Don't forget the sun block

I spent Saturday on a quest for some new life birds. What's a life bird, you ask? Well, it's simply a bird you've never seen in the wild before. I headed to Point Lookout State Park to catch a boat to Smith Island. From the boat launch, I scoped a great blue heron colony. The tall birds dotted the tops of the tall pine trees. They did alot of squawking and displaying. They look way more beautiful than they sound. From the same spot, I was able to observe a nesting pair of bald eagles, several opspreys, a common loon, some cormorants, and a fishing Caspian tern. All this, and we hadn't even boarded the boat yet. I observed more Caspian and some Forster's terns perched on a series of pilings as we cruised out of the cove.
The sun was blazing, but it was windy and frigid out on the open water of the bay. Pretty soon I forgot all about how cold it was when someone called out that we had northern gannets all around us. Gannets are our largest water birds. They have a six foot wing span. They're brilliant white with pointy black wing tips. Their light blue eyes are encircled in a blue line surrounded by jet black skin and they have a yellow wash on their heads. They dive into the water from great heights to catch fish. It was an amazing sight to see. Soon they'll migrate to Canada to nest in huge groups on rocky cliffs.
I saw many more great birds on the trip, and didn't notice that I'd developed a wicked bad sunburn on my face until Saturday evening. You should really get out and do some birding sometime soon. Just don't forget the sunblock.