I got to the club around 2 and after a few hellos to friends who were there, I got my stuff together and got ready to head out for a nice afternoon of seeing the ospreys in person. Pete P. happened to turn up at the same time so we paddled together, I wasn't up for organizing anything today but it's always nice to have company.
We did a big loop around the islands of the western section of the bay, ten miles or so, moving along at a good pace without much in the way of breaks. Dinner tasted really good and I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping tonight!
It was a gorgeous, gorgeous day out there, a few other kayakers were out, plus a couple of fishing boats and there were tons of people on the trail around West Pond - including a couple who'd brought their kitty, 'cause what would a kitty like more than a trip to a bird sanctuary?
The photos below were all taken with my Optio. I had the Panasonic with the zoom lens with me and when one of the Canarsie Pol pair landed on the nest just as we passed by, I told Pete that I was going to land and get out the good camera to see if I could get a better shot - but just as we headed for shore the osprey flew off the nest and over to the shore, where it landed and started just walking around on the beach like a seagull. At that point I figured that if we landed it would scare the bird, who looked very relaxed picking at something on the waterline, so we paddled on. Tons of ospreys - there was one flying overhead before I even left the dock!
BTW, the osprey photos remind me of a rather funny Tugster post when Will was complaining about how hard it is to take a picture of a boat without some pushy famous landmark photobombing your efforts. It was a lovely clear day. Pete and the NYC skyline was intentional. The final picture with the flock of brants and the NYC skyline was intentional. I didn't realize I was getting WTC1 and the Empire State Building in my osprey shots until I got home!
No more writing after this, you can click on the first picture and view them in the slide show version without missing anything.
4 comments:
saw your photo on http://offmetro.com/ny/2014/03/31/day-trips-from-nyc/
Thanks for the heads-up! They did credit me and link, that's all I usually ask for.
I don't think I would take my cat... firstly I would be frightened it would run off and not be found again.
Oh, the cat we had when I was a kid would've left you bleeding and been so very, very gone. I was amazed at the placidity of this guy.
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