Category: Birding

I do not have much to say here other than that I had a great vacation earlier in October.  I spent all but one night in Vermont.  The other I spent at a KOA in the Poconos, PA.  As regards the latter, I will say only, way too much road noise.  The caretaker, who smelled a bit of booze, put me in the campsite closest to the road.  It was not until later when I reviewed where I had been on the campground map that I realized I could have been at least a few hundred yards further away from the road than where I had been.

I posted a a couple of my favorite pictures from the trip two weeks ago.   Here are three more.  To see the rest of the pictures and read the story…..

Paddle on dudes and dudettes.  Hike on.  Camp on.  Get it on!

A UFO is preparing to drop aliens down on Mt. Mansfield.

Watch your graying wood.

I got out on the Potomac River at Algonkian Regional Park on Sunday.  That location is turning into one of my favorites.  It is about the same distance away as Burke Lake but much more entertaining.  The day was gorgeous with temperatures up in the mid-sixties.  The leaves, even for the last week of October, still had not changed much, at least on the riverfront.

I paddled up on the north side of two islands and came back down on the south side.  I saw two Bald Eagles playing around in the sky above me at one point, noted numerous Great Blue Herons including one which I presumed to be immature, and  watched an Osprey ride the air currents for about five minutes.  I missed the Redskins game but got to do and see what the “Redskins” might have done and seen 300 years ago.

The only half way decent picture I got…a much smaller Great Blue Heron that those I normally see.

Hot, crotch pot cooking hot, as I think Robin Williams said in “Good Morning Vietnam.”  Nonetheless paddling up the river even in the hot sun felt good.  There was a bit of a breeze which I thought was working against me with the current as I went upstream.  For whatever reason or my lack of direction, the breeze was blowing back against me as I headed back down river.  Murphy, eh?

I believe this is a Double-breasted Cormorant.

While in Tidewater Virginia for my sister Kim’s wedding, my uncle Cliff and I headed off to Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).  Cliff meandered about amongst the dunes birding while I tried to do the same in my kayak out on the water.  Unfortunately for me, bird sightings were few and far between…thankfully, so were the bird droppings.  I did get a great paddle in a very beautiful area.

Also unfortunate for both Cliff and me were the chiggers.  I never got them before and do not want to get them again.  These little arachnids burrow into your skin and hang on until you can asphyxiate them by covering the bites with nail polish or toothpaste.  The bites itch like crazy.  I thought I had poison ivy and was somewhat relieved to find it was chiggers.  I am still up and down, now, about which affliction was worse.

Using the map I got I was not sure exactly how much water I covered but I think it was minimal.    I have no idea at what rate I paddle and surely cannot judge distance on the water.  I bet one could spend days paddling around Back Bay before seeing everything.  I have included a few pictures.

View from a sheltered spot after a decent open water paddle:

Is it my treet?

A different perspective:

Right…….

Even the trees are asking to be bored to death.

I was in Suffolk, VA, early last month for my sister Kim’s wedding (more on that later).  For those of you who don’t know Suffolk, it is in southeastern Virginia…often called Tidewater Virginia…and water is everywhere.  Kim lives just a block or two from the Nansemond River and a few miles from Bennett’s Creek.  I have put my kayak in the at Bennett’s Creek Park and at Bennett’s Creek Marina.  When I put in at the marina last year, I paddled out to the confluence of the Nansemond River through the salt marsh where I saw numerous Osprey, herons, gulls, and terns.

This year when I put in at the park, I paddled upstream against the tide.  That did not seem too strenous but when I turned around to paddle back and found the journey to be nearly effortless, I realized I must have been working pretty hard to get upstream.  I went as far up the creek as I could until I ran out of deep enough water.  En route I encountered numerous Great Herons, a couple Green Herons, many Osprey, and two Kingfishers.  On the way back down to the park I snapped a few pictures which are included here.

Great Egret Taking Flight

River Views

I went out to kayak on Bull Run Creek early yesterday afternoon and got caught in a wicked thunder and lightning storm. I saw it coming but have not been out paddling much this summer and felt the need. Plus, I had packed everything up and headed off to my launching point without paying any attention to the weather. I figured I owed it to myself to get totally soaked for not thinking ahead and checking it out.

I had a really great paddle…but as soon as I first got on the water, I realized I needed to get close to the shore where the tall trees were so I wasn’t sitting in the middle of a body of water like a lightning rod. Once I got to the shore, on which I really could not land because it was too steep, I pulled in under an old derelict dock which protected me from a good part of the downpour.

I still got cold and wet and had to soak up the water accumulating in the bottom of my kayak with a towel and wring it out over the side. I have found that having a small towel on board can come in handy for things like that.

This is what my view was for at least 30 minutes.

Rain On You Crazy Droplets.

Truly in my elements.

The weather got better. I was in and out of sprinkles for an hour or so after I broke out of my shelter but eventually the sun came back out. It worked out perfectly for me since I never got too hot. I didn’t see a single person during my adventure accept for two guys in ponchos on a fishing boat coming down the river in the pouring rain. I am not even sure if they saw me hiding out underneath the dock. No waves were exchanged, other than those on the water and their wake. No catfish or dolphins were hurt.

I saw numerous Great Blue Herons, a few Green Herons, some Ospreys including an immature, Kingfishers, Killdeer, Great and/or Snowy Egrets, deer (which I rarely see from the trails in that area), and the always present Mallard Ducks and Canadian Geese.

I saw one Turkey Vulture flying up to its perch high up on a tree on the way up river. (The tree was not on its way upriver, I was.) On the way back down I saw two more sitting in a tree branch high above me. I guess they figured I was a goner. Wrong!

The calm after the storm.

Great Blue Heron on the run.

And, on this muddy reflecting pool, we have the Bull Run Memorial Tree.

As is fairly common, the DC hot and humid summer is upon us with a storm…no pun intended. We had a very wet, relatively cool spring which of course makes the transition to deep summer very uncomfortable. Memorial Day I was camping under clear skies at which time the temps were in the low 80’s at the highest.

Since the previous Saturday we have had torrential rains, including one with strong winds, up to 65 MPH, skies as dark as I have ever seen them in the daytime, tornado sightings, one death, and, in the past few days, temperatures in the high 90’s. The previous Saturday I got drenched walking 50 feet from the grocery store to my car. Last Tuesday I got soaked from the waist down riding home from work on my motorcycle.

And yet, the previous Sunday, I was fortunate enough to meet up with my friend Buz and a few of his friends at Jack’s Boathouse on the Potomac River in Georgetown. We kayaked up river for about an hour and then eased back on down. The weather, early in the day, was perfect. We saw a number of Great Blue Herons and Mallards and at least one Kingfisher.

Buz and Amanda upriver from Jack’s

View from near Jack’s of the Key Bridge with the Washington Monument in the background

Yesterday paddling up the Potomac from the boat landing at Algonkian Regional Park in Sterling, VA was nearly as good. Had I been other than by myself and had the weather been a bit cooler, it would have been perfect. Once again a saw a few Great Blues, Mallards, and Kingfishers.

Love That Dirty Water, DC, You’re My Home…upstream fm Algonkian Park boat landing

The hot weather continues today…I am not sure what the future holds…afraid to check. Suffice to say that the conditions are likely to continue for the foreseeable future and wreak havoc on my energy bill!