Spring Wildlife

I love encountering wildlife when I go hiking and backpacking and kayaking. Those are the activities that most often put me in a situation where I can get photographs of wild animals. When I can't go hiking or backpacking I find that it's very easy for me to go kayaking in Mountain Island Lake which is just a couple of miles from my house. There I can see all sorts of critters from raccoons, deer, snakes and turtles, and dragonflies, to a staggering array of birds.

One of my favorite birds is the Great blue heron. For one thing, it's an animal that does not seem to be in any way under threat from pressure from humans. I see them all over the place. From wild open lakes in swamps and bayous when I'm kayaking, to rivers, to creeks in suburban neighborhoods, to Mountain Island Lake where I take my kayak (and camera).

One year one of my close friends (who is also, like me, a dinosaur buff) insisted that he had spotted a pterodactyl. No, he was not kidding. He was completely convinced that he had spotted one in the sky above his house. I tried to tell him that he had likely seen a Great blue heron, but he was having none of that. It was a pterodactyl, by God! Finally, a few days later he saw the same bird land in a neighborhood pond and called to tell me that I'd been right.

Still, they sort of are theropod dinosaurs (even if pterosaurs were not dinosaurs).

I was digging through old photos from a kayak trip I took on the lake last summer and enhanced some photos I took of what I think is the heaviest Great blue heron I have ever encountered. He did not like me one little bit because I interrupted his fishing trip and he had to fly across the lake to get away from me, croaking loudly about the inconvenience as he passed in front of my kayak. Screw you, human!

So here are the photos that I fiddled with to darken because it was a terribly bright, hot day and the raw photos are frankly not that impressive.

This was shot soon after I accidentally disturbed him. Initially he moved into the brush from the lake shore hoping I'd paddle on by.

Finally he got angry and took wing.

And he let me know what an asshole I was. "GRAK!" They sound about like you'd think a giant predator bird would sound.

He headed away.

Just before he got too far away for me to effectively photograph. 

You can kind of understand why my old pal could think it was a pterosaur.

Kayaking Scares the Birds.

I went kayaking again today. This time I headed toward a wilder side of Mountain Island lake where there are fewer homes and also where the Cowan Ford Wildlife Refuge is located. Not a lot of people visit the Refuge. Parts of it are off limits to humans, and no hunting is allowed. So the animals are more skittish and shy than in places where they are accustomed to people.

Today almost all of the birds I encountered did not like me around and let me know it. They all complained loudly when I'd come into view or close proximity. Some of them did not tolerate my presence and took wing and left me sitting there alone. Even the Canada geese at the refuge were shy--and the geese around here are not normally known for being afraid of people. But these were. Instead of flying away they just went ashore and vanished into the forest, taking their goslings with them.

Once again I saw an osprey and was not able to photograph it. It, too, headed off and left me fumbling with my lenses as it vanished.

Shy critters!

This fellow is THE biggest Great blue heron I have ever seen! He was enormous! Also, he gave me the stink-eye and took off!

He croaked at me and snapped his bill open and shut as he took his leave. He was pissed OFF!

This Red wing blackbird sat still just long enough for me to take a few photos, of which this is the best one. He also told me to go to Hell and left me floating on the lake.

Not sure what species of duck this is. But he muttered angrily at me as I beached my kayak to photograph him. Then he left in a huff.

Generally speaking, the local Canada geese are a nuisance. They will hang around you and bug you for handouts or attack you to get the hell out of their way. Not these. They took their babies out of the water and headed inland, glaring at me all the while.

Again, these turtles took offense at my presence and plunged into the lake, one by one.

This guy, though...this little dragonfly landed on the front of my kayak and refused to leave. He stayed with me practically the whole day. Even after I beached the kayak!! I had to poke him with my finger to get him to leave so that he didn't get hurt when I loaded my kayak!

I might post some video of the kayak trip tomorrow.

Uh oh...

I took Carole and Andy to Mountain Island Lake today so that they could go kayaking. I didn't feel like kayaking because it was just way the hell too hot and humid for that. So I drove over to a nearby wildlife refuge to see if I could spot some birds. They are trying to restore a native grassland there and you're not supposed to cross into it. They have a viewing area that you are to use to try to photograph wildlife. While I was on the viewing overlook I noticed two guys hiking around the wetland portion of the restoration project. Probably they were not supposed to be there. I had my telephoto lens on the camera and was taking photos of the area and they wandered into the shots. When I cropped one of the shots I saw that they had noticed me taking photos that obviously included them. They did not look happy.

Cowan's Ford Wildlife Refuge. Grassland restoration which is posted against trespass.

That bastard is taking photos!

Mountain Island Lake

Carole and I took the canoe over to Mountain Island Lake today. The lake is one of the sources of Charlotte's drinking water. It's also only a mile from Carole's mom's house. When we go, we always access the lake from Latta Plantation Park, which is a county-run park. As county parks go, it's very nice. Superlative, I'd have to say. It has a nature museum, a historic exhibit (the Latta Plantation Home) and the Carolina Raptor Center where birds of prey are rehabilitated. And several hundred acres of woods and shoreline providing trails for horseback riding, hiking, and canoe/kayak launching. Lots of good fishing, too. It's a great county park and I can't say why we don't spend more time there. It's also a short jog from Carole's family church.

We spent the lion's share of today canoeing around the shoreline. We put in at around 11:00 am, thinking that we needed to beat the after-church crowds. However, as things turned out, the park never got that crowded, at all. There were some speedboats and skiers on the lake, a few jet-skis, but mainly other canoes and kayaks. It was nice not having to worry about getting run down by speed demons on motorboats.

We went to one of our favorite places on the lake--a series of boulders at the water's edge (and in the water) where we went swimming and sunbathing. After that we headed back to the canoe launch where we'd parked the truck and returned to Carole's mom's place where we grilled chicken and had supper. It was a day well spent.

Early in the paddle. We actually passed between these two rocks in the lake. I was hoping for sirens, but all we saw was big piles of bird poop.

One of the rocky beaches where boaters like to pull up.

This was taken as we paddled beside a big rock formation called Buzzard's Rock. They have a nice overlook platform built on top.

A huge boulder at our favorite lakeside spot. The young ladies on the right thought I was taking their photograph, I suspect.

I took the Kodak waterproof camera, as I did not want to risk any damage to the Canon. One nice option is being able to take it out in the water where I got this perspective.

We swam across the lake at this point.

Underwater shot. Murky water nothing like the clarity of the springs of Florida.

The flat rock where we like to sunbathe.

This spot was weird. We noted a park bench in the woods. Once there, it became obvious that the bench was on a now-abandoned trail forgotten by the park. The bench probably only sees occasional use from people like us who spot it from the water.

This shot made me wish I'd had the Canon with me. A Great blue heron in flight. But of course I lost all the detail with the cheap little waterproof camera.