I got to pet a Dog

 It's ridiculous, I had never caught a Smooth Dogfish. Considering that I used eels for five years in my hardcore striper days, it is amazing that I never hooked up with a big Dogfish. This year I actively tried to catch one a few times. I used small eel chunks over the summer. A few nights ago I went night fishing with my friend Adam with squid. I looked on helplessly as Adam caught four Dogfish and all I got was a small Black Sea Bass.

   It really is weird that I have actually caught a real shark before I've caught a Dogfish. As I wrote in July, when we went shark fishing, Adam let me reel in one of his Dogfish. Pathetic.

   Finally, last Friday I caught a Smooth Dogfish. Same deal, I went with Adam. We fished squid at night. Within thirty seconds of my first cast I hooked a Dogfish. It wasn't a monster, maybe two feet and a couple of pounds. They are cute as hell, and I love the rough feeling of shark skin.

     

A Musk Turtle but not much else

 

Musk Turtle

   I had Saturday off from work. After a morning commitment I went to Trustom Pond looking for snakes. I ran into many of my friends that were there that saw two Philadelphia Vireos. Laurie and I tagged along with Allison O'Conner and a new guy named Chris and we ran into one of the Vireos along with Blue Headed and Red Eyed Vireos. 

   My real intention was to find a Green Snake. Allison came across one the day before. We looked everywhere but didn't see any. I also thought it was a good idea to walk through the four foot tall grass to flip rocks to look for other snake species. On a perfect 75 degree day I am amazed I did not find a single snake.

   Back at the parking lot Allison pointed out tick nymphs on all of our clothes. Smaller than a grain of sand they were barely visible. Everyone but myself stayed on the mowed trail but they were still covered in these tiny nymphs. Allison had a lint roller and we all took turns rubbing it against us to get them off. Because of walking through the tall grass I had them all the way up on my shirt. I was especially careful to do my best at getting them off.

   The past two years I had gotten what I thought were chiggers under my skin from Trustom in September. The bites lasted well into the winter and were itchy the entire time. I now realize that the bites were most likely these tick nymphs. To make a long story short, I still got about twenty welts on my skin from behind my ankle up to a few on my butt cheek.  I felt like it was my own stupidity from waling in the tall grass but Sue, who was much more careful than myself also has multiple bites. So word of caution, Trustom is dangerous in late summer and getting tiny tick nymphs on you is inevitable

Snapping Turtle and a few Painted

  After Trustom, Laurie and I went to Wakefield for a picnic. We love a spot near the water. The cool thing about this spot is that it has Eastern Musk Turtles. I usually (but not always) see one. Saturday we had three species. We had the ever present Painted Turtles, we did have one Musk, but there was also a smallish Snapping Turtle sun bathing. 

  We watched the turtles for a long time. Eastern Musk Turtles can climb. We watched one come out of the water and climb up a branch until it was almost three feet above the water. It had to climb right over a very agitated Painted Turtle to do so. It was really interesting to watch. 

  Later in the day we drove down the Cape Cod Canal where we did a three to four mile walk after dark looking for mammals. We didn't see anything other than two rabbits. Also of note, we did not see anyone fishing (on a Saturday night) from the Sagamore Bridge to the Fish Pier at Scussett Beach (no one on the pier either). 

   So all in all, I was surprised by the lack of snakes in the afternoon and the mammals at night. Still, it beat being at work. 

Below is a series of photos of the Eastern Musk Turtle climbing over the Painted Turtle then over a sizable cutting on the branch before finally resting three feet above the water. 

Little Lies, Sweet Little Lies

  In this summer of tribute bands, Laurie and I went to see the Fleetwood Mac tribute band Little Lies. They were playing at a club called The Met in Pawtucket. We had originally tried to see them at a free outdoor concert in Onset in July. There were so many people and cars we could not find a parking place. We tried for an hour before eventually giving up. As we were looking for parking, we could see the band playing in the park. There were a couple thousand people watching the free show. They played at the Easton Library a week later but I had to work that night.

  

   Frustrated that I missed two free shows we sucked it up and bought tickets to see them at The Met in Pawtucket. Tickets were $20 in advance and $25 at the door. I bought them in advance and requested the night off from work. Unlike the Onset concert, there was barely a hundred people in the club, maybe less. We walked in twenty minutes before show time and got a table to sit at. I bought a beer and we sat down.

