The adrenaline rush that you can get from nature.

 

 Last night I went fishing with my buddy Dave. We were fishing an area where we had the choice to fish on both sides of a pedestrian causeway. We were fishing the "inside" because that was where the noticeable bait was. Every few minutes one of us would get a swirl, hit, or catch a small striper. The action wasn't hot and the fish weren't big. But fishing beats sitting in the house and it was only a twenty minute drive.

   Near dark I heard splashing behind me. I looked back and there is a blitz of decent size fish going on the other side of the causeway. Both of us start running as the fish are moving down the shore very quickly. We each cast and it takes less than a second to get a hit. I had three hits before I hooked up. It turned out the fish were blues in the couple of pound range. We each caught another and like that, they were gone. We each made six or seven more casts, but at that point it was basically dark out and the fish are gone anyway.

   As we walked  back to the car we talked about how exciting it was. I told Dave that my adrenaline was actually rushing. I'm sure his was too. Although I am twenty years his junior, he beat me to the fish as we were running as fast as we could carrying a surf bag and rod.

   Here's the thing, in the last month both of us caught striped bass that could have eaten the blues we caught last night. Admittedly, my retired friend has caught far more than me. Over the years, I have caught hundreds of bluefish and Dave has probably caught over ten thousand. Yet, when those bluefish showed up, we chased them with the same enthusiasm as we would if we were twelve years old. It doesn't matter how many fish we caught in the last week, month, or lifetime, we were almost giddy to witness the blitz and and catch a few.  I really don't know why. That's the beauty of nature. You never lose your love of it.

   This morning I went to Charlestown Breachway mudflats. I have been basically living there most mornings I have off from work.  Today four Marbled Godwits showed up. Marbled Godwits are one of those rare birds in New England that will show up once or twice a year. Today just so happened to be that day. I was out there with a few birding friends and Carlos Pedro went to check out a different mudflat and found them. There were four across the channel. To put four being together in perspective, I'm pretty sure I've seen three total my whole life before today.

   As you can imagine in a post about adrenaline rushes, this got me pretty excited. Luckily for me I had my kayak so I could cross the channel. I had seen some idiots with a boat let their dog loose on these flats. The birds would take off and land as quickly as the dog would leave. Because of this, I knew my presence wasn't going to bother them in the least. Sure enough when I got out there (the dog was gone, luckily) the birds continued on feeding while I took photos. Despite never changing their behavior, I only stayed near the Marbled Godwits for about ten minutes. That was plenty long enough to get some good photos.

   If there is one thing I am truly grateful for, however I got it, is my appreciation for nature. I do not believe I could have the same quality of life if I didn't enjoy seeing a rare bird, catching a fish, or admiring beautiful scenery.

Photos of Marbled Godwits and a couple other shorebirds, No photos of blues. I didn't bring my camera last night.

Semi-palmated Plover

 Below are two photos of Stilt Sandpipers. They are another fairly rare shorebird. These are only the second and third I have ever seen. The first one was last week at Succotash Marsh but the light was terrible