A CANOE TRIP CANCELLED AND A WARNING ABOUT SAVING PHOTOGRAPHS

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I had previously sold the Mistral 17.5 foot canoe due to its weight.  That canoe, as great as it was, is what contributed to a serious case of sciatica two summers ago.  I was continually lifting it to the top of the truck cap and placing it as above.  During the sciatica recovery I bought a canoe trailer to alleviate the necessity of lifting the heavy boat to such heights.  It worked fine.  I since decided to stick to one canoe after Douglas left me.  The big canoe was bought especially for him.  I kept the kevlar canoe which is only 43 pounds in weight.  That's not bad for a 16 foot canoe.  I can easily lift it to the top of the truck cap.

I had been dying to take a canoe ride on either Chilhowee or Calderwood lake and the weather for tomorrow is going to be perfect.  I mounted the canoe onto the truck and tied it down.  The camera stuff went on the front seat and the paddles in the back with all the other canoe stuff.  Chestnut hound and Happy terrier were hanging out with me while I loaded the stuff up.  Where was Shade?  I called her and she didn't come.  That isn't normal.  She is like velcro on me.  I called and called.  She wasn't upstairs in the computer room or the bed room either.  The garage was empty too.  I went to the dark laundry room and switched on the light.  There she was.  She was sitting in the furthest corner in the dark.  She just sat there.  I knew what the issue was.  I don't take her when I go with the canoe as she isn't trained to sit in the front.  She has to be right where I am sitting in the boat.  This is not a desirable situation.  In short she was crushed.  She knew she wasn't going with me in the morning and she was pouting.  Her heart was breaking.  How perceptive she is!  Its amazing.  When I go to work in the state truck she comes to the door with me and when I say stay she goes back upstairs to the bed room and lays down.  I went over and knelt down in front of her and put my arms around her and pulled her to me snugly and put my cheek against the side of her face. I squeezed her and rubbed her back.  She melted.  I said "treat" and everything was back to normal as we bolted up the stairs together to the kitchen for a biscuit.  I couldn't stand to see her hurt.

She followed me outside and watched while I removed the canoe from the truck and took it inside.  She watched as I took the canoe paddles out of the back and carried them into the house.  And she went nuts with excitement as she watched the red truck back up to the Gheenoe.   She bounced around like a little puppy with excitement.  Guess we'll be taking the motor boat tomorrow.  Yes, I said "we."

I care about her feelings more than anything as you can see.  I can take a canoe ride again next day off.  I'll be more discrete loading the canoe onto the truck.  I hate to do things to fool the dogs.  They offer only honesty and devotion and I just hate to deceive them.  Its my burden I guess.

Anyway - about the issue of saving photographs.  My computer picked up a very bad virus a week ago.  I noticed a email that said Fed X tried to deliver a package and no one was available to sign for it.  It went on to say I would have to pick it up.  I would need to email Fed X to get the pick up number and to find out where I had to go to get the package.  I was expecting a package as a matter of fact.  I clicked on the official looking Fed X email address and that was the click that ended my computer.  A key logger took over everything and a false virus program appeared on the screen that I couldn't remove or control.  I detached the internet cable immediately.  The thing about this is that my virus program caught it in my email.  But, the email looked so official that I felt an error was being made by my virus program, Avast.  Avast is one of the best and I can attest to that.  I didn't trust it and paid the price.  The computer had to be wiped clean and put back to "day one" condition.  I had almost all my files on external hard drives and Carbonite, on line file backup, had the rest.

A long story short - I got the computer back and set Carbonite to replace my files through their download process.  I have satellite internet connection and Hugh's.net is the company.  I can only use 250 megabytes a day.  So, I set my computer to "never sleep" and started the retrieval process with Carbonite.  The satellite communication is so slow that this is taking forever.  My computer has been running for three days and nights and all I have gotten back from Carbonite so far is the file folders and no files.  The constant downloading eats up the allotted usage time on my account.  I have to buy tokens at $5.50 each to gain more usage allowance.  This is going nowhere and I doubt I'll get my pictures back.  Carbonite is not the way to save photographs if you have satellite or Verizon 4G.  The usage allowances will be exceeded and the process a costly one.  The use of external hard drives is the only way to go.  Your photos are in your possession and not out in space somewhere.  I may never get my photos back.  There are over 60,000 of them.  I may take the computer to the office and see if I can hook up to their cable and leave the computer there until the downloads are complete.  I'll ask.