   Little Lies was awesome. They had three singers each with voices much like Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVee. They had four other band members. They sounded great. They played almost three hours with a break in the middle. They played every Fleetwood Mac song that would be on a greatest hits album. They also played a couple of deeper cuts that I did not know. 

   Really, every song was a highlight. They nailed them all. "You Make Lovin' Fun", "Landslide", "Silver Spring", Rhiannon", "gold Dust Woman", and "Go Your Own Way" were just some of the many songs they sang. 

Little Lies is a New England based band so if you like Fleetwood Mac songs it would worth your time to check and see if they are playing near you anytime soon. Link to their website below.

https://www.littleliestribute.com/schedule

Seining 2025 Part 2

 Tuesday i went seining with my friend Carlos Pedro. Carlos always picks up a new hobby every summer after the birds of spring have migrated. He has had summers where he identified a hundred species of dragonflies. Another year, he learned the safe mushrooms to eat so he was always out "mushrooming" while walking through the woods. 

   This year he has been trying to identify species of fish. He has been asking me to go seining all summer but our schedules (mine really, he is retired) have made it difficult. I went a couple weeks ago with Carlos and Sue Palmer. I found time to go seining again this Tuesday. This time it was just with Carlos.

  We hit the beach at 9 am and seined for two and a half hours. We didn't get a lot of species but he ended up getting three lifers. I didn't get any lifers but it is always fun to see tropical fish. 

   All of the photos below are from Carlos's iPhone. I held the fish and the tank while he took the photos. 

   The first lifer Carlos got was the Florida Pompano below

We ended up catching a ton of baby Menhaden. They go by many name: Bunker, when they are small they are called Peanut Bunker, and Pogy

Another lifer for Carlos was Kingfish. Usually we catch a lot at this beach but on this trip we only caught four

My favorite fish of the day was a large Atlantic Needlefish. It was roughly ten or eleven inches long. I did not realize how sharp their teeth are but they are like saws. 

A Redneck Woman at the Woodstock Fair

    Last Saturday, Laurie went to the Woodstock Fair in Woodstock, CT. This fair is actually the oldest continuously running fair in the country. A couple months ago I did a blogpost with many of the fairs that happen during the summer and fall. I wrote the post after going to the Barnstable County Fair. I hadn't gone to any of the other fairs since, however, Gretchen Wilson was playing Saturday night at Woodstock so I requested a day off from work. 

   County fairs are set up the same. There is a midway and food vendors. There are usually barns with farm animals and contests for the best farm produce. So in comparing the Barnstable Fair to the Woodstock Fair, I'd say the Woodstock Fair was way better. There were row after row of food vendors. Not only was there typical fair food but there was exotic food like Thai, Greek, and things like Strombolis. I bought some egg rolls that contained mac and cheese, another that had desert chocolate in it. I got Thai food for supper. Laurie bought a delicious milk shake. We could have gotten the typical dough boys or cotton candy but figured why not try something new.

   The Woodstock Fair had a lot of animals to look at. There was entire barn with rabbits, another with sheep, and another with cows. We saw a bunch of pigs including little piglets nursing off of their mother. Very cute. After the small amount of livestock at Barnstable, I was glad to see so many animals at the fair. 

   As for the entertainment, Gretchen was awesome. She went on at 8 pm and played about an hour and ten minutes. She started with "I'm here for the party". Her voice was still awesome at fifty two years old. She played her hits and a few covers. She played "Simple Man" by Skynyrd."  Her encore was "Redneck Woman"  and "Her Strut" by Bob Seger as he last song. For a free concert, it kicked ass. 

 

Google Images

    There are so many fairs within driving distance, that it makes since to go to ones that have a free show of someone I want to see. The reason I went to Barnstable was to see the oldies group The Buckinghams. We chose Saturday to see Gretchen in Woodstock. Sunday Uncle Cracker was playing the Woodstock Fair and honestly, I'd have taken the drive and paid the fifteen dollar admission if I didn't have to work. I don't think  I'm going to make it to anymore fairs this year because of my work schedule and other days I have to tke off for events. But I am glad I got to see the Redneck woman again.  

A great day finding herps

    I went herping this morning. Despite not finding my intended target, Red Bellied Snake, I still had a really good day. The first place I went was for the snake. Instead of finding it, I came across a mouse under a rock. This was the first time I have flipped a rock and found a mouse. I looked at the mouse and let it crawl into the brush before putting the rock down. I was afraid I'd crush it. 

   A little while later down the path I came across a small Eastern Milk Snake. Though it was small, it was feisty. It bit me the entire time I was holding it. It was a pretty little snake. After a few photos I put it back. 

After I left that area, I went to a small pond that usually has Northern Water Snakes. It took a few minutes but I found one. I didn't have my big lens. The best I could do is get this photo as it swam by.

Next I went to my favorite herping spot. I've seen Fowler's Toads, Black Racers, Pickerel Frogs and many other species. The sun was bright so I knew snakes and toads would be unlikely, but I'd probably see Pickerel Frogs. I caught three of them including one of the biggest I've seen.

Thinking my herping was over, Laurie and I went to the 

Cape Cod Canal for a picnic supper. After supper we looked for animals with a spotlight. It was a surprise to say the least, to see a Fowler's Toad out in the open. 

Fowler's Toad and below

Relaxing summer nights at the Cape Cod Canal

 

The Railroad Bridge

From Laurie's house, we can make it to the Cape Cod Canal in about thirty five minutes. When we both get out of work early, we spend many evenings at the canal. We usually bring a picnic and make chicken salad sandwiches or I bring the grill and have burgers. These trips are an extremely relaxing way to spend an evening.

   The first thing we do is find an open picnic table and carry our food/grill/ plates to it. I heat up the grill and cook while  Laurie pours us lemonade and gets the utensils ready. Eating supper while watching the boats go by is really enjoyable. When we are done eating we usually sit for half an hour before packing up the food and bringing it to the car.

   After dinner we usually walk along the canal. I bring my surf rod and make some casts. I haven't caught anything on these walks not even seen a fish. Still, it is good to take the rod just in case fish come by. 

   After our walk, sometimes we walk up to the road in Buzzard's Bay and get an ice cream. If we do, we walk back to the railroad bridge and sit on a bench. At this spot, as soon as it gets dark the mosquitoes come out and they drive us to drive home. 

 

 We have probably had supper at the Canal about ten times this summer. I would much rather eat outside than indoors and the trip is short enough that it doesn't feel like a long drive. There is a lot to do, besides supper, I can fish, walk, bike ride, get an ice cream, and go for a swim in Onset if we choose. Now that it is getting dark earlier, it is getting harder to make the trip worth it when I get out of work at 5:30. There are a couple days next week where I am working 8:30-4:30 so we may get to go another time or two before the summer ends. 

  These trips have been an easy way to enjoy nights after work. Between supper, boats, possible fish, ice cream, and walks on the path, the time goes by too quickly. That is part of the reason we keep going back

Bourne Bridge in the distance

Scopoli's Shearwaters and Dolphins

 

Common Dolphins

   Last year I retired from pelagic birding trips. I had gotten seasick too many times to justify the expense. Most of the trip would be a very expensive nap in the fetal position after throwing up. It made no sense to keep spending money to be miserable. Then I encountered a problem.
   

  Cory's Shearwater, a species I've seen many times split into two. There used to be a sub-species of Cory's known as Scopoli's. However, science is changing and the Scopoli's became their own species overnight. I had seen Scopoli's Shearwaters in North Carolina when I went on pelagics there. Kate Sutherland would call them out. They look almost identical to Cory's Shearwater except the tip of the underwing is whiter. This is an impossible field mark to notice when the birds are cruising in the wind. Usually you need a photo to positively ID the bird.

    In Rhode Island, I had almost certainly seen Scopoli's Shearwaters. No one called them out before when they were just a sub-species. But I have been on enough pelagics that without a doubt I laid my eyes on many of them even if I never did get the ID. Last year, on the pelagic that made me retire a couple of Scopoli's were seen but I never got on the birds. Then after I went in the cabin, I laid down for hours. So...when I got the ebird report of birds we had seen I took Scopoli's off of my list. 

   I immediately regretted my decision. As I said, I am positive I must have seen them in the past. I could have left the species on my list but I want my list to be pure with no questions asked (especially by myself). So I knew that I'd still have to go look for Scopoli's Shearwater again. I was not looking forward it.

   

   To avoid going on an eight hour pelagic, I tried getting a Scopoli's from the Block Island Ferry where they had been seen all summer. No luck. Then I went on a whale watch and still didn't get it. So I was already out $110. When Tim asked me if I wanted to go on the pelagic August 28 I said yes knowing I'd be around great birders, there would be multiple Scopolis seen, and I would probably get seasick.

