Peaceful Paddle

Late one evening at the end of June, my friend Theresa and I, drove to my favorite place to kayak: Lake Martin. She was taking a lesson from Pack and Paddle, so I hitched a ride with her.

Kayaking relatively late in the evening - 5:45 to 7:45 - was a most pleasant experience. Since I was alone (Theresa was with the P&P group), I stayed in the open areas instead of paddling through the abundant cypress. Alligators were croaking, but thankfully I never saw any. Being alone and mostly floating, I was able to get pretty close to the wildlife. A great experience!

Great Egret

Charming sign in the lake. Many people hate that the lake has become so touristy,
but it doesn't bother me.

American Lotus or Yellow Lotus

Male Anhinga drying his wings.

Male Anhinga vocalizing.

Female Anhinga

Tourists

Juvenile Little Blue Heron eating grub worms from the lily pads.

Female Red-winged Blackbird trying to scare me away or warn the others.

Lake Martin Mish-Mash

Sunday morning we lounged around doing our usual: drinking coffee and having our routine discussion which always begins with a question: "What are we going to do today?" We are always eager to go somewhere, so the only thing stopping us would be the weather. The apps we consulted with weren't too favorable; at any rate, we threw caution to the wind, threw on some shorts without even showering first (unusual for us), and drove west to Lake Martin/Cypress Island Preserve. I really didn't expect to see much, and as I figured, the nesting egret/heron numbers were vastly diminished from the prior few months. There were a few little blue herons still nesting and that was about it. I always feel I am boring you with my chit-chat, so let's just get down to business.

First thing I saw as we drove in, a Great Blue heron.

Dragonfly resting spot. See him? I've read that they drink alligator tears.

Baby Little Blue heron

Alligator Gar.
Double D noticed a family (school?) of these in a side canal. He first thought it was an alligator,
but we soon realized it was a fish. The Park Ranger told us it was a garfish; however, that is incorrect.
I tried so hard to get a crisp shot of their ferocious teeth, but they are SUPER FAST.
One can certainly see how this fish got its common name.

Another baby Little Blue with a meal. I think it's a large tadpole.

Possibly a Slaty Skimmer dragonfly.

Abandoned boat on the lake.

Cypress Island Boardwalk.

More photos of our day to come. Stay tuned!

Linking up with Tex's

And also with Anni's

Frazzled

Our trip to Lake Martin last Saturday was so much fun. Although the nesting bird population has decreased there's still an abundance of little blue herons, some great egrets, a few nesting spoonbills, and a lone green heron.

Below was the interaction I caught between a little blue heron mother (blue/purple) and her demanding offspring (white). Poor mom.

MahMaaaaahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where ARE you????

Maybe he won't find me in this tree.
Uh oh. I hear him. Crikey, he spotted me.

(Mama flies to an adjacent tree with Junior in hot pursuit)

Mama!! Stop flying away from me. How dare you! I'm hungry!!!!!!!!

Junior, it's time to fend for yourself. I can't do it for you forever.

Feed me!!

Don't make me get violent with you, mama!

Whoa, Junior. Overreaction much?

But mama, I'm so hungry.

Nope. Not feeding you.

Mama, don't be like that.

Junior, I love you, but it's time. Past time.

Hey! Anybody down there have some extra grub to spare?

Bird parenting is fascinating to observe. It exhausts me just watching them. They are devoted to their young, yet firm when it's time for the babes to leave the nest. 

I have so many photos to post! Hope you enjoyed this series. Have a great weekend and see y'all on Monday.

Baby Blues

On the last day of May we drove to Lake Martin, taking my youngest son with us. Below are the little blue heron youngsters. Not sure of their age, but certainly old enough to start foraging for themselves. Notice the green legs and blue feathering on the rump; these are indicative of the juvenile little blue heron.

Sharing with Anni's I'd Rather B Birdin'. Please click the link and visit more birds around the world.

Good Friday

The day I had been looking forward to finally arrived: kayaking with my cousins on Good Friday. We couldn't have asked for a prettier day. Highlights were seeing four alligators, a hairy brown spider as big as my fist swimming in the water, birds galore, and just plain ol' relaxing.

These are some of the last shots with the Canon SX50. If you missed my earlier post, I had to return the camera because I couldn't use the viewfinder. You can get quality photos with that camera, but you need a lot of light and a tripod. If you're missing either of those elements, it's not good. Can't use a tripod in a rocky kayak.

Tyler, my second cousin

Eric, Tyler's brother

Immature little blue heron hunting

Brent, my first cousin and the father of Tyler and Eric

I kayaked right up to this little blue heron--about 3 feet away. He wasn't bothered
by my presence one bit!

This was shot with Bertha.
We saw a total of 4 gators; 2 in the water and 2 on the bank.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! We have no plans, so let's see what kind of trouble we can get into. The weatherman predicts a beautiful weekend, so I'm sure we'll be out enjoying nature somewhere. My heart goes out to those in the path of the tornadoes and floods. God bless.

Little Boy Blue

Images of the little blue heron from our recent weekend trip to Lake Martin, LA. I will preface this by letting you know the light was bad and the nesting site was a few hundred feet away, so it was a challenge to shoot. I'm trying to talk Double D into returning this weekend. Negotiations are a little tense, but I have a good feeling I will get my way. :)

When I shot this I had no idea an alligator was sneaking up behind.
The gator must've sailed past because I didn't hear or see a commotion.