Those gators are cool!
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I want to visit where canoeswithduckheads has been.
They migrate to Florida in the winter. “One” yes unusual.
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We have Lots of them in SC, and I mean Lots!
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Lol. Yeah one would be considered unusual I suppose. I was in Florida a few years ago and noticed there were “quite a few” around.
Bryozoans and ole Black Vultures.
Globs and slobs it’s some strange culture,
to carrion beside such mess,
phyto zyto things of Steve McQueen’s duress.
And, jyak. I’m not sure you want to visit where I’ve been. It’s sort of a Divine comedy where Divine is a cross-dressing friend of John Waters crossed with a raspy stagecoach driver named Andy (or did I just say Harvey Fierstein?). As the stagecoach rolls past the town of Inferno, which is a complete burnout, because the pilot was never lit (but that doesn’t stop the gasflow from stinking up the place), the two back wheels come off, and now, stuck in an arse-heavy chariot, the sparks generated by the scraping rear axle braces set off those gasjets, and thus we go jetting, or, mixing in bad ballet, jete’ into Purgatorioburg. a seven-terraced town much like Pittsburgh on a Monday morning, after the Steelers lost a home game to the Ravens 33 to 3.
But hey! Hang in there jyak! We’re all just trying to paddle our way into the Paradiso of our allegoric assumptions. It’s just some of us our using Pelicans and inflated flamingos and whatnots (in keeping with the generally discussed Wildlife theme of this here thread), so it may take a bit longer. And, damn that Dante and all, I still harbor hope for a redemption, and, that shall likely be the next fine wildlife photo somebody posts up here.
Or, might I suggest the backbay stretches of Assateague National Seashore, or the upper Potomac’s Paw-Paw bends, or…well, you’ll get there.
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Agree, but I’m still curious, so I wait for the next edition. Yes. I get it, I watched Apocolypse Now, but I can only paraphrase: Today I took a trip up the Gunpowder. It was like going into the heart of an immense garden. Back in time when trees ruled Supreme and vegetation rioted on earth . . . When I headed east, I looked around, and there wasn’t one fisherman, not one fisherman . . . And I could smell that smell, that fresh air smell. Smelling that smell . . . Made me think . . . Of . . . Solitude! Yeah. Yeah. Over played, but I like Joseph Conrad novels.
Hey everybody, this was one of the last sites that I visited. I’m OK with vacation shots, but as I scrolled through, Canoeswithduckheads doesn’t seem so scary anymore. I think, know . . . that his real space is somewhere between the lines. Waiting for us to find it.
This thread made me look closer at everything I saw and everything I could smell. I picked a daisey with a green center and drooping yellow leave and smelled it. It just had a clean leaf smell. I saw elderberry and remembered late July, early August was the time of the fireman parade and carnival. My mother made jelly with them, mixed with blackberries. Where are blackberries . . . They’re on the east Bank, crawling with large black ants. Then a heart shaped leaf with feather blossoms. Choke cherries, in red green and black draping a tree in a scarlet drape. A bright splash of orange from two double petal day lilies; two plants, one, two, three buds. Maybe two days before they won’t be seen for another year. Reminds me of a trip last month, when I saw a cluster of miniture yellow water Irises; a week later, only one bloom remained. Delicate red spike flower stalks, here and there. They would be lost in a formal garden, but here they announce their presence in a stubborn way. I think, orange Touch me Nots. Even a honeysuckle shrub caught my attention - no tangle, no choking tendrils. Just a compact shrub, as if trained to be there. Then something out of place - soft evergreen needles, maybe not evergreen. Because they’re to soft and new. The tree is in the water. Can’t be. Could it be. Shouldn’t be, a bald cypress. Not here. They stop somewhere around Virginia. But it’s true. Two paddlers I encountered said there’s a pair planted by a family on their waterfront. I got news, the trees had two babies, or they planted two more. I thanked them and returned the favor by pointing out the sparse wild rice colony along the bank. I was relieved, because I thought the groupings I had seen in the past had been overgrown by that 12 ft ornamental grass that invades the marsh. A Button Bush is gone; one of only two that I know existed in this area. Eagle perched in her tree. But the finest display was the Hibiscus garden, out in profusion. predominantly white, with a mix of light and rich pink.
All there for a snapshot of time. If I were to promote kayaking or canoeing, not posh boats or fancy gear, but your picture on this thread would lead with the captiin: see all this and more . . . You don’t need much. Not even a camera, or a good boat. The two women and a man that I crossed paths with had two beat up old discards with molded plastic seats, and the other paddler had a worn out 120 Pungo that the man in it drove with a vengeance. For many of us, it’s just outside out door. I’ve seen this area before, but not in such splendid detail. Thanks for sharing.
Does anyone know what kind of ducks these are? They hung out very close to me at the marina this morning when I was getting ready to paddle. They are the only pair I see in this area with this coloring. (Crappy iPhone photo.)
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They look like a possible cross of a wild duck with a Muscovy duck. Perhaps Black duck, more likely a Mallard, but I don’t know.
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They’re pretty little things, and not at all shy of people. I was wondering if perhaps they were dumped domestic ducks. I’m very familiar with the ducks that live on this stream and there are no others like these two that I have seen.
I think you are probably right that they might have been dumped, but they aren’t a pure Muscovy. When I was a kid we had a couple Muscovy ducks where we lived on a lake near Tampa. They would imprint on you and follow you around when they were little ducklings. They would swim right next to my head when in the water swimming.
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How adorable! I love baby ducks. It’s been fun watching all the growing families this Summer.
I really loathe people who dump animals in their care. I hope these ducks will be okay this Winter if that is the case… There is one other unusual duck in the area that is always, always alone, and I haven’t been able to identify his/her breed, either. I suspect it’s domestic. Grrr.
They look like a Peking cross - We kept Indian runners years ago and one, “the odd duck”, looked like these.
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I think you are right! Do you think domestic ducks like this will do okay in the wild? If I need to feed them all Winter, I will.
Flightless ducks are literally “sitting ducks” - unless somehow enclosed/protected from predators, chances of survival in the wild, dismal. We kept our ducks in a fenced area and a homemade doghouse - after a week, there was hardly a blade of grass. Nice but messy pets Have fun feeding them live crickets and earth worms in the summer.
Well I learned there is no local duck rescue… (Yes, I’m a bleeding heart.) Poor ducks. But lucky predators I guess
There is the timelessness
of turtles
basking in relentless sun
or plopping off
limbs and trunks
to dive in icy depths
a shell game
with its ghosts
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I saw a cute little guy Friday. An exaggerated long S type neck. Reminded me of a brown swan with an angular head. Skittering very herby Jerky with exaggerated motions. Large for a young water fowl, but acted more like it was trying to attract my attention to distract me away from a nest. Never saw the likes before.