The rain arrived about 20 minutes after I returned from my bike ride to Destin. Somehow, luck was on my side and allowed me to stay dry. The only other scheduled activity for this afternoon was to pick up the birthday cake for Danita's birthday dinner. I arrived at the Four Points with cake in hand and took a seat on the balcony while the girls were getting ready for dinner.

The photos above and below were my view for the next hour or so.

Even though it was raining off and on, the Gulf was remarkably calm.

All of the rental chairs and umbrellas were still out on the beach at the Holiday Inn next door, even though the beach was empty.

I don't know if the beach was actually closed. But someone was patrolling the empty beach anyways.

Looking toward the Okaloosa Island Fishing Pier.

I enjoyed listening to the calm beach with the recurring small waves. Quite relaxing.

I spotted a low flying visitor making his way along the shore.

He started out flying steadily along the shoreline.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at this point.

He was flying along, minding his own business.

At this point, he began to slow down . . .

. . . before taking a dive.

I know nothing about coastal birds and their habits.

My guess is that he saw something that looked tasty in the water below.

Splash !

He must have found something he liked.

He sat there for a few seconds.

But then he took off.

He's behind the wave.

Trying to take off.

Still behind the wave.

Liftoff !

Once again, I wish I had my long lens with me !

Off he went.

My guess is that he was foraging and spotted something interesting.

After liftoff, he continued on his way.

The rental booth at the Four Points was in the process of closing thanks to the rain.

Someone then rode by on a four-wheeler.

The red flags seen in the photo made me wonder if the beach was closed. But I have no idea.

It looked like the rental booth staff at the Holiday Inn next door was gathering all of their chairs and umbrellas as well.

Someone forgot a chair. This one doesn't look like it belongs to a rental place.

The rain eventually stopped.

It looked like the weather was improving in the distance.

More air traffic overhead.

Unlike most of what I had been seeing, this was a commercial Southwest Airlines plane.

The rental booth at the Four Points finally closed for the day.

All looked calm on the Gulf. But what's happening on the far left of the photo above ?

In addition to the low flying visitor, I saw a bunch of birds as well.

I looked a little closer and discovered a bunch of low flying visitors.

For some reason, a lot of birds were gathering in this area.

I didn't know what was happening. But it looked interesting to someone not from a beach town.

I began to see the familiar ripples in the water.