Green Heron: A Rare Encounter

Green Heron's, while common in my area are secretive birds that are seldom seen.

Green herons spend the majority of their time in heavy cover around the edges of lakes and wetlands hunting for fish, invertebrates, frogs, and salamanders.

Normally the first indication of a green heron being in the vicinity is when it flushes from heavy cover uttering it sharp kyowk.  The short flight usually ends when the heron plunges once again into deep cover where it is virtually impossible to get a second look.

However this bird showed considerable tolerance allowing me to approach to with in a few yards with the boat.  After an extended photo session the little heron walked back the log and was swallowed up by the cover surrounding the lake.

Encountering a good friend along the shoreline I handed him a camera to make this shot of me as I normally "hunt" while photographing waterfowl and waterbirds.  The boat serves dual purpose on these outings as the fishing rods are always close at hand.

E-Z Slide Bunk Pads: Product Review

Earlier this summer I posted a series of photographs of my aluminum boat during a recarpeting project.  I have pulled this old boat accessing fishing and photography waters for nearly twenty years.  Its been as far south as North Carolina and north to Central Ontario. 

During all of those years the one thing I was never satisfied with was the ease of unloading.  Originally the boat sat on the carpet covered bunks you see pictured here (E-Z Slide pads are attached over original carpet).  The bunks handled the boat well but when it came to launching it was necessary to back the trailer in to where the boat began to float.  During periods of dry weather many of the river launches became difficult and sometimes impossible to use. 

Over the years I tried two different roller systems and although they did make it possible to push the boat off, each had their shortcomings and did not prove satisfactory. 

Often as I would leaf through the fishing & marine catalogs I would pause and read the information about the E-Z Slide trailer bunk pads.  The catalog description did promise easier loading and unloading but I wasn't convinced that they were the answer to my problem. 

With the bunk carpet becoming heavily worn, I decided rather than recarpet the bunks I would spend the $40 for a set of E-Z Slides from Bass Pro, at least they would protect the carpet and perhaps make the boat a little easier to move.

Now that I have used the E-Z Slides for a few months I can honestly say that this is one product that has exceeded all expectations!   The boat now slides on and off the trailer with ease.  Now I can easily push the boat off the trailer without having the boat even touching the water and loading is easily accomplished with only one hand turning the winch.

The only negative point I can make is that I should have installed the E-Z Slides years ago!

Please note:

I am not receiving any compensation for this post nor have I been in contact with the manufacturer or distributor concerning compensation. 

Time For a Face Lift

Nearly twenty years ago I acquired this little modified V boat.  Back then she was nearly new but time has a way of taking its toll on both man and machine.  Over the years seats, electronics and the bow mounted trolling motor were replaced.  The boat was still functionally sound but the carpet had long since seen its best days

Frontal shot showing the wear and deterioration.

Carpet completely gone in high traffic areas.

Having never done this kind of work before the entire job was a learning process.  The first lesson I learned was that a great deal of disassembly was required to do the job right.  Some items such as the trolling motor mount and rear hatch cover were held in place by rivets.  These all required removal by drilling and replaced with stainless steel bolts.

With the interior stripped down to the frame the laborious job of cleaning the parts began.  A paint stripping disk mounted in an electric drill did a great job removing the old glue.

Cleaned parts: rear deck and floor pan

Remembering the old adage; measure twice cut once, I was able to cut the carpet with no major mistakes.

Marine Adhesive is used to glue the new carpet in place

With major panels covered and in place the boat begins to take on its new look.

Reinstalling the rod holders and other accessories along with covering the hatch lids with aluminum diamond tread panels completed the job.  Total cost $255 in materials, 29 hours of my labor.

The 'ol girl now is now ready to carry me into another twenty years of fishing & waterfowl photography. if only I can last that long :)

Boating for Photos: Bufflehead Hen

Last year, for the first in my many years of fishing & boating, I decided to try combining it with waterfowl photography. The results were definitely worth the effort and I have been looking forward to open water and the spring waterfowl migration with considerable anticipation. I have been anticipating the migration photography much more so than fishing.

Although I did take a couple of rods along Saturday morning the main objective of my trip was waterfowl photography. Putting out a couple of trolling lures, I searched the lake for birds. With the cold 36F water temp I didn’t find any fish willing to bite.

At one point during the morning I spotted a couple of duck on open water. As I attempted to approach they would slip under the surface and soon pop up quite some distance from where they had submerged. Once I was within about 200 yards I was able to identify them as Bufflehead hens. Before I could close the distance to within photographic range they swam towards shore and disappeared.

