Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Bird Nerd...

I'm not really much of a bird watcher.  I don't log what I've seen; don't know the names of all of them.  But, they are a delight to see in their environment.

What a morning!  65º around 7:00.  Bright blue sky.  Low humidity.  Almost no breeze.  Yes, a great start to the day and a perfect morning for a paddle.  I put the board in the water, strapped on the leash, and shoved off from the dock.  First thing I noticed, besides the glorious weather: some small jellyfish in the canal.  I generally don't see these here, but this morning, a passed a half dozen or so as I made my way down the canal.  Little bitty things.

My usual paddleboard routine is a lap or three in our canal.  If the wind is blowing, either heading away from the dock or coming back to it is a workout.  This morning, it was easy to just keep going... I made the turn at the end of our canal, heading east to what is generously called "the lake."  It is a shallowly dredged area that is at the end of the third canal over from ours.  More like a pond.  Well, maybe a wide spot at the end of the canal.  I have kayaked in there, but never seen a boat in that area.

This morning, it was Bird Central.  No, I didn't take a camera with me - I need both hands for the paddle.  First bird that stood out (besides the seagulls) was an osprey; it was munching on the remains of a fish.  More seagulls.  A great blue heron.  Several white ibis (ibises?).  The seagulls took off when I got close, the other birds pretty much ignored me.  (That guy?  He can barely balance on that board - he isn't a threat.)  A great egret.  And a couple other birds I don't know the name of.  We used to carry a laminated sheet in the boat... not much in the way of holders on the board.  ;-)

I was thinking about a comment from my buddy Pat as I paddled back towards home: seems he was concerned that a trip or two to the Dairy Queen might mess with my physique.  Sure would be handy if I could paddle to the Dairy Queen - I could burn off the calories on the way there and back!  ;-)  I could maybe make it within a block or two of the land-locked DQ, but not sure where I'd secure the board.  Nah, it will be easier to just take the scooter.

No photos of my paddling trek, but Joan did take these on my way back to our dock...



Not much of a wake behind me... I'm going to say it is because of my technique rather than particularly slow speed.  ;-)


2 comments:

MarkJ said...

Time to get a go pro and attach it somewhere during your paddles. That way you'll have proof you made it past your next door neighbors. Any new news on an RV? The OKC RV Show was lousy this year unless you had a few hundred thousand to spend. Not like a few years ago.

Captain Jim and the Blonde said...

Hi Mark. I have a GoPro... what I do on the paddleboard doesn't qualify as "extreme." ;-) Is that slow-motion video??

No, that's the way I paddle. LOL

Haven't found anything, yet, on the RV front. Right now, we are getting some work done on the house and dock.