July 26th

July 26th

RARE BIRDS

One can never take your eyes of the beach or the water. The binoculars are always out! It could be a bear, wolf, seal or just the mundane event (SURE) of watching an eagle swopping from high and snag a salmon. It could be a life and death of the Salmon struggling to free itself from the eagle’s talons. Or the eagles own struggle to remain aloft with the burden of his catch that dragging him down to the freezing water of the Pacific North Coast. 

Did you know that an eagle will turn a salmon in its talons so the nose of the fish will be pointing ahead to make it more aerodynamic in flight. (COOL). I betcha that Lindbergh didn’t know that.

You never know when to expect this stuff.  Today is a case in point. I am in the “Ravens” cleaning up and I catch a flick of movement on the beach out of the corner of my eye.  I had heard the clatter of the call of Sandhill Cranes earlier, but stowed the knowledge of them being near as there call can be heard for miles away.

THERE on the beach were two of them foraging the shore line for snacks and Tim Bits. Chevy grabs the camera and I start up the “Ravens” to go on a RARE BIRD HUNT. We drift (engine off) along in a light breeze parallel to the beach where the two long necked red headed birds were strolling. Chevys eyes never let their grip on them release as she is as fascinated as I am. The only noise coming from us was the sound of the camera lens opening and closing. I dare not get to close as the birds RARELY hang around when humans are present.

The telephoto lens was beyond its max optimum distance. I think out of about 70 shots maybe one or two images could be enlarged for the Blog. For me just the thrill of watching them in their natural setting was enough.  

  

 

 

 

                                             Sandhill Cranes at Kynumpt Harbour

It is always a chore for Penny to get me out walking.  For me everything has to have an engine.  There is an old log dump on the shore not too far from us.  Penny insists that we go explore and of course Chevy can hardly wait. 

We take “Ravens” put out a small anchor off her stern and tie the bow line around a rock. 

There is a short game trail that leads us onto what’s left of a corduroy log road.  We find remnants of a old log ago cabin and stove and the actual log footings of where it once stood. 

 

 

 

 

Dave actually goes further into the bush and discovers their water supply.

 

 

 

As we are finally on the beach we explore out the point. There is lots of very old discarded logging stuff.

 

 

 

RARE BIRDS DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE BE REAL BIRDS

Case in point. From our little hidey hole corner of the bay we can see out into the main channel. There is all manner of craft sliding past our door step. It could be the beautiful Alaskan State Ferry striking its passage way north or south. It could be one of many fast sports fishing boats speeding to the killing grounds for salmon.

In my case the salmon have been safe. Penny brings to my attention a boat going by and it is obviously a sailing craft of some type. What is strange is that the forward mast is leaning ahead. JUNK I say. Penny passes it off as one of my silly comments. We are on a last sun cruise about the bay looking for another sighting of the Cranes as we have heard them close by. In glides that strange craft that we had sighted early, and set his hook down. JUNK I say to Penny, a sailing Junk. Well curiosity has me by its tow line. There has to be a story about this JUNK as it is a RARE bird.

We visit. We start

up the conversation about fishing and he shows us his catch. NICE SALMON, where did you catch it and when? Just around the corner a short while ago. I am too proud to ask what he was using as lure because I have been dragging all sorts of JUNK about the briny without luck.  Finally I forget my pride, I have to ask. He smiles at me with wise old fisherman eyes and holds up a funny looking spoon. I have never seen a spoon like that before. He goes on to say that he likes to keep his fishing gear simple and asked his fishing friends for one lure and one lure only to catch FISH.

Now as said early I have never seen one like it, (I woke up in the middle of the night dreaming of making one.…….. I will. Any way we talk about boats and asked him where he got it. He said I built it in storage yard near Friday Harbour, near where they live on one of the Washington State Gulf Islands. It took him two years of concentrated work. I commented that the last time that I saw a vessel like that was in Scottie Bay on Lasqueti and it was called the “Flying Cloud”.  He said he knew the boat and owner.  It was built by Farrell a gifted recluse that lived on Lasqueti Island. There was a book written about his exploits on blue water sailing. (Good west coast book). I knew his son Barry, a North Van boat builder of the Farrell fish boats.

Any way our discussion went to cooking and heating stoves and he said that they used wood as a fuel.  My mind flashed to crawling along the beach looking for dry wood and sharing my berth with a pile of worm eaten drift wood. Besides I am too lazy to perform the task required to keep it stoked.  I would spend my whole life eating cold food out of a can and stiff as an old oak plank from the cold. The “Gilded Lily”…….IS A RARE BIRD WHO OWNERS ARE LIVING A RARE LIFE.