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Warm weather is here! Trips this month: 3
4/11/08 After experiencing the severe abdominal pain on my last trip out I made a couple of visits to the Mayo Clinic and was assured each time that it was most likely just a bad muscle pull and that if it was anything else - like broken ribs - that the only cure was going to be time. When I asked about kayaking I was assured that I couldn't do any further damage and if I could handle it then by all means get my exercise fix in. With the tides low, the only place I could go after work was Pumpkin Hill so I headed that way after a long day at work. The outage is coming to an end and I haven't had a day off in weeks and with startup looming the days are only going to get longer before I get another day off but I really felt the need to hit the water and at least see if my abdominal pain was healing. A few seconds into my trip I knew the answer and it wasn't the one I wanted to hear. The pain was excruciating and I could never find a position that was comfortable. I made myself stay out for an hour and stayed pretty close to the put-in as I tried to grit my teeth and tough it out but finally I gave up and headed home. With my hours increasing at work and breezy conditions in the forecast it looks like it may be a few weeks before I get back on the water.
4/25/08
The outage ended a couple of days ago and it seemed as if the pain in my side started feeling better as soon as we went online. I've spent the last several weeks hunched over circuit diagrams and computer screens as we checked out the new SCR systems and that seemed to aggravate my condition. As the checkout ended I was able to spend more time on my feet and the pain got better as a result and I was anxious to see if that translated to kayaking.
I took a leisurely morning getting a chance to sleep in for the first time in a month and made it to the put-in at 7:30 - just as the tide reached it's low point at Pumpkin Hill. As soon as I was in the water I knew that the pain was still there but was considerably better than two weeks earlier. It was still quite painful but for the most part I was able to grit my teeth and find a relatively comfortable position to paddle from. With the low water and calm winds the bird life was abundant as they fed in the shallows which enable me to focus on something other than my pain. As I rounded the bend near the trails I spotted a Great Blue Heron stalking something in the mud a few feet away so I pulled over to watch and shoot. As I watched he lunged and came up with a small snake or large worm - the same kind that I have seen the Blues come up with on many occasions in the past. I sat and watched as he shook his head vigorously as he tried to subdue the critter in order to swallow it. The snake fought back futilely, several times wrapping his body tightly around the birds beak. The Heron finally won the battle and the snake disappeared down his gullet followed by several gulps of water and I moved on.
The Black Skimmers were out for the first time that I have seen them this spring and I enjoyed watching them glide around in pairs just above the surface of the water. I headed toward the point and once there I decided to take a walk down the road to see the Osprey nest located south of the point. I was nearly the caretaker's trailer when I realized that not only was the nest missing but apparently, the tree where it resided had been blown down by the high winds we have had this spring. I returned to my boat and set off toward the put-in with the incoming current. The pain had increased in the two hours since I had started but it was bearable and the trip was an easy one. I've definitely got a long ways to get back to normal but this is a start. See the pictures from this trip
4/27/08
I decided to head to Guana this morning to see if my outing on Friday followed by a day of catching up on two months of yard work set me back any in my recovery from the abdominal injury that I am dealing with.
I arrived at the Six Mile Landing ramp just before 8:30 and found the water levels lower than they have been in nearly two years. As I loaded my boat a fat Marsh Bunny hopped out of the grass near the water and headed for the parking lot. As I got ready to shoot him, another much smaller one, hopped across the ramp a few feet from where I stood. I took a few shots of the rabbits and then set out toward the main channel. I watched as a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills flew to the north - the first sighting of these birds this year. My severe pain in the side returned as soon as I began stroking with my paddle but as with my trip on Friday I was able to find a comfortable position in which I could bear it so I pressed on. When I reached the main channel I decided to head to the south and the open end of the lake so that I could check out the Eagle's nest. I began seeing the Black Necked Stilts in abundance on the exposed mudflats who seemed to be noisily establishing their nesting territory.
As soon as I made the turn to the south I spotted something I have rarely seen in my years of paddling in Guana - a Least Bittern out in the open. These shy little cousins of the Green Herons are nearly impossible to spot and shoot since they spend most of their time pretending to be blades of grass and only become visible when they flush and fly off - usually well before I spot them. This little guy was stalking his morning meal along the edge of the mudflat well away from the safety of his cat tail fortress. I sat patiently watching and shooting him and it was obvious that he either was unaware of me due to the bright morning sun rising directly behind me or didn't care as he was busy snatching his food from the water. After several minutes and after filling up half of a memory card, I noticed another Bittern emerging from the grass and begin to stalk. I have to assume that this was the first Bittern's mate and I watched it as it slowly made it's way out in the open. I finally pushed off causing the second one to flush but as I cruised by the first one it never acknowledged my presence.
I soon began to see the first of many large Gators sunning themselves on the flats - a few of them sliding into the water as I passed but for the most part they were content to stay put. I spotted many more Stilts, who were often chasing each other around the area as they tried to establish their mating territory. I also spotted another pair of Bitterns out in the open as I made my way toward the Eagle's nest. When I got closer to the nest I could see a large mass of white in the shallow area along the eastern shoreline which turned out to be a large group of White Pelicans feeding together with some Great Egrets. It was far too shallow in that area to get closer so I continued on toward the group of pine trees where the Eagle's nest is located. While I was still a good distance away I saw some activity near the nest and with my binoculars I could see an adult Eagle chasing an Osprey. I couldn't tell if the Osprey had a fish or not so it could have been a case of the latter getting a little too close to the nest which gave me hope that chicks were present.
As I neared the area, an Adult Eagle flew up and perched on a branch in one of the trees adjacent to the nest. I could see the silhouette of another large Eagle sitting in the nest and from it's size I assumed that it was the other adult. As I got closer, however, I could see that it's head and beak were entirely black and I knew it was one of the youngsters popping it's head above the nest. The shallow water prevented me from getting very close to the base of the tree but I managed to get a few shots of the birds before I decided to head back.
As I pulled even with the area where I had seen the White Pelicans earlier, I noticed that a small group of them had worked their way over to the main channel and so I was able to get some good shots of them feeding. When I reached the channel that led to the ramp I spotted a pair of the big birds ahead of me and I spent some time following them before they finally decided to head back to where the larger group was feeding and I loaded up and headed home. It was a "GGD' - Great Guana Day! See the pictures from this trip
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