 Carbonite downloads all the file folders first.  Then it fills the folders.  The three orange lines in the snippet represent actual files being downloaded and placed into the folders.  The problem is that those downloads haven't changed in the past two days.  Its going nowhere.  At this rate it will cost a fortune paying for additional time on the satellite.  Satellite internet is the worlds worse and should be investigated by the Better Business Bureau.  I need to hook up to a cable somewhere to get my photos back.  I hope this all makes sense to you.  Its the price one pays for living in the country.  No cable internet.  Trust your virus software and don't open anything you're not familiar with.

The Gheenoe is hooked up and Shade got her way.  Tomorrow will be a nice get away day.  See you then.

ABOUT SHORE BIRDS

Green Heron

I think I have found and photographed all the species of birds that are represented on the French Broad River.  I find myself driving by many of them without reaching for the camera.  The green heron has forever eluded me and now I can find many whenever I desire.  Even the black crowned heron, an evening and night time bird, can not hide from me for long.  I learned how to find them by watching them and noticing where they land.  Each time I worked an area repetitively, I would check the places where I previously saw them and eventually I pinned down the areas they habitually visited.  The juvenile bald eagle was easy to locate.  He perched within a one hundred yard area high in the trees along the left shoreline of the river.  He was there each day I passed by.  He would fly directly across the river/lake to the opposite shoreline and turn right to fly downstream about a thousand feet and land in tall trees at that point.  Often times I would jump him on that side and he would fly back across the river to the tall trees well below the first place I saw him early in the morning.  In reality he was flying in a rectangular pattern at all times.  He covered huge expanses of lake but he followed the same flight plan daily.  Eventually I found his nest.

Osprey landing

Osprey in flight

A special challenge would be to discover the nesting places for the green and night crowned herons.  That would be very special.  No one ever talks about where they nest.  Its all about seeing and counting the birds.  I have a good idea where a group of green herons nest but I can't walk to the site as water has created a swamp in the area.  Its just as well as human intrusion is thwarted.  

  

Great Egret

I don't find one species of bird any more or less important than another.  I do have my favorites and there are some birds that make ones heart beat faster due to their dynamic, spectacular aerial gymnastics.  The bald eagle for instance exudes power and the fact he is our countries representative makes it a privilege to be able to gaze at him.  His legs are thick and tipped with needle sharp talons.  He wears a face that makes a statement.  "Don't cross me!"  He is a lion with wings.

The Osprey is the raptor's version of the cheetah.  He is very quick and makes lightning quick maneuvers when in flight.  He is fearless and will protect his young with his life.

The great egret is the white butterfly that gently floats above the water.  He is elegant and moves his great wings with precision as he moves from perch to perch.  Harmless and withdrawn - he adds the white detail to the green and brown shorelines that border the river.

There is one bird that reminds me of a little, old, cranky man who continually complains at the slightest cause.

He is the great blue heron.

He will stand for long periods of time as straight and still as the tree beside him.  His patience is endless in his search for food.  When the prey presents itself, he strikes quick as lightning with deadly accuracy.

However, he has very limited patience when it comes to human intrusion.  He will bolt into the air with powerful wing beats croaking loudly the whole time.  The croaks continue at times until he is well out of sight.

He is magnificent, albeit common but, his commonality does not in any way diminish his beauty and importance in the bird community.  The bird below is undergoing the molting process.  Notice the missing primary feathers on the back of his wings.  New feathers will be along shortly.

Below:  Why are all those black vultures hovering above me?  Do they know something I don't?

They soar endlessly on the thermal currents without flapping a wing.  All they have to do is hold their arms out to the side.  Pretty neat, huh?

Black vultures are the clean-up crew for the lakes.  They will eat any carrion they can find.  They are gregarious and are always found in the company of others.

This bird has a poor sense of smell and finds his dinner using sight only.  Without them the shorelines would be a stinking mess and disease would run rampant.  They are a tremendous asset not only to the lakes but to the wild places in general.

I love the bald eagle, my favorite bird and the osprey is a flashy fellow to say the least but, I am being won over by the little green heron.  He is "Mack the Knife" in my life.  His appearance is sinister looking as he stands in a semi crouched position with his neck withdrawn down between his shoulders.  His face appears borderline angry and at times super inquisitive.  When something of interest grabs his attention he snaps out of his little old man act and transforms into the all seeing, Mr fingers on the pulse of the action wonder bird.

