August Kayaking Adventure

     On the 1st of August I traveled back home to Nassau County on Long Island to meet up with my mom to go far a paddle. My mom, husband, and I got out for a refreshing time on the water around Barnum Island in Island Park, NY. Thanks to Empire Kayaks for being in such a great location for wildlife spotting!
     We had a great time out and (mostly) avoided sunburns. Taking photos from a kayak is always tricky. Luckily, my ocean kayak is a sit on top and quite stable, not that you cannot tip it over, it's just a smidge harder to do so. But even when you stop, you're moving, making it a (fun) challenge, staying balanced and focused... Enjoy!

Got to see a few diamondback terrapins in the waterways around the marsh. They seem to look at you, as long as you remain a certain respectable distance, drift an inch too close and they dive.

Saw quite a few American Oystercatchers on the muddy banks of Barnum Island. Also say semipalmated sandpipers and plovers, osprey, night herons, snowy egret, least terns, barn swallows, and cormorants.

Oystercatcher in flight-- gorgeous!

Quiet a few willets in the area. 

The willets were very vocal as we paddled along. They must have had something going on in the area as they would circle around, noisily in flight. Little did they know, there was no chance in the world we'd get out of our boats to come up on the mucky banks.

It was high tide, so we were much more level with the grasses, instead of being far below them. Also, so glad I got the camera cleaned, this egret came out so crisp, even when zoomed in and from a moving kayak-- and cropped afterward.

I just got the camera cleaned last week, it was a good decision- I can tell the difference in photo quality. This is a very cropped photo, after being zoomed in at 300mm, pretty happy with the quality after cleaning!

A least sandpaper on the banks.

Common tern on some pilings.

A young common tern was not nearly as calm, cool, and collected as his elder when we paddled by.

     Got some good adventures coming up in the following weeks, including a sunset cruise with Audubon, via the NY water taxi. Looking forward to starting my personal "big year" counting all animal species I can ID, beginning on Saturday, 8/8/15.