend a good deal of time looking at the horizon. You wonder what on Earth the waves might bring - and where the sea might deposit you - until one day you know you have lived between two places, the scene of arrival and the point of departure." ~ Andrew O'Hagan
dune dunes Emerald Isle North Carolina Eastern Seaboard sand Atlantic Ocean Bogue Banks Crystal Coast seaside ocean coastline shore seashore coast sea island barrier island sky water evening
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waiting ~ Southern Outer Banks
“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach ~ waiting for a gift from the sea.” ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh
swing glider beach Emerald Isle North Carolina Eastern North Carolina Eastern Seaboard sand dunes dune fence late afternoon water Atlantic Ocean Bogue Banks Crystal Coast seaside ocean waterscape tide sunlight coastline shore seashore sea sky wave dog coast island barrier island fence sea grass grass
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effects of time and tide ~ Southern Outer Banks
“At ebb tide I wrote a line upon the sand, and gave it all my heart and all my soul. At flood tide I returned to read what I had inscribed and found my ignorance upon the shore.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
barrier island island sea coast seashore shore coastline sunlight tide ocean seaside Crystal Coast Bogue Banks Atantic Ocean late afternoon sand Eastern Seaboard North Carolina Emerald Isle dunes fence dune beach sky water
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Island Sunset ~ Southern Outer Banks
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato
island sunset evening Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina fading daylight sundown dusk nightfall twilight eve eventide gloaming vesper evensong west Atlantic Ocean barrier island Bogue Banks Crystal Coast Emerald Isle red atol east coast coast Atlantic seaboard coastal plain Southern Outer Banks dunes grass sand home clouds sun birdsinflight sky
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Sweep of Sand ~ Southern Outer Banks
"A beach is not only a sweep of sand, but shells of sea creatures, the sea glass, the seaweed, the incongruous objects washed up by the ocean." ~ Henry Grunwald
beach sand sweep of sand Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina East Coast water waves birds coast shoreline shore coastline coastal plain coastal beach coastal Carolinas barrier island tide clouds sky Bogue Banks North Carolina seaside seashore seascape Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard Crystal Coast
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Down to the Sea ~ Southern Outer Banks
"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over."
~ John Masefield
seas seaside jacob's ladder sky clouds water tide waves sand shore shoreline Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard Bogue Banks Crystal Coast barrier island seashore sea isle seascape Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina East Coast nature coastal plain Southern Outer Banks beach
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Play ~ Southern Outer Banks
Many thanks to Carl Berger for first calling these wise words to my attention: "Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." ~ Margaret Mead
play Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina East Coast ocean Atlantic Ocean beach sandy beach coastal plain coastal coastal beach coastal Carolinas North Carolina waves misty day tidewater tide water waterscape saltwater dunes sand dune clouds sky people mist fog misty foggy sand shore shorelines seashore seascape seaside sea coast sea isle wet barrier island island Crystal Coast Bogue Banks feet sea
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blades of grass in late afternoon sun ~ Southern Outer Banks
"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars." ~ Walt Whitman
flora ocean Eastern North Carolina North Carolina Crystal Coast Bogue Banks blades of grass barrier island island Atlantic Ocean Eastern Seaboard seaside sand grass shadows dunes beach anchor hardy leaves rhizomes living on the edge dune grass symbiotic relationship with fungi
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Gales of March ~ Emerald Isle, North Carolina
"Nature always wears the colors of the spirit." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
gales march gale wind sand surf ocean water waves beach Emerald Isle North Carolina Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina barrier island island sea seaside tide sky Bogue Banks Crystal Coast nature whitecaps saltwter wave
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Brown Pelican, Atlantic ~ Pelecanus occidentals ~ Southern Outer Banks
“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” ~ Marc Riboud
bird pelican Brown Pelican Atlantic Ocean Pelecanus occidentals seabird brown skin on throat pouch graybrown bird ocean sea seaside coast water waves divers gliders broad wings wingbeats slow deep powerful sea coast nest in colonies island barrier island North Carolina Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina birdinflight onthewing wave
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wild sea oats ~ Eastern Seaboard
"Photography is a love affair with life." ~ Burk Uzzle
Uniola paniculata sea oats seaside oats arroz de costa grass subtropical grass coast coastline coastal plain coastal coastal beach coastal Carolinas sand dune beach plant southeastern United States large seed heads rhizomes inflorescences windpollinated florets barrier island beach front Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Atlantic Seaboard Eastern North Carolina Eastern Seaboard dune crest heat tolerant sea ocean nature saline environment sand stabilization nascent dune structure protected grass Bogue Banks Crystal Coast Southern Outer Banks water waves sky macro
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Surfin' U.S.A. ~ Southern Outer Banks, North Carolina
"If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
.... Surfin' U.S.A."
~ written by Chuck Berry, performed by The Beach Boys
surf Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Seaboard ocean sea coastline Eastern Seaboard North Carolina Eastern North Carolina waves surfboard sky clouds
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Wave Rider ~ Emerald Isle, North Carolina
"We organize our circumstances into stories, stories we pick up along the way and carry with us. Stories that declare, I’m lacking. Why me? stories. I’m alone, stories. What will I amount to? stories. Stories about who we should be. Or think we are. They are interior maps whose familiar roads we travel. Over and over. Yet when we apprehend these maps, these stories, these patterns … we awaken and rise, as it were, to a new perspective, to new possibilities." ~ Jean-Pierre Weill
surfing surf's up Emerald Isle Crystal Coast Bogue Banks Atlantic Ocean waves water sea seaside seashore water sport wave rider surfer ocean riding a wave standup surfing part of ancient Polynesian culture surf bathing swell barrel wave tube wave surfing culture recreation coastline wetsuit whitewash North Carolina Eastern North Carolina Eastern Seaboard surfboard sky wave
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Wings of Willets ~ Tringa semipalmata ~ Emerald Isle, North Carolina
“In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” ~ Ansel Adams
barrier island coastline shorebird North Carolina Crystal Coast Atlantic Ocean Emerald Isle birdinflight bird Tringa semipalmata willet waves sky water sea ocean animal wings
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Land and Sea ~ Southern Outer Banks
“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” ~ Destin Sparks
sea seaside seashore sea coast sea isle seascape ocean Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Eastern Seaboard Eastern North Carolina North Carolina shore shoreline sky waves water dunes nature waterscape Bogue Banks Crystal Coast island barrier island tide landscape grass dune grass sand beach seaboard
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