Grand Cayman Island: Sergeant major nest at Devil’s Grotto July 21 2022

Towards the end of the dive I was hanging out under the boat and started watching a Sergent major fish. They are common throughout the Caribbean and I have seen hundreds (maybe thousands) of them over the years. But it’s still interesting to observe their behavior, especially when it comes to their nesting.

Wikipedia says, “The sergeant majors is an oviparous species in which the males create nests where the females to lay their egg masses on rocks, reef outcrops, shipwrecks, and pilings.^[5] The males actively chase the females in courtship before the female releases approximately 200,000 ref, ovoid eggs which are attached to the substrate by a filament”

Reefnews.com does a good job explaining what happens next,

After building this nest, the male Sergeant Major will stay near the nest for several days to guard the eggs until they hatch. The female will leave during this time. The male will chase away all other fishes to keep the eggs from being eaten. The male Sergeant Major can be very aggressive during this time, and will even attack people in the water if they accidentally get too close to the nest. Although the Sergeant Major probably couldn’t hurt anyone, it will fearlessly try to drive away anybody that it thinks is too close to its nest.

http://www.reefnews.com/reefnews/photos/sgtmjr02.html

Hiking Mt. Cardigan South Ridge Trail on September 24, 2022

The foliage was not at peak yet, but it was still colorful. I decided to hike Mt. Cardigan again but take the South Ridge Trail for some different views.

This trail offers a nice view of Newfound Lake.

Hikers can also see the Groton wind farm from the south ridge trail.

The final leg of the trail to the summit is quite steep but you get some great views.

Lots of people in the region complain about the wind farms. I have been near oil refineries (like Texas City near Galveston, Texas) and wind farms. Oil refineries are far more ugly.

I’m getting closer to the summit.

The last leg of the Clark Trail is very steep!

But you get some cool photos that illustrate the angle that we have to climb to get to the summit.

When I got to the summit the wind was strong and cold. I put every layer of clothing that I had in my backpack on. You can see the ripples from the wind on the rain puddle behind the fire tower.

I was surprised to see a squirrel stuck on one of the brackets on the side of the fire tower. The way the wind was blowing it’s no wonder it was scared to jump and get it self off of the tower.

Foliage Hike at Holt’s Ledge on the Appalachian Trail on October 8, 2022

I knew the foliage would peak around Indigenous Peoples day this year. The weather forecast for Saturday, October 8 was for a mostly sunny day with highs in the mid 50’s. In other words, a quintessential fall day. The top of Holt’s Ledge at the Dartmouth Ski-way in Lyme, NH is perfect for a foliage hike since it is high enough for great views of the color on the surrounding mountains, yet low enough so that you can still see individual trees in the valley below.

Top of Holt’s Ledge with Mt. Cube in the distance.

Top of Holt’s Ledge with Smart’s Mt. in the distance.

Zoom shot of Mt. Cube in Orford, NH

Panorama of Winslow Mt.

Vertical panorama of Winslow Mt and valley between Winslow and Holt’s Ledge.

View south towards Goose Pond and Clark Pond.

Kayaking at Sagamore Creek in Rye, NH on August 14, 2022

Back in July 2022 I took at kayak tour with Seven Rivers Paddling of Rye, NH. I took the Sagamore Creek tour. It was an excellent tour and I learned a lot about the area. I also found that I could launch my kayak at the marina for only $10. So I was finally able to get back to Sagamore Creek with my kayak.

Soon after launching at the marina I watched a Great Blue Heron fly into a pine tree on the other side of the creek. I paddled over to check it out.

I headed up the creek and encountered Lobster Boats, Cormorants and Canada Geese.

After passing the moored boats and docks along the shore I noticed a Heron flying by and heading around a small rocky point. This was good since I could stay hidden behind the rocks while paddling over for a photograph.

I could not believe my luck when another Heron flew over to join the first one that I was watching.

I continued on up the creek looking for more birds and wildlife. Sure enough, there were several Heron hanging out in the grass and fishing on the mud flats.

After a while I paddled back down Sagamore Creek and headed towards Newcastle and Portsmouth. I could see the Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth and Kittery on the Piscataqua River.

I could also see the Portsmouth Naval Prison. Wikipedia tells us that it’s a “former U.S. Navy and Marine Corps prison on the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Kittery, Maine. The building has the appearance of a castle. The reinforced concrete naval prison was occupied from 1908 until 1974.”

Next I paddled over to Leaches Island where I knew (from a previous kayak tour with Seven Rivers Paddling) there was a Bald Eagle nest way up in one of the pine trees. My luck was good and I was able to find the nest and see an eagle in it.

A little way to the right of the nest was an adult Bald Eagle! As I was taking photos a tour group from Seven Rivers Paddling came by to look at the eagle. I ended up going back to the marina with the group so that I could join then when they crossed the boat channels.

I’m looking forward to going back next summer!

Grand Cayman Island: Tarpon at Devil’s Grotto July 21, 2022

Another thing that I like about Devil’s Grotto are the tarpons that usually hang out on the reef.

I have seen many tarpon over they years and enjoy diving with them. The Florida Museum website tells us, “tarpon can also tolerate oxygen-poor environments due to a modified air bladder that allows them to inhale atmospheric oxygen.” They go on to explain,

This swim bladder contains spongy alveolar tissue and has a duct leading to the esophagus that the tarpon may fill directly with air gulped from the surface. This feature allows the tarpon to take oxygen directly from the atmosphere and increases its tolerance of oxygen-poor waters. In fact, studies have shown that tarpon must have access to atmospheric oxygen in order to survive, and that juvenile tarpon are obligatory air-breathers. Adults living in oxygen-rich waters still roll and gulp air, probably as an imitative pattern based on visual perception of other tarpon.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/megalops-atlanticus/

I was able to slowly swim into a small school of them during the Devil’s Grotto dive.

I must admit that I would like to catch some with a rod and reel at some point.

Grand Cayman Island: Hawksbill Sea Turtle at Devil’s Grotto July 21 2022

My last dive of the trip was to Devil’s Grotto. I had some great dives at this site back in 2019 so I was excited to be here. Unfortunately, the Silver-side minnows that I got to see back in 2019 at this site were not here this time. But I did have several great sightings and encounters. One of them was a Hawksbill Sea Turtle. I spotted it at the surface getting some air and was able to intercept it on the way down.

The NOAA Fisheries website tells us, “Hawksbill turtles are omnivorous (feeding on both plants and other animals), but their preferred food in many areas is sea sponges. They will also eat marine algae, corals, mollusks, tunicates, crustaceans, sea urchins, small fish, and jellyfish.”

I was able to extract a few still images from the video footage.

Grand Cayman Island: Sharks at Royal Palms Ledges July 20, 2022

I only spotted one small Nurse Shark during my 2019 trip to Grand Cayman island. So I was thrilled to have three Nurse Shark sightings during the dive at Royal Palms Ledges during the 2022 trip. Royal Palms Ledges is off of Seven Mile Beach in the area of the Royal Palms Beach front.

The first encounter was the best one since the shark got close enough for some good video footage. Unfortunately, my GoPro decided to flip from landscape view to portrait view and I did not realize in until it was too late. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I watched the video file. But I eventually figured out how to edit the video in Adobe Premiere Pro and flip the video back to landscape orientation.

I truly think this shark spotted me and swam over to check me out. It was fine with me since closer is better when it comes to underwater video footage.

During the second encounter, the Nurse Shark was swimming down the sand channel. I turned to look at the dive guide then looked back and then shark was gone. It turns out the shark had dropped down behind some coral and was hidden from me. I swam up the channel a few kicks and spotted it.

The third encounter was towards the end of the dive. A few other people in the group spotted the shark first and got my attention. I could not get so close for this one but it was a treat to watch it swim by.

Kayaking the Connecticut River and Mink Brook June 5 2022

The Connecticut River above the Wilder Dam is a great place to see wildlife while kayaking. I was a beautiful June morning as I put in at the Wilder boat landing with a plan to head up river to Mink Brook.

It turned out that I did not have to go far for my first wildlife encounter. It turned out there was a family of Mallard ducks right near the boat landing.

I eventually move on and headed up river towards Mink Brook. I encountered a few other Mallard ducks sunning on a log.

I finally made it into Mink Brook. I usually see lots of Mallards in the area, I was surprised to see a female Wood Duck. She did have some chicks with her, but they stayed hidden in all of the branches and brush near the shore.

On my way back to the boat landing I encountered the same family of ducks that I photographed when starting the trip.

Valley of Fire Photography Tour: The White Domes Trail Hike

For our hiking part of the tour we went to White Domes Trail. The americansouthwest.com site tells us it’s a 1.1 mile hike and is, “probably the most popular hike in Valley of Fire State Park since it is easy, a loop rather than one-way, and passes a good variety of scenery including many colorful rock formations of Aztec sandstone, and a short though pretty section of slot canyon”

The Alltrails website has a great page about the trail and hike. They say it’s, “Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 30 min to complete.”

The trailhead was not far from the parking lot.

We were all excited about the hike.

I was looking forward to seeing some amazing rock formations and colors.

The trail took us through a narrow canyon.

I even saw some wildlife. 🙂

I was excited to see an arch formation.

Of course, I had to climb up for a closer look and photograph.

I made a point to take some photo series that I could combine into a larger panorama using Adobe Lightroom.

I really liked this last colorful rock formation just before we got back to the parking lot.

It was an easy hike and well worth the time.

Colorado River Kayak Trip May 11, 2022

On Wednesday May 11th I went on a kayak tour on the Colorado River in the section below Hoover Dam. I booked at tour with Blazin Paddles Kayak Tours. They picked me up from my hotel on the strip, so I did not not have to worry about driving. We started at Willow Beach on the Arizona side of the river. It had been windy in the Vegas area at time during the week. Wednesday was no exception. The wind was supposed to pick up during the afternoon and hopefully we would be off of the water by then.

It turns out that Willow Beach has a rich history and had been visited by people for thousands of years.

I brought my GoPro Hero 9 to record some video footage of the trip. It turned out that Emerald Cave was a lot smaller than I imagined. But it was still a great trip. It was a treat to kayak in a totally different landscape than I am used to in New England.

On the way back we stopped at an historical site called the River Gauge House Site. We pulled up on the landing area and some mallard ducks swam over for a visit.

The house site was part of the Willow Beach Gauging Station. The house site was just down river from the Gauging Station, which was used to measure the flow and level of the river below Hoover Dam.

This is the view down river from the house site.

This is the view upriver from the house looking towards Emerald Cave.

When we returned to Willow Beach a Mallard duck followed us in and swam real close to us. They don’t fear humans like the ducks that I usually encounter in New England.

Next we headed over to the Willow Beach Marina to wait for the shuttle bus and visit the store. I was able to take a few photos of the marina.

Inside of the store their were stuffed & mounted stripped bass had had been caught in the Colorado River around Willow Beach in the past.

Since I enjoy fishing I just had to check out the fishing info poster at the marina. The big shock was that marshmallows and cheese are the recommended bait for Rainbow Trout.

The recent news stories about the low water levels in Lake Mead make me nervous. What will be the impact for this part of the Colorado River if the water in Lake Mead gets so low that they reduce the amount of water they let through Hoover Dam.