He can stand for long periods of time, walk ultra slow or run at surprising speed for whatever reason.  His accuracy is unparalleled as he jabs his beak at prey.  He rarely misses.  His croaks are sharp and short as he flies off into the greenery. 

The heron below is watching a flying bug that insists on flying too near him. 

His head and neck extend from between his shoulders as his eyes track the offending flying bug.

 Above:  Look to the left of the heron's beak and you will see the dragon fly.  It is blue in color.  The bird is ready.  In a move faster than my eyes could follow, he snatched the fly while it was in mid flight.  The action was faster than I could push the camera shutter.  I heard the heron's beak click shut upon the dragon fly.  Look closely at the shot below and you will see the abdomen of the dragon fly hanging from the side of the heron's beak.  Amazing.

The flood plain at Rankin on the French Broad River is a marvelous habitat for all the shore birds represented in Tennessee.  There is nowhere in the state that has the populations of the various species of these wild inhabitants.  I wish this particular section of river could be deemed a preserve for these creatures with stipulations toward motorized boats..  The ecology here is delicate at best when one considers the constant lowering of the lake in water depth and yet, these creatures flourish in the face of noise, changing habitat and human intrusion.  Its a marvelous area to travel over by canoe, unobtrusive and practically invisible to the inhabitants.

 Double Crested Cormorants

I have a day off tomorrow and storms are to move in.  I would like to take the canoe out but that's probably not wise.  Maybe the Gheenoe will see service.  I hope you enjoyed this entry and I'll try to diversify a little more in the future.  See ya....

THE YOUNG BALD EAGLE AND OTHER PHOTOS

click photos to enlarge


I am still experiencing some computer difficulties since the recovery from a bad virus that actually took over the computer.  Things are coming along nicely though and the blog will go on.


Today was hot!  High humidity combined with the heat made it a difficult time to be on the water.  The fishermen viewed it the same as I did because I only saw four boats in the area all day.  I'm glad I took the camera with me to take up the slack time.  I had seen the juvenile bald eagle every day for the past three days and I figured him out.  An educated guess about where he would be, based upon past experience with him, lead me to the opposite shoreline directly from my present position on the lake.  It was a good guess because he was perched high in a tree along the shoreline.  The boat was pointing directly toward him.  I cut the clanky engine and drifted slowly toward him.  The results are below:

I may have said previously that this eagle was probably 3 to 4 years old. I'll have to back off on that statement after getting a close look at him. I believe he's probably 2 to 2 1/2 years of age judging from the amount of solid black that remains on his plumage.

He grew tired of messing around with me and exited stage right. A 25 mile per hour wind was blowing and the young eagle flew straight into it and the power of his wings drove him forward without the slightest difficulty. What power he has!

I wasn't looking for ospreys as I already have a million pictures of them.  I would, however, like to photograph them hunting.  The osprey below just happened to show up and I took advantage of the privilege.

Ospreys always make a monumental production out of their leaps into flight.  Hollywood could never out-do their spectacular display of enthusiasm for boldly launching into space.

As I said earlier - I wasn't serious about photography today and just took advantage of any shot that made itself available.  A small deer walked slowly along the water.  Got him!

I had been on the water for four hours and a low back pain was setting in.  I needed to walk around on land for a while.  After beaching the boat I noticed the little rascal below creeping out onto a rock.  The following shots were accomplished with the 500 mm lens from the deck of the boat.  That little guy wouldn't sit still for macro photography under any circumstance.  I think the big lens did fairly well.

He is a 5 lined skink.  They are common in the forests of Tennessee and thrive anywhere there is moist vegetation and rotting wood.  A unique feature of this skink is that his tail is designed to break off if he is picked up by a predator.  The predator gets the tail while the skink scampers off at top speed to safety under a log or rock.  The tail will grow back rapidly.

