We decided to head up to Kokadjo to visit with Dad, pick Raspberries (The best fruit ever) and to possibly kayak. This weekend was the start of August and it’s near two week straight of warm weather- nearly the first all Summer. The weather was 78 with mostly clear blue skies and sporadic southern breeze.

We arrived to the camp at around 2PM, talked for a few minutes and then Dad brought us into an area that had a lot of Raspberries; and area that I wanted to show Robin as she has never visited Big Lyford Pond. We started picking in an area that look like it had been cleared (trees cut down) a few years ago and the trees, plant life, etc. Within an hour we had about a quart of berries between the both of us, we moved on to a similar area down the road and continued picking until Robin came across fresh Bear poop and moved further down the road where we found a good sized berry patch as well as blue berries. Altogether we picked about 3 quarts of Raspberries and a 1/2 cup of Blueberries after about 2 hours- normally in that time frame we’d pick about 6 quarts or so.

(more…)

Today provided us with mostly clear skies in the high 70’s bordering 80’s; so after church Robin and I headed to Sunkhaze Meadows. The last time we were there we hiked a long a couple of trails so this time I wanted to kayak Sunkhaze Stream. When we arrived, there was no boat landing which was expected since it’s a Wildlife preserve so we parked next to a small bridge and carried our kayaks down the side of the bridge. While putting in I said the Robin that this is the type of steam I really enjoy, it’s not too wide, varies from 5-10ft and has just enough current to slowly move you along. Once in the water the current took a hold of us and slowly taxied us through bends and curves through its lush canopies and shore-lined dunes of grass and plant life. Each bend brought different sights of interest; fallen logs, boulders, open areas with tall grass and sporadic varying trees. For the most part there was very little wildlife to be seen besides a Sandpiper, female Wood ducks and a Beaver.

No man-made noises could be heard, only the sounds of lightly flowing water, a cool breeze whisping through tress and over long dune grass, and the sounds of chickadees, American Goldfinches, quacking ducks, Cedar Waxwings and the flapping of Dragon fly wings. We had an excellent leisurely afternoon kayak trip; the only thing missing was a kayak picnic. I have wanted to take a photo of my gear in my kayak so you can see how it’s carried- eventually I am going to get an inflatable sealable bag for it.

June normally is such a beautiful month that brings pretty sunrises and sunsets, the mating of animals and display of their young that follow, blooming Lupines, and calm warm days. This was not the case for 21 of the 30 days of June; those 21 days consisted of rain, cold cloudy days and thunderstorms. The 9 days that we experienced Summer were great though; and those are the days I will focus on.

On the 2nd; after work Robin and I headed down to the nearby stream to take part in its calming beauty. On our way, Robin noticed a rabbit eating grass in the ditch, I promptly said, “Pull over!” We parked on the opposite side of the road and watched the Snowshoe Rabbit eat the grass and clover all the while it twitched its nose and flapped its ears in the warm breeze as the sun shown through its skin ignoring our shutters, clicking frame after frame. After a few minutes, another rabbit hopped out into the road and ran past us only to stop in another area that instead of eating grass it ate Dandelions. A few minutes later we put in and leisurely kayaked down the bends of the stream taking in the warm sun and the sounds of life that the setting sun always awakens. I can’t help but look at even the most simple life and photograph its beauty. I noticed that the sun licked Dune grass resembled a field of Wheat. Later on we came across people fishing in their kayaks, one lady had two fish strung up on the side of her Old Town Otter when suddenly a Loon popped up in front of me and beside her, and tempted to grab one of the fish. I believe this is the same Lone Loon that Robin and I saw last month. One of the fisherman said that a Beaver had slapped its tail against the water nearby so we set out to find it, however the hunt was unsuccessful, but we did get to explore a portion of the stream we normally don’t traverse. On our way back to the car, I looked back at Robin photographing something- I couldn’t help but take a photo of her as she looked cute.

We decided to head up to Dad’s camp on Roach Pond in Kokadjo after Church on the 7th. The weather was nice off and on; when we first arrived the skies were blue and the sun was out as you can see here at 1st branch. We decided to put in at 2nd branch; the weather started out fairly decent, however as we started to progress across the pond the wind picked up with a strong steady gust on our backs. We explored a small stream and ate our snack in hopes that during that time the wind would die down, but to our dissatisfaction it did not. We fought hard to paddle against the wind and splashing waves for about 25 minutes until we reached the shoreline- at that point the wind died down. We did spot our Siggs in the wild. On our drive back through the campground Robin spotted a Partridge. We sat in the car watching the bird kick up dirt; I believe it may have been building a nest.

(more…)

Another month has gone by without many posts; this may be the trend until I finish up some of the projects I have been working on lately. I’ve been going through all of my photos and re-editing them, retagging them and reorganizing the folder structure. I am also working on writing a coffee table book and hope to have it published this winter. The month of May was a good month weather-wise and event wise for us.

During the first week of the month, on May 2nd, Robin and I went kayaking for a second time, this time after work; we put in at Sedgeunkedunk Stream as the sun was on its descent; my favorite time of the day to photograph other than in the early morning due to its golden light. The stream itself was full of life thanks to May’s warm weather; through every bend of the stream dune grass, lily pads and other aquatic life were spurting up, providing food and cover for wildlife. I thought I had spotted a beaver gnawing at some young poplars on the shoreline so I paddled over to investigate when I heard Robin call me over in which I ignored- by the time I finished with the unseen beaver Robin had paddled over and showed me some photos she took of a Lesser Yellowleg birds. We paddled back to the area where they were spotted, on a small mound of grass surrounded by water feeding on bugs; I was able to snap a few shots and thought the lighting was excellent.

Every time Robin and I go out kayaking I keep telling her we should get a set of walk-talkies or some sort of headset as we are always drifting away from each other in search of something interesting; however if I did I would be afraid of it slipping off my head and into the water. Further down the stream I spotted several Red Winged Blackbirds perched on top of an unknown aquatic plant. I find them to be a very interesting bird- I enjoy their call the most despite that when I was younger they annoyed me when trying to find turtles in a nearby pond. While paddling down an offshoot of the stream I spotted a Canadian goose acting as a sentry on what appeared to be a nest as the other one attempted to draw us away. We sat about 50 feet away watching, photographing and listening to their wonderful deep honking.

(more…)