Will it go 'round in circles...

If you said, "Billy Preston, 1972," you get 200 bonus points.  If you said, "Billy Preston often played with the Beatles," you get another 200 bonus points!

We took the boat out today around noon.  The plan: once around our island.  No, that is not "the circle" from the title.

We enjoyed looking at the birds along the way...

Going clockwise around the island, we ran east in the ICW and through our swing bridge...

Just past the swing bridge, we came across the first dolphins on this trip...

The dolphins swam right up to the boat as we moved slowly in forward idle...

The smallest of this group, a calf started swimming circles around the boat!  Literally, it must have done 15 laps of the boat!

You could tell it was having fun, popping up in the same place on each lap.

We said our good-byes to this group as we started our turn to the south in the Laguna Madre.

Another warm humid day, the light wind was coming from the east and felt good as it blew across the boat.  Surprisingly few boats out today.

We motored into the jetties area, but the east wind was bringing swells and chop in.  We turned and headed west in the ship channel...

Not a boat in sight.  A couple more groups of dolphins, though...

Both groups seemed to be on a mission, heading east as we were motoring west.  They were moving right along.

Lots of birds in the Mexiquita Flats area, including a couple white pelicans; the first we've seen them this season...

One of the locals perched on a daymark...

Turning north in the Port Isabel Channel, we did see these guys tossing a net...

We took our time cruising along the shore to look for more birds.  Joan caught this Great Blue Heron in flight...

In the game of "king of the mountain," the heron booted this juvenile pelican off the light...

I don't know if the heron would try that with an adult pelican.

A group of them in the bush along the water...

A pelican resting in the water...

It was downright hot when we came in - I'm guessing around 90º.  There is a frontal passage that is supposed to blow in late this afternoon that should cool things down.  We keep thinking that autumn is here, then Mother Nature gives us another hot one.