I had a lot more photos but its taking forever to upload them.  I have posted these photos in a larger density format than usual and I think I'll revert back to my old methods.  Photography is fun and I love photographing wild creatures.  I like to develope methods of approaching them and entering their space without disturbing them.  Its an interesting vocation.  Hope you liked this post.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

WILD FACES

click on photos to enlarge

The bow of the boat gently touched against the shoreline. There, on the right, stood a very young great blue heron. He actually was ignoring the presence of this great white monster that just floated in beside him. I slowly reached down and picked up the camera and eased toward the forward deck at the point of the boat. He was keeping a watch on me but still stood his ground. I stooped down and sat on the gunnel (edge) of the boat and allowed my legs to hang over the side. He still did not fly off as I expected him to. He was only 15 feet away from me and acted like I didn't exist. I started to click pictures one after another. The 500 millimeter lens will do a great job on him at this distance. The resultant pictures are amazing!

I slid over the side of the boat and took step toward him. He turned his head slightly toward me but still made no effort to move away. What's wrong with this kid? I continued to click away. He became a bit agitated after the 5 th shot. I had enough photographs.

I allowed the camera to hang around my neck by the strap and faced the lake. I put my hands behind my back and stood and stared out at the water just like he was doing. We were about 15 feet apart. If anyone would have walked by and noticed us they would have thought we were together simply enjoying the morning. I believe if I would have had a small fish that I could have extended my arm to him and hand fed him. Of course I would never feed a wild animal. That guarantees their demise. But, I believe I could have done it. I wanted to pet his head so badly!

He is a very young bird, born in the rookery across the French Broad River at the Rankin boat ramp. He was born this year. Hopefully he will grow to fear humans for they are bad for him. Good by little fella.

The sudden flight of a large bird from a tree near by startled me. It was the same juvenile bald eagle I saw yesterday. This bird sits tight in the trees until the boat is right on top of him and then he flies off. He is in the exact territory he was in yesterday. I've got his habits pretty well figured. Again, as yesterday, he caught me off guard and I only got shots of him after he passed. The second shot is of his back when he landed in a tree. The first shot is a bit better as he turned his head toward me to judge my position. He appears in yesterday's entry.

I never grow weary of looking at bald eagles. They are magnificent to watch. Once you see one up close you will be hooked - and grateful for the privilege.

Natures butterflies, her white angels, still linger along the shoreline.

The title of this entry is Wild Faces. Well, look at the face below: The green heron is a difficult bird to photograph but occasionally I get lucky. Today I got real lucky! What a handsome bird! What a difficult bird to capture up close in the camera.

I watched a turkey vulture circle and circle and finally land with a few of his brethren. I noticed a black vulture standing at the outer edge of the group of turkey vultures. The turkey vultures were giving him the cold shoulder and one was even making quick lurches toward him.

 Above:  Coming in for a landing.

The above photograph shows the difference between the black and turkey vultures. The turkey vulture, on the right, has a red head, a larger body and a greater wing span. The underside of his wings are two tone. The black vulture is a smaller bird with an all black, hairless head. Their wingspan is shorter than that of the turkey vulture. The black vulture will flap his wings more often when in flight than the turkey vulture. Turkey vultures can soar for very, very long periods of time. You may think it odd that the two species are together he re on this beach. Not so. Turkey vultures can smell carrion up to three miles distance. Black vultures are primarily sight feeders in that they circle about until visual contact is made with dinner. Therefore, the black vulture has incorporated the practice of following the turkey vultures in flight because the turkey vulture increases the possibility of finding dinner for the black vulture. Black vultures are Democrats.

 Turkey vultures have a habit of regurgitating their food if they need to flee danger and fly away quickly.  Its called lightening the load.  Quite a bird!

Below is a farm silo that has been remodeled into an apartment. I love this place. What a great idea!

I've waved to the owner of this property and intend to beach the boat in front of that silo and ask if I can photograph the inside of it. He always smiles when I float by. We'll see. Oh - there is a gorgeous home over to the left of the silo. I understand that he remodeled the silo just to do it. I like that thinking.

I successfully worked the bugs out of the computer and increased the speed of the internet a little bit. The recent computer crash drove me to near insanity. I have no patience with computers. I just expect them to work. I've calmed down a lot since yesterday. You should notice higher photo quality in this entry. I was able to re-download my Canon Camera Software. The photos for the previous post (last night) were downloaded from the camera using a very generic process and the picture quality suffered. Anyway - we're back in business. Hope you enjoyed this post.                         Oh - one last thought.  Always remember to put the drain plug in the boat before heading across the lake.  See below: