A Big Day for Small Adventures

Don't worry, I wasn't squeezing him tightly. It was released none the
worse for wear

I had planned on going to Wachusetts Reservoir today. The weather was supposed to be around 50 degrees and overcast. That would be very good conditions for salmon and lakers. I don't do very well at the "chu" under the best of conditions. So when I woke up to a beautiful sunny spring day I knew my slim chances of catching anything went down to none. The problem was, I didn't have a back up plan so I lollygagged around the house until almost 11 am. During that time I did look some stuff up on the computer and came up with some ideas.

The first thing I did was go fishing in a small pond that was stocked with brook trout. I used my fly rod and caught four trout in roughly 45 minutes (olive beadhead hairs ear, size 14) The little pond is in an urban area. I am pretty sure there is going to be a youth fishing tournament there this weekend. Because of that fact, I did not try to catch every trout in the pond. Only hooking four fish should leave plenty for kids to catch that do not have sore mouths.

By the time I left the pond it was almost noon. My next stop was an hour ride. I wanted to get some
pictures of the King Eider I saw at the Cape Cod Canal. The day I saw it, it was snowing. The sky was a dark grey. I hoped with today's bright blue sky I could get some wall hangers  of the duck. It was in the same area I had seen it before but a little further from shore. The wind was howling making for some rough conditions in the canal. I took about 85 pictures and deleted almost seventy of them. It was tough to focus because the bird was bobbing up and down in the waves.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching the ducks. I planned on spending about 30 minutes there. I ended up staying 90 minutes. Time just flew by.

After I left the King Eider I took the very long way home via Tiverton. A friend of mine from the Ocean State Bird Club posted that three Glossy Ibis were seen in Tiverton. I think they are a cool bird and hoped to see them. I went to the spot they were reported. The ibis weren't there however a lot of other birds were. I saw about a dozen Greater Yellowlegs, a Northern Pintail, Green Wing Teal,
and a pair of Northern Shovelers. The Shovelers alone would have been worth the trip.

Since I was in the area I made a quick stop at an Audubon refuge in the area. There are two Yellow Bellied Sap Suckers at the refuge. I have seen them a couple times. That said I have looked for them dozens of times. Needless to say I didn't see them again today. I did see a first of the year Great Egret.

Not a great picture of the Pintail, but it was the best I got

Remember the post I wrote that something good usually happens? Well, I didn't see the Sapsuckers, but while looking for them I came upon a flock of turkeys. Leading the pack was a huge blue headed gobbler. I couldn't get any pictures because they were in thick brush, but it was really cool to see him strut his stuff.

I got back on the highway about 4 pm. I thought about carp fishing with my friend Dave in the evening. I was going to ask him if he was going to be fishing in  the area. As I was thinking about it, he called and invited me to go fishing with him. Unfortunately, where he decided to go fishing was almost a two hour drive from Tiverton.. So I decided to do something else I thought of. I explored vernal pools.

I went to a state park that Dave had told me was loaded with vernal pools. I was hoping to see some

One of the bigger vernal pools

wood frogs or get really lucky and see a spotted salamander. Well I found vernal pools. Some were on the trails, others were in valleys off the trail. I ended up finding seven. Unfortunately not a frog was to be had. I didn't see any movement in any of the pools.I did come across a Veery in the woods. It started to rain around 6:15 pm and I had my big camera with me so I headed back to the car. Thus ending a big day for small adventures!

Veery