Well, that didn't suck

 

   Yesterday I went to Avondale in Westerly, RI to hopefully see the Western Tanager ( there were actually two at some points) that had been hanging out there for over a week. I wanted to go on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas but the weather was bad. I spent three and a half hours looking for the Western Tanager(s) without any luck.

   Western Tanager would be a state bird for me. I've seen them in South Dakota but never in Rhode Island. Since the weather forecast for today was just clouds I decided to go back and try again. When I got to Avondale I came across my friends Tim Metcalf and Bill Thompson. We all walked to the area the tanager had been seen. Tim had to leave pretty quickly leaving Bill and I. Soon after Dianne Auld showed up. 

  About an hour after I got there, I spotted the Western Tanager in what I have been told is one of its favorite trees, a Cedar full of berries. I called Bill over and another guy I had never met. The three of us watched it hop into multiple trees. Dianne came around a corner and we waved her over. 

   The bird put on a fantastic show for fifteen minutes. The sky was overcast and nasty white. However, the bird stayed low in the green background. The light was absolutely perfect as long as we didn't have to point our cameras into the sky. The Tanager was absolutely amazing for us. When it finally flew out of sight, Bill remarked "Well, that didn't suck".  I couldn't have worded it any better.  

Pike Fishing Moore Reservoir New Hampshire.

 The week before I left for Florida I went to Moore Reservoir in northern New Hampshire. The goal was to catch a Northern Pike, a species I have never caught. I did the round trip drive in a day. It was over three hours in each direction. 

   I left early and got to the first of three boat ramps I would launch my canoe at 8:30 AM. When I left my house it was a balmy 39 degrees in the 5 AM darkness. As I drove further north I watched the temperature gauge in my CRV plummet. When I reached the boat ramp it was 26 degrees. I knew I had at least twenty minutes of work to do at my car before I could launch. This was on purpose to slow me down and come up with a game plan. I put my lures on my fishing poles. I made a lunch. I lost my anchor a while back and forgot to buy a new one. However, a makeshift anchor of rocks in a couple socks I had in my trunk worked out nicely. I opened up some hand warmers. I warmed up for a couple minutes in the car. After doing all that, I launched.

   Moore Reservoir is an impoundment on the Connecticut River. There are multiple launches on the New Hampshire side not far from where I-93 crosses into Vermont. I had two rods set up. One was with a slow sinking Sebile Swimbait. I used it every few minutes. However, my main lure was a 3/4 ounce Spinnerbait. I had asked advice from Mark Beauchesne a NH fishing guide that spent a career at NH Fish and Game, when I last saw him at the Boxboro Outdoor Expo. He gave me some pointers. I also watched a short video he posted on Youtube. 

  I fished my first location for a couple of hours. When I first got on the water the view was only fifty feet of gray air. Because of the fog I was careful not to lose my sense of direction. I followed the shoreline counter-clockwise. That way I knew all I had to do was turn around and follow the same shoreline back to the car. About thirty minutes into fishing I caught a fish, but was "disappointed" to have caught a Smallmouth Bass. After the fog lifted, I realized that I was fishing a lake connected to the main reservoir through a culvert. Though connected to the main body of water, I knew my chances were better in the main reservoir. I loaded the canoe on the car and moved west up the New Hampshire shoreline.

My second location was near Moore Dam. This was a cool spot. From the dam the water drops at least a hundred feet into a valley and the water of  Connecticut River moves on. The boat ramp was a few hundred yards up lake from the dam. You are not allowed to boat, swim, or fish near the dam so you don't go over. I followed the shoreline for a while casting my spinnerbait toward any structure I could find. I soon realized the shoreline I was fishing was shallow and wasn't going to be productive. On the other hand, the shoreline across the lake about half mile away looked to have downed trees and protruding rocks and an island. I decided to take the long paddle over. The water was flat calm all day. There wasn't any breeze at all. It was perfect for canoeing. 

   When I got to the other side I wasn't disappointed by the structure. There was plenty to cast at. Within a few minutes, I had another fish. It was a carbon copy of the Smallie I caught earlier. It surprised me to be catching foot long smallmouth on such a big spinnerbait. It made me wonder how many smallies I'd catch if I targeted them. This was only speculation though. I purposely did not bring any bass gear so that I would have to target pike all day even if I didn't catch one.  I fished this area for three hours without a pike. I packed up a little after 2 pm and moved to my third and final ramp. 

   I moved further north up the lake. The boat ramp I pulled up to was one of the nicest I've ever seen. It had a large parking area, a dock for boats to tie to while the driver parked the car. I loved the location too. To my left a half mile out was a large piece of land that extended left far enough that I couldn't tell if it was a peninsular or an island. This piece of land made a huge couple hundred acre cove. I paddled out to the point and worked my way left. As I stopped paddling and reached for my rod, a Bald Eagle that I hadn't seen flew off a dead snag right above me. I worked my way all around this cove. It had a small cove inside this cove. I saw some small fish busting on some surface insects. This was the only sign of underwater life I had seen all day. Despite the calm conditions, I hadn't seen one fish splash in seven hours. 

   Knowing there was baitfish I got excited and really concentrated on my casts. I worked the cove casting over the baitfish and working my spinnerbait through it. On one of the casts I had a pike follow my lure. I watched it follow it then turn around. It was painful and exciting at the same time. It wasn't a monster but bigger than any pickerel I've ever caught. Maybe in the thirty inch range. Obviously my heart started pumping and every cast became another chance. Ten minutes after my follow, I caught, sigh, another Smallmouth. 

  Spoiler alert! I never caught a pike that day.I worked my way back to the car but it was not to be. I fished until 4:30. I had a long ride home. I know this is going to sound like a lie, I really enjoyed my day. Despite the cold start, and fishing in thirty degree temps most of the day, I was never really cold. When it warmed up in the afternoon (to the mid-forties) I was very comfortable. The scenery was great (once the fog lifted). I didn't catch the fish I wanted, but I did catch three fish. I knew in advance that I had at best a 50/50 chance of catching a pike. If I didn't catch one, I knew I'd have over a three hour ride home to pout about it. But the truth was, I didn't pout. It was a fun day. Instead of beating me down, Moore Reservoir made me want more. I will be back there next May for sure. I will take a couple days away from bird migration and Stripers. Catching a Pike has moved high up my East Bucket List and I really want to catch one, and I fell in love with Moore Reservoir!

Meeting people along the way

 

Joanna was the lady in green on the left.
The chair at the bottom of the photo
was Earnest Hemingway's
original chair when he ate at the 
dining room

   I rag on my friend Sue constantly because of her ability to talk to new people. She will chat with anyone and within fifteen minutes she will know their life story. Sometimes, the problem is, the rest of us (me specifically) don't want to wait that fifteen minutes. Many times while birding with her I've walked away to continue birding. Laurie saw this first hand in Florida. At the first stop at Ding Darling, Sue started up a conversation with a volunteer. Laurie and I were already to move on to the next stop. Sue did learn a couple good spots to bird in the following days from that conversation. Meanwhile, Laurie and I walked back to the rental as a signal it was time to go. Though it was only a bluff, we were at Sue's mercy because we carpooled in her rental. 

   Despite the above true story, Sue will be proud of me when she reads this. I consider myself a traveler and not a tourist. I certainly do not want to be mentioned as a touron (a tourist that is a moron). When I vacation, my main goal is to find things I am in awe of. Put me in Independence Hall and all I see is the history, Put me in front of a bear and I can sit there for hours watching it and taking photos. Talking and meeting other travelers or locals has never been a priority. Seeing wildlife, scenery and history are the things I want to do.

   However, this trip, I decided I was going to converse with people I met along the way. If I knew I was having a good conversation I would purposely introduce myself so I could get their name. I considered it a social experiment on myself. I wanted to see if meeting people added to my experience. I wasn't going to force myself into a conversation, but if it happened naturally, I would invest my time into getting to know/listening to/ learn something from people I met along the way.