   It turned out that I was right about the first two but didn't get seasick. The water was very calm. I had gotten a prescription patch to put behind my ear that helps with seasickness. Also, I was offered the strongest anti-nausea pill on the market (actually made for chemo patients). I took it and I felt great all day. There wasn't any negative side affects (like drowsiness) nor any other positive ones (such as getting a buzz). My stomach felt great all day long. It has been years since I felt so good on the open ocean.

   We saw tons of birds. I got my Scopoli's Shearwater. I made sure to put my binoculars on every Cory's type we saw. We got photo evidence of at least two. I got some decent shots of Cory's and Great Shearwaters. We saw a Sooty too. This left only the Manx that we missed of the possible types of Shearwaters. 

 

Cory's Shearwater

   If it weren't for finally seeing a Rhode Island Scopoli's Shearwater, the highlight would be all of the Common Dolphins we saw. We saw hundreds of Dolphins. Many of them swam right next to the boat and went right under it. I got some okay photos of them coming out of the water but most ended up blurry. The experience was awesome though.  

  This was by far my favorite pelagic trip in years. It opened up the possibility that I may go on pelagics again. There is still some worry. Did I stay vertical because of the calm seas? or was it the anti-nausea medicine, or the combination of both? I'd hate to find out the medicine won't work when the seas get choppy. Whether or not I "unretire" from pelagics, I had a great time on this one. It has been a long time since I could say that.

The dolphins and birds were following the trawlers

Great Shearwater

Cory's

Boat House Row

    Saturday night we went to Plymouth Memorial Hall and saw a "yacht rock" group called Boat House Row. Yacht Rock is basically soft rock from the 70s through the 80s. It is pretty chill music with some complex instruments. You could consider yacht rock a guilty pleasure for some.

   The concert, as I previously said was at Plymouth Memorial Hall. The venue was only about one sixth full and I felt bad for the band. However, the few people that were there were singing along and dancing their little hearts out.

   The show started at 8 pm. There was a fifteen minute intermission at 9 pm and including the encore ran till almost 10:30. Boat House Row was awesome. The band had six people in it. The keyboards guy and drummer took turns as the singers. The guy that played the sax actually played five different instruments throughout the show. They were very talented musicians.

   I knew I'd know most of the songs but not all of them. I don't really listen to soft rock on the radio. There were about six songs I'd never heard. For Laurie, that number was only one. My favorite song they played was "Brandy" by The Looking Glass

                                              My recording sucks. They sounded much better than this but you can still get a feel for the mood of the crowd. 

   The crowd really for into it when they played "Africa" by Toto and "The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes. Other songs that I very much enjoyed were "Maneater " by Hall and Oates and "Lido Shuffle" by Boz Scaggs which was the last song of the encore.

   I would be remiss if I did not mention the people watching. We were in the mezzanine near the stage. We had a great view of the band, the floor, and the mezzanine across from us. There were a couple gay guys dancing like crazy about as badly as I dance. There was one guy on the floor, a huge man dressed like a cowboy with sunglasses on. He looked exactly like Cole Hauser, Rip, from Yellowstone. The only way I could tell it wasn't Rip was listening to his voice when he ordered a beer.  I was ten feet away and could not tell it wasn't Cole just by looking. Multiple people asked him if they could take his photo.

Google image

   Lots of  spectators had on those white Captain type hats that Laurie says is from the Love boat. Before the show started I had counted twenty seven before I stopped scanning when the show started. One guy was wearing one but also a navy blue jacket. The best part was he was wearing an apricot colored scarf. I didn't realize why until Laurie explained he was being the guy Carly Simon wrote about in "Your so Vain"

"You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye

Your scarf was apricot"

   I wanted to ask the guy if I could take a photo with him but chose not to. When a song came on that I had never heard, I just watched all these characters and others dancing and having the time of their lives

  Boat House Row is from Philadelphia. They aren't playing any other tour dates around here. However, there are multiple yacht rock groups that tour. So any one of them could be playing again soon. They have some original names "Yachtly Crue" "Yacht Rock Review" and all have been in the area.

   I honestly have to admit that going to this concert was one of the highlights of my summer. With both Laurie and I being healthy, we have done a lot of fun stuff  this year. I had so much fun, the only thing I enjoyed more was catching the Brown Shark. There is no question that when another yacht rock group close close enough to go to, I'm going. Call it a guilty pleasure.

Differing views on rods and reels

    Admittedly, what I'm about to write is really about those of us that have multiple rods and reels. If you own one freshwater rod and/or one saltwater rod with no plans to buy others then you may find the following interesting but otherwise useless.

   Most serious fishermen have multiple combos for fishing. Most bass fishermen have spinning rods and baitcasters. From there, it gets broken down to mediums, medium-heavy, heavy, and even extra heavy. Some of these rods are made for special techniques such as swimbaits, dropshot, and Ned rigs. You can't use the same rod for dropshoting as you would frogging. In the ocean it would be difficult to use the same rod to fish chunks on the bottom and also casting small Zoom flukes on the surface. The point is most guys have rods for many situations.

   I have the added issue of not only fishin for largemouth bass and striped bass but everything much smaller and much bigger. I love fishing for many species. I've spent plenty of time casting for three inch Common Shiners. I've also chased sharks and everything in between. While I do not consider myself a gear junkie I do have rods and reels for everything I fish for. 

   While talking with other fishermen there are differing philosophies on how they choose what to buy.  When I am on my canoe I bring four or five rods. When I fish with Adam I limit myself to three and he brings three or four. Many boat guys will bring ten rods all pre-rigged with lures. 

   Many guys will use all of the same brand in different models. Some fishermen believe that if you get all of the same brand then you will be used to the feel when you pick up the next rod. For example, many pros fish Lew's so all of the rods in their boat will be high end Lew's rods/reels. They may have the KVD rod in ten different models from a medium light spinning to a heavy baitcaster. Obviously, many of these pros are sponsored so it is easy to use the same brand when the company gives you twenty five new rods a year. 

   But many working stiffs will also be loyal to one brand and model. They believe if something works for them why change (if it ain't broke why fix it?). Many guys come into the store who only fish St Croix rods. Many are really loyal to Shimano rods and reels. I can't argue their philosophy. If they put down a medium St Croix Premier and pick up a heavy Premier, in theory they should have a good idea of the sensitivity and strength of that model. 

   I had a conversation with Adam about this and he completely disagrees with this choice. He prefers to fish many different brands and has many models. His counterpoint is equally valid. It is fun to fish with different gear. It's fun to put down a Stradic and pick up a Johnny Morris Signature. 

   I think in general, most of us have different brands in our storage room. If for no other reason sometimes we are willing to spend more money and other times money might be a factor. So until we get really serious most of buy based on want and price over brand loyalty. However, there does come a time when you ask yourself "if I am satisfied with this rod/reel do I want another of the same model or do I spend more for the next one up in quality, maybe even a nicer model in a different brand?" 

   I've given this question a lot of thought. My boss makes fun of me and is shocked that I am (at my age) not loyal to one brand or another. Part of that can be explained that much of my gear is old but still in good shape. So until I got this job, I had kept the same stuff for years. But, since I now have access to almost all the brands on the market with a discount, I have tried a lot of different brands. 

  However, now that I've tried a lot of different models I reached the point of knowing what I think is great gear and what is over rated. So when I buy a rod now I ask myself that question of buying a different rod of a model I like or do I buy a different brand? I hate to ever admit agreeing with Adam but I think it is more fun to have differing rods and reels. It's more fun to use my Shimano Stradic for Smallmouth and a Carbonlite for trout than it would be to use two Stradics. 

   There is another catch to all of this... Experimenting with different rods and reels does not come without its own peril. Adam has a buddy that owns a bass boat. His name is Mark and he has multiple Bass Pro Carbonlite rods. He is satisfied with them but he is a gear junkie. He came in the other day and was thinking about buying the Platinum.  The Platinum is a $200 rod and honestly it is the nicest rod I have ever owned ( I did not pay $200 for it). Fishing it for five minutes and I knew it is better than any rod I have ever casted. When I told Mark how much I loved it, he actually went back and bought another Carbonlite AND NOT the Platinum.

    His reasoning was this, if he noticed the Platinum was far superior to Carbonlites then he would then consider his Carbonlites junk and he wouldn't want to use them anymore. This would send him down a rabbit hole of replacing very nice rods with an arsenal of $200 rods because he liked them better. I can not argue with this and I have faced similar circumstances. There have been times where I bought a rod to fish along side a similar power (like a medium) only to find out the new rod was so much superior that I no longer wanted to fish the old rod at all and it sits in the closet as a "spare". 

   There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It is interesting to think about the differimg philosophies. I doubt myself or Adam has ever missed a fish because we were not as familiar with a rod than the guy that has been fishing Daiwa for thirty years. At the same time, if that guy has been using Daiwa for thirty years (I've been using Daiwa reels for twenty for surf casting) who am I to say they are wrong.

Cranberry Cup and the Summer Sizzler

    In mid-August Laurie an I went to the Cranberry Cup figure skating competition like we do every year. Just a week later there was another event at Skating Club of Boston called The Summer Sizzler. The Sizzler had all of the best American skaters from all of the disciplines. They were expected to show their new routines for the upcoming season.

   Cranberry Cup

   

   We had hoped that since this is an Olympic year that the Cranberry Cup would be stacked with probable Olympic athletes hoping to get the season started. Four years ago, during the first Cranberry Cup held at The Skating Club of Boston the competition was loaded with many of the best skaters from all over the world. There almost no fans at the Cranberry Cup. The rink holds 2500 people but I bet there was less than 150 fans each day

   Unfortunately, the depth of both the men's and women's  events was lacking. For the men, Roman Sadovsky of Canada was the only real good skater. He easily won the event. The best American skater in the event was Jimmy Ma. He was leading after the short program but after a disastrous long program he ended up seventh. At his best, Jimmy is probably the fifth or sixth best American. He trains at The Skating Club of Boston and we have seen him many times. 

   For the ladies, Isabeau Levito, an American was the biggest name at the event. She will be in the hunt for an Olympic medal. She came in second at World's last year. Isabeau won the competition as expected. However, the real surprise of the ladies was a girl from Kazakhstan named Sophia Samodelkina. She was in one of the first groups during the short program which is where most of the less talented athletes perform. During the short she was amazing. She did multiple triples and her combination was perfect. After the short she was in second place.

   On day two, for the long, Sophia went second to last. She actually beat Isabeau in the long but Isabeau had a big enough lead to stay in first place. Laurie and I were very impressed and will follow Sophia during the season. 

Summer Sizzler

 

World Champion Alyssa Liu

   The Sizzler was billed as a place for the Americans to show off their new programs for the season. The top men, women, pairs, and ice dancers from the USA were all ther.e The entire rink was sold out with fans. A few of the athletes performed their new routines though for the most part they were watered down. No one did a triple-triple combination. Almost all the men did triples instead of quads and most of the ladies did doubles instead of triples. 

   While a few did the watered down version of their new routines, most of the athletes treated the Sizzler as a Stars on Ice exhibition. Most of them did what would be called their "exhibition" routines. People like World Champion Alyssa Liu did her routine from last year as did others. World champions from the dance comp, Chock and Bates, did their exhibition routine that involved a flowy fabric they wrapped themselves in.

   All in all, the Summer Sizzler was a disappointment. We did not see high quality skating. Anything new was watered down and most of it wasn't new anyway. So in the end, Laurie and I agreed that we would rather go to the Cranberry Cup. Though most of the competitors are not going to make the Olympic teams for their country at least they were giving it their all. I'd rather see someone fall trying to do a triple-triple competition than not try at all. We decided to skip the Summer Sizzler next year because we know we will be disappointed.

World Champion Ice Dancers
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
to the right
World Champion man 
Ilia Malinin  

   

Roman Sadovsky in the middle

Isabeau Levito

Seining 2025 Part 1

Good friends

   I went seining for the first time this year in Charlestown. It took some much needed prodding from friends since I hate the summer traffic in southern RI. I'm glad they prodded. We worked hard to get cool things. Many of our attempts only had Silversides in them. Still, we got some pretty cool stuff. Below are the coolest things we saw. Thanks to Sue Palmer for providing some of the best photos below

Permit

Northern Puffer

Longfin Inshore Squid

I had a macrolens on my camera instead of my big 600 mm. So I took off the macro but this is the best I could get of the most cooperative Yellow Crowned Night Heron I've seen in half a decade.

Crevalle Jack

Winter Flounder

Below are wonderful photos that Sue took. The Night Heron is not yelling at us. It yawned. As you can see from the photo where it is circled in a tree it was really comfortable with us around. We went through all of the fish in the seine and moved to the next little beach. The Heron stayed in the tree until it decided to feed (while walking right in our direction)

The Jesse Liam Band

    A few years ago we went to have drinks and a bite to eat at the Nordic Lodge. There was an outdoor concert going on. We weren't there to get the all you can eat lobster. Outside there was just apps and drinks. We went because my friend Jan from birding invited us. She knew the lead singer of the group (Jesse Liam) because they did line dancing together. We enjoyed ourselves very much and have followed the JLB ever since. 

   The JLB tours all around Rhode Island during the warmer months. They usually play outdoor concerts and private venues like the Dunes Club. They have become a Rhode Island tradition, so much so that the play at The Big E on Rhode Island Day. Whenever they play close enough to make it worth our time we go see them. 

   The band has four members. Jesse is the lead singer. His dad , Jack,is the lead guitarist and does back up vocals. He is actually a two time  Grammy nominee. There is also a bass player (who is new this year and don't know his name) and of course a very skilled drummer named Michael DeQuattro. Jesse is full of energy and dances the whole time. He also manages to jump rope, do cartwheels, and sometimes push ups. Somehow he never seems to be breathing heavy. The guys runs around the entire show and puts on a series of dance moves. 

 

 The band does a bunch of pop songs from The Beatles to Walk on the Moon (Shut up and Dance with me). Most of their songs are from the sixties and seventies. Usually they play "Drift Away" "Joy to the World", "Listen to the Music" and a bunch of other fun songs. They do at least two mash ups. One of them is "Iko, Iko" and "I love candy". It is pretty cool how seamlessly they transition back and forth. 

   Many of their outdoor concerts are at libraries and town commons. Sometimes they draw a huge crowd especially when they have been playing the same venue for years such as Franklin, MA, or Crescent Park. Going to these free summer concerts is really fun. Jesse has so much energy and we never get bored. To the contrary, on a night that we know we can go see the band we really look forward to it. It is getting harder to have our nights match up to when they are close enough to see thanks to working a few evenings a week. So far this year, we have seen the JLB twice. 

   The JLB also has a few original songs. They are really good. My favorite (and Laurie's) is "Ya, ya dance!" It is a really catchy song. They also have about five other originals and I mean it, they are very good. 

Horn Pond and Concord

 

Last week Laurie Lynn and I went up to Concord. We really just went because we both have National Park passports and we wanted to get the stamp. We've obviously been to Concord dozens of times but since we decided to go, we made a day of it. Before we went to the places we usually go, we went up to Woburn and explored a pond I'd heard about for years.

   There is a pond in Woburn name Horn Pond. I've read bird reports for years and I know that it is a hotspot for birders/birds. We decided to check it out. We put Horn Pond Recreation Area into the GPS. Parking was along the street at the pond and there is a 2.8 mile trail that circles the pond. Considering this area is in the Rt 128 corridor in suburban Boston it was still really pretty. The walk is partial woods walking and partially shoreline walking. Though the entire area is public you walk through three parklike areas. We walked by a boat ramp with a couple dozen parking spots and a restroom.

Horn  Pond is pretty famous for its winter waterfowl. Quite a few good rarities also show up in the spring. I didn't expect to see too many birds during our walk on a hot summer day. From what I understand, the pond has the normal bass, perch, and sunfish that you'd expect. Perch are the most numerous fish caught according to Mass Wildlife. It is also stocked with trout. All in all, our walk was pleasant. 

    After we left Woburn we took the short trip to Concord. The first stop was the Visitor Center at the Minuteman National Historic Park. We watch the little multimedia presentation  and got out passport stamped.

   After we left the visitor center we went to the North Bridge. I took another photo of the bridge and "The Minuteman" statue by Daniel Chester French. After we left the North Bridge we went to Great Meadows.

   The goal at Great Meadows was to see snakes and Leopard Frogs. We saw plenty of frogs. Leopard Frog were hopping along the path everywhere there was shade. Getting a photo proved impossible. The grass was tall enough so that we couldn't see them until they were hopping right off of the trail at our feet. We did see one large Garter Snake too. I lifted a rock and we saw it but it slithered to the high grass also. 

We had planned on having a picnic but it was so hot and muggy cooking on the grill did not seem like fun. So we stopped at a store and got a cold drink and a snack before heading home.