Some time later while rounding a small point I discovered this Bufflehead hen sitting in a small cove. Approaching with the boat, I began pressing the shutter button half way every few seconds to keep the focus set for when the duck would begin her take-off. When I was within about 30 yards the little duck began to patter across the surface in a frantic burst of action.

When shooting take-off shots I find that it is very important to keep the focus set very close to the distance of the subject as you approach, otherwise the camera will frequently hit focus on the background or some other unintended object when the action does occur.

Boating for Photos: Canada Goose

A Canada Goose patters across the water’s surface during takeoff

With the local lake finally clear of ice, I decided yesterday that this morning would be my first boating foray for the year. I was greeted by a heavy frost and the thermometer standing at 30 F under overcast skies. Launching at first light it was some time before decent photographic light arrived.

There was some waterfowl present but not the numbers I was hoping for. By the time I was ready to call it quits I had observed the following; Ring-necked Ducks, Mallards, Wood Ducks, Bufflehead and Canada Geese. All of the waterfowl was quite skittish apparently with still fresh memories of the fall & winter hunting seasons.

A pair of Canada Geese did allow me to maneuver the boat to within camera range and as I slowly closed the remaining distance was rewarded with this image.

For more Camera Critters visit our friend Misty at her Camera Critters Blog

Wild Ride

Two boys enjoying a Wet and Wild ride

As the lazy days of summer draw to a close; many families took advantage of our beautiful Labor Day weekend to spend a day on the water. I captured this image at Bald Eagle State Park during a day trip my wife and I took to picturesque Bellefonte Pennsylvania.

Barb of Discover Pa blogs a photo-or-more each day from this beautiful town. Barb's blog is one of my wife’s favorites. After having followed Barb’s blog for quite some time my wife came to the conclusion that Bellefonte, with its great Victorian architecture, was a “must see”.


I captured many beautiful images of Bellefonte during our visit but I am not planning on posting any here. Bellefonte is Barb’s town, so if you haven’t seen it yet, just pop over and give our friend a visit at Discoverpa.

On the Wing, Lesser Scaup

As I approached this pair of Lesser Scaup I began firing the camera, not until they took to the air did I get an image that made the grade. Lesser Scaup, like the Buffleheads are migratory visitors. According to my bird guides their nesting grounds are primarily in our upper Midwest and Midwestern Canada. If this is true they still have a long way to go before settling down for the summer.

During March and early April our area host many migrant ducks but as the weather warms only Mallards and Woodducks remain to nest. To date I have not captured a good shot of a Woody drake but I am working on it.

For those of you who are wondering, this is the little fishing machine that I pressed into photographic duty. It carries a 28hp gasoline engine on the rear and a 74lb. electric motor on the front. This particular lake, as many are, allows only electric motors to be used. For this I am thankful as it eliminates the disturbance created by speeding boats and allows all to have a quiet time on the water.

Retired

The salt marsh at Oyster Va. contains a treasure trove for the photographer. This boat along with the one displayed in my earlier post “Sunken” are located near the road there along with another smaller but no less photogenic boat.

This marsh is located at the end of the small harbor. Possibly hurricanes and storm surges are responsible for depositing these boats in their final resting places.

Billie Crystal

The name of this boat caught my attention,
as well as the fact that it is now a floating hayfield.

Photo taken at Oyster Va

Shipwrecked

While vacationing on Virginia’s beautiful Eastern Shore I noticed this old boat lying in a salt marsh. I passed on photographing her in the harsh light of noon and returned later to capture her in the warm low angle light of evening.

I consider this the best image I captured on our trip. Not only was I captivated by the beauty of the scene but it also appropriately illustrates what was truly a Murphy’s Law vacation. I once believed that problems came in threes, on this vacation it certainly did, twice over. The final straw caused us to return home two days early but that must wait for a later post.

Summer Fun in the Sun

I spent Saturday on beautiful Foster Joseph Sayers Lake in Center County Pa. My primary objective was fishing for the prolific crappie for which this lake is locally famous.
Being a shutter-bug I could not pass up the opportunity to capture “action shots” presented by the many recreational boats speeding across the lake’s smooth waters. As so often happens when shooting action the two boats passing in this photo was purely coincidental.

Foster Joseph Sayers Lake is a 1730 acre flood control lake completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1969. It is named after a World War II Private First Class from this area who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic action on November 12th 1944 near Thionville, France.

The lake is surrounded by the 5,900 acre Bald Eagle State Park and provides many recreational opportunities including hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, swimming, boating, and biking, along with wildlife watching.