Weekend Observations - Tropical Storm Debby

Speckled trout from the weekend

I spent a lot of time on the water this past weekend, and besides fishing, I got a chance to observe the effects of Tropical Storm Debby and do some exploring.  On Friday and Saturday I was annoyed by the fact that the predicted tides I count on were completely off.  It ruined my sight fishing for the second week in a row.  Last weekend I knowingly went out on a high tide just to see what would happen.  This weekend was supposed to be ideal.  Why was the tide so freaking high?  It was a forehead slapping moment.  I had completely forgotten that Debby was spinning out in the middle of the Gulf, producing a foot or two of storm surge for the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The sea was calm and the sky was blue - a storm was the farthest thing from my mind.  Other parts of the Gulf Coast were probably experiencing large waves, but the barrier islands of Mississippi keep the surf from impacting the coast.

The abnormally high tide produced an interesting opportunity in the marsh.  The water had risen enough to flood wide expanses of grass.  There were no borders.  You could kayak anywhere!

With a little extra effort, the grass was open for paddling.

I felt like I was in South Carolina on a flood tide.  The only difference is there probably weren't any redfish - unless they plowed their way through the grass like me.

A newly accessible pond

You can just barely see my trail

Another interesting thing I observed is that there were several Magnificent Frigatebirds soaring high above the coast.  Frigatebirds are regulars out in the Sound and are seen every once in a while from the coast, but the last time I saw them in large numbers was in September during Tropical Storm Lee.  Apparently storms out in the Gulf drive them toward land, although they never seem to actually make it to land as evidenced in my poor photographs.

Its a frigatebird, I swear...

Here are some other poor bird photographs from the weekend.

Black Skimmer - one of my favorite local birds

There's a white ibis at the top of that dead tree.