When mom was here, she took us tubing down the White River, off Rt-100. We decided floating on water was supercool and bought ourselves an inflatable kayak, the Sea Eagle 330, so we don’t have to pay the tubing people anymore money. As an added bonus, we can float places other than the White River, and paddle even. The first few trips, I didn’t bring my camera, because what idiot brings a $700 camera onto a tiny blow-up boat? But I regret that deeply, because we paddled well within photo-taking distance of a nestful of fledgling ospreys on southern Lake Champlain, and could have gotten some amazing close-ups of Least Bitterns on Lake Richville. Our next purchase was a SealLine waterproof bag, and although not Ospreys or Bitterns, I did get a few nice shots from recent visits to Colton Pond and Glen Lake.
Hazy sunset at Colton Pond…
… and a sunny day at Glen Lake.
Four Mallards in eclipse plumage at Glen Lake let us paddle in close. We frightened three of them off…
… but the fourth stuck around for some close-ups…
… while a Painted Turtle watched the whole show.
And in unrelated news…
… a Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by robins (one visible above his head) let us photograph him from the road.
Dave said,
March 12, 2012 @ 7:06 pm
Great blog!
Where are you now – in 2012?
heylara said,
March 13, 2012 @ 5:56 pm
Wow, thanks! I’m thoroughly surprised anyone other than my family has come across my blog. To answer your question: back in Michigan. We moved away from Vermont early last year. It was a limited time deal from the beginning, but even so, I miss the place. The reason the blog has been so abandoned, though, is because I got pregnant. They say that saps your energy. It does. Well, and then they say it ultimately results in a baby. It does. It’s hard to carry a camera bag and a diaper bag (and then there’s the baby). All my photographic efforts have mainly gone towards the one new subject. You can see her if you like: http://hazelyvecaldwell.shutterfly.com/
Even she’s hard to photograph because she’s rarely physically separated from me and I rarely have a hand free. I fully intend to get back to my camera, and hopefully even the blog, as I settle into this next phase of my life.