Early September adventures

During the first week of September mom stayed with Robin and I for half a week and the other half with her parent’s in Dexter. I took 5 days off, two Fridays, a Thursday and Monday. We tried to get out and enjoy the end of Summer’s weather which mostly was in the cool 70’s, by walking on the Orono campus trails of which Robin used to run on during her college years.

One day the three of us wanted to kayak so we loaded my kayak and our landlord’s tandem (two-seater) kayak on the car and drove down to Sedgeunkedunk Stream; Robin in front and mom in the back of the tandem and myself in my kayak. The weather was excellent that day with temperatures around 75 and a slight sporadic breeze. We made our way around way the first two bends in the stream that consisted mostly of thick difficult to traverse Water mill-foil; after that the water cleared up in the middle so that you could see down 4′ to the murky bottom. Robin called me over as she had spotted a young Painted Turtle basking in the sun while in the midst of algae- I was unable to capture it. Shortly after, I spotted another young Painted Turtle, but again was unsuccessful. We continued on, looking for any signs of wildlife and taking in the sun. We came across, what Robin and I had thought had passed for the year, a nice patch of Lilly Flowers. Later on, I spotted a female duck with two young offspring swimming behind her. At the half-way point, Mom spotted another turtle basking in the same manor as the previous two; I slowly paddled up to the turtle, it was a large male Painted Turtle- the second largest I have caught. Once I was next to the turtle in the water, it had submersed itself but I had reached down quickly to grab a hold of its shell. It’s carapace was in the process of shedding due to growth. I placed the turtle into my storage unit and we continued on our journey. Nearing the end of the stream a Great Blue Heron had swooped up in front of the tandem out of the cattail bushes and landed 15′ to the other side where I was able to snap a photo of it. We turned around shortly after; nearing our the last stretch, where I spotted a very young Painted Turtle, it must have been a year old- it was so light that it was sitting on top of a thick growth of algae which made it very easy for me to capture. We headed onwards where the same Heron was spotted earlier had relocated in hunt for fish. I was able to get a few shots of of the Heron up close and in the unsuccessful pursuit of fish. Once on land we stopped at a near by vacant house and took photos of the turtles to compare their size.

Second half of the entry:

Monday was Labor day which we both took off. Robin and I got up at 0345 in the morning to make it to Schoodic Point for the sunrise. When we arrived, the Eastern horizon was bright yellow/orange hue that dimly lit the rocky coastal shore of Schoodic Peninsula. In the distance you could hear the Ocean waves moving back and forth against the coast, the ringing of buoys and the screeches of Seagulls in the midst of this, I was able to spot an unknown Lighthouse, lobster boats and Seagulls soaring in the air. After 15 minutes the sun finally made an appearance. This was not the most beautiful sunrise I have seen but it definitely was pretty. Robin and I walked around the smooth stone covered beach for awhile in search for Crabs and shells until we decided to head over to her parent’s in the next town. We visited with her parents for awhile until a friend of the family called and invited us over to their house and then their camp. Upon arriving at the camp, which is on Jones Pond, Robin’s father told us about a pair of Bald Eagles that have a nest on one of the islands and told us to head out towards it on his Jet ski. I was a little hesitant due to how much equipment I had with me, but decided I would take the risk and drive fairly slow. Robin and I headed towards the island when we had spotted an Eagle on the first island atop a Pine tree; we circled the island to look for the best place to land. I had my new Keen sandals on so I got off the Jet ski when the water was about 3 feet deep so that we could safely land. Robin and I were able to get some really good close-up shots of the Eagle. Robin and the friend of the family came out to see how we were doing on a boat and told us to go to the other island as the other Eagle was near the nest; we headed towards the island, boarded and proceeded to walk through the dense vegetation when I noticed Robin had stirred up a Yellow Jacket’s nest on the ground. The hornets were buzzing around me; I told Robin to come back to the Jet ski but to go a different way and I walked away quickly with my hands in my sleeves to protect them, however, that did not stop one persistent hornet from stinging my hand. Thankfully I am not allergic to stings. We headed back to the camp, ate and fellow-shipped for the rest of the time.

Later on in the week, upon Mom’s return from staying with her parent’s, we visited Treworgy’s Farm which has goats, horses, hayrides, an Apple Orchard, Pumpkin patch and corn maze. We visited to pick apples and enjoy the last morning we’d have with each other for awhile.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 2:11 pm.