A few weeks ago, my Dad and I went out on the Winter Wildlife Boat Tour with the Virginia Aquarium through Virginia Beach's Winter Wildlife Festival.  We had hoped to see whales, but the temperatures had become too cold and the whales had moved down south.  Fortunately, with the mild, sunny day the shorebirds were active in Owls Creek, allowing us to see a variety of birds.

Before we left the dock, there was a crowd gathered at the back of the boat watching the pair of Bald Eagles sitting in a tree above the shoreline.  Another pair as well as some juvenile Eagles were spotted, but were obscured in the trees.

As we made our way out into the Atlantic, we took in the beautiful sights of Rudee Inlet.  I loved seeing the Virginia Beach Oceanfront from this new perspective.

We enjoyed a smooth boat ride as we made our way to the third island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, searching for harbor seals that had been spotted earlier in the day.

As we approached the third island, we spotted a group of Harbor Seals playing in the shore break near the jetties.  They were shy at first, but with patience a few curious critters came to inspect the boat.

After spending a good amount of time watching the seals, the boat headed back to shore, blasting us with a cold wind that drove us all in the cabin.  Everyone huddled inside, chatting about the day's find over Smartmouth beers!

We returned to Rudee Inlet just in time for the start of golden hour and I ran outside to capture the beautiful light.

This was by far my favorite part of our trip.  The light was magical, illuminating the features of each pelican we passed.

As we pulled in to dock, there was one lone Great Blue Heron remaining, standing guard over the Aquarium like a sentinel.