   This experiment started off with a bang. We had to take two flights to get to Ft. Lauderdale. Our first flight from Providence went to BWI. Sitting next to me was a large black man named Terrence. Terrence and his girlfriend were on their way to the Dominican for four days. The main goal was to drink and relax. He is a Providence Police Detective Supervisor. We discussed everything form Midnight Basketball to the Florida Keys. Since we were trapped thirty thousand feet up, this was my longest conversation with anyone I'm going to write about. There was no question that Terrance is a stand up guy. As I like to say, usually to be annoying, he's a good egg.

   Next up is Gordon. Gordon was staying at Bahia Honda a few sites up from us. He is a retired man that may be nearing seventy, but is in the shape of a forty year old. He lives near North Hampton, MA, which is about two hours from my house. Gordon's favorite hobby is wind surfing. He was staying at Bahia Honda alone (he is married) for twelve days. We went wind surfing almost every day. He pointed out that on breezy days its fun to go fast. On calmer days its fun because he can see in the water. One day he went out he saw tarpons and a huge Manta Ray.  Gordon gave us a bunch of tips on where to snorkel, eat, and how to get camping reservations last minute. He was a talker and every time he saw us he struck up a lengthy conversation. His knowledge was very useful on our trip.

   The only person I'm going to write about that I didn't really converse with is Joanna. She was a tour guide at the Hemmingway House. She was from Poland and had a very strong accent. However, she was an amazing tour guide. Because of her accent, she pronounced every syllable and word slowly and clearly. She was very articulate. Because of her slow speech and pronunciation she was very easy to listen to. She knew everything about the house and Hemingway. She was asked ten to fifteen questions and had answers for all of them. For sure, she enhanced our visit. Our tour guide at the Truman White House, Kirk, was just as knowledgeable and a great guide.

   One of the rangers at the gate at Bahia Honda was a woman named Mona. She was over the top enthusiastic. Like really over the top. However, I think she was genuine. Though our conversation was limited to us checking in, she was extremely helpful with advice. She told us where to look for sea turtles. She explained every detail of the campground map. More than a half hour with her would probably be all I could have taken. But she was nice and caring.

   While I was looking at the sunning Crocodile at Flamingo, we were talking to a guy named Michael. He was in his late fifties and walked with a cane. We was a little off of his rocker for sure. There was something a little odd  about him. None the less, the guy likes learning and wasn't afraid to tell you what he knew. I know this is coming off as he was a know-it-all, but it was more like he enjoyed sharing info. He told us a lot of stuff about crocs, gators, and the Everglades. Though I already knew seventy five percent of what he said, I didn't interrupt him.  I did pick up some useful tidbits from him. Also, we were twenty feet from an eight foot crocodile, and I knew I could outrun Michael, so there's that. 

   As I said before, Corkscrew Swamp was a big disappointment. After we finished the boardwalk Laurie went inside to use the bathroom. I stayed out where the feeders used to be. There were two kids that had just graduated college outside as well. Their names were Connor and Nick. Connor liked to talk, and Nick, true to his name, was the quieter one. Both boys live in the area and they both had done work at Corkscrew. They agreed that they didn't see much of anything either. Connor then told me a place to go that had thousands of birds. There is an abandoned tomato farm twenty minutes from Corkscrew that was loaded with birds because of the rain the previous days. Thanks to Connor's info, we saw Limpkins, Wood Storks, every heron in Florida, and Roseate Spoonbills. I owe these boys big for that tip.

   Lastly there's Harvey. Harvey was the flight attendant on our trip back to Providence. I learned nothing of value from him. Instead, I just enjoyed talking to him. He was the flight attendant for the back third of the plane. We had last row seats so we had multiple brief conversations. He was from Texas. After leaving Providence he had another connecting flight before a third flight back home in Ft Worth. He had a wedding in Oklahoma the following day. Since he had to be on the road at 5 am Saturday, and they were scheduled to land at Ft. Worth at 1 am, he wasn't going to get much sleep. 

   So there you have it, my social experiment in writing. To be honest, when I got home I really hadn't thought they added much to my trip. I probably would have enjoyed the Crocodile as much without Michael there. However, there is no doubt that Gordon, Connor,  and Harvey added to my experience. Just by writing this, I have realized they will be part of the memory of Florida 2021. And did I mention how great the tour guides were?