A great day carping was not even remotely in my plans yesterday

Lately, all I have been thinking about is surf fishing. It is the time of year when I hopefully have a shot at false albacore. There have been stripers in Rhode Island waters for about a month. I have gotten to the ocean a few times. Although this year seems like it is going to be a dud for the albies, it has not stopped me from thinking about them continuously.

Thursday I went to the West Wall in search of albies but none showed up. I decided to go to Narragansett and try for stripers. I had gone Wednesday night and picked up a few on poppers. Unfortunately, when I got to Narragansett, the cold front come through, with it a huge thunderstorm. I waited out the storm for over an hour, but finally I gave up and went home.

Friday morning I woke up thinking about my striped friends. I knew the wind was northeast and could have dirtied the water. I was willing to take that chance, just because I am obsessed with stripers and albies right now. My friend Dave called me and he was going carp fishing half way between home and the ocean. I decided to join him for a while. I planned on leaving around 1-2 o'clock and go to the ocean.  He planned on  doing the same thing as we both packed our carp and saltwater gear.

I met him around 11:30 at the pond. To make a long story short we had absolutely amazing carp fishing. For me, it was the best day of the year. Between us we caught a whopping twenty carp. Of course, he caught more than me, but trust me, it is expected. Fishing was so good, neither of decided to leave. We ended up staying at the pond until after 5 pm. Besides the fish we caught, we had a few others come off during the fight. All the fish were in the teens. Although we didn't have any monsters, they were all decent size fish.

Dave's son who lives in Narragansett went to the ocean. He tried a few spots, many of which were dirty. He did eventually find fish. However, carp fishing has days that are few and far between that are as epic as Friday was. So although I can't stop thinking about surf fishing, we clearly made the correct decision and took advantage of the hungry carp.

Being an Intermediate Birder

When Laurie and I went on the bird walks on the Outer Cape, I knew the most about birds of the six of us on the walk. I was the only one to bring a spotting scope. Although the ranger lead the walk, it was my spotting scope that found a lot of the birds for people to see. After the walk, a couple of the people were asking me how I knew so much about birds.

This sounds very arrogant, I know. But the truth is, except for me, the other six people were just beginner birders. Most of them were on vacation just looking for something to do. They were all quite impressed with seeing a cardinal. Everyone was very nice, and they were really impressed at seeing the Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers (so was I, I love shorebirds).

However, if you fast forward to the following Thursday, I went to Charlestown Breachways mudflat. I saw a gull I did not recognize. I got some pictures of it, and posted it on a Facebook bird page. Within seconds, I found out the gull was a young Laughing Gull. The experts could tell right away exactly how old the gull was and the species.

However, the moderator of the Facebook page makes it clear, that only rare birds should be on the page for an ID. How does someone decide what is rare and what is common, I do not know. Obviously a song sparrow is common, but is a seaside sparrow? Chances are if you go to a sand dune you will see a Seaside Sparrow, but could the average beginner or even intermediate tell you what one looked like? Probably not. Well apparently, my young Laughing Gull was considered too common. He deleted my post and pictures within an hour of putting it up. No private message or explanation, it was just gone. My issue with this is, how can someone learn and become an expert, if their questions are being deleted. Seemed a bit bird snobbish to me.

Anyway, that is where I am at in my birding progression. I can look like a real genius to a newbie. On the flipside I still have so much to learn that an expert thinks I'm an amateur.  I'm not terribly worried about where I fit in the birding community. The thing that I just can't believe is; there is SO MUCH to learn. I could read a bird ID book like Petersons Eastern Birds, remember every word, and still not tell you every bird.

I will give you an example that happened to me yesterday. I was again at Charlestown Breachway mudflat. There were barely any birds there. I saw maybe two dozen shorebirds all day. Sometimes there are hundreds. Of the very few shorebirds, I saw what I thought was a large sandpiper. It is the front bird in the left photo at the top. I looked at all the sandpipers in the bird book. You can easily see the grey coloration, the white eyebrow , and black bill. None of the sandpipers fit this description. When it flew, it clearly had black armpits. It was an unmistakable field mark. Again, nothing was said about the black arm pits in the book

It turns out that the bird was a non breeding Black Bellied Plover. A normal Black Bellied Plover is the right picture on the top. The picture is from the Smithsonian Birds of North America. Honestly, I have seen many adult breeding Black Bellied Plovers. I do not need a book to identify them. However, does that bird on the right look anything like the bird on the left? Hell no! I have three different bird ID books. None show a picture of a non breeding Black Bellied. Furthermore, they don't even mention the black armpits. Yet, expert birders knew instantly what this bird was. They also told me the black pits is a tell tale field mark.

If this happened with one species of bird, I can't imagine how many other species look different from one season to the next. I also don't know how many "field marks" are not even shown in my guidebooks. I have so much to learn it is overwhelming.

Thoughts about the Red Sox and ESPN

One of the best unceremoniously getting kicked to the curb! 

This past week a lot has happened in the world of New England sports. Since going to sporting events
is certainly a recreational activity for a lot of people, and I am a sports fan, I thought I'd post my thoughts about it.

Tom Brady

As for the Tom Brady ruling, can you imagine that it got so out of control that it had to be decided in Federal Court. The fact that the loser of the case (double meaning for Goddell) is even going to appeal the decision. Seriously? All he had to say was " I disagree with the judge's ruling but it's time to get past it and play football" That's it, lets move on. To drag a case about PSI into the upcoming season is ridiculous

Don Orsillo

More importantly to me, I am disgusted by the way the Boston Red Sox have treated Don Orsillo.  Orsillo is considered one of the best local broadcasters in the country. He is so good in fact, that Fox uses him during their wildcard coverage. The only reason to watch this lousy team is to see what Don and Jerry are going to talk about.

Orsillo turned down a huge contract with TBS a few years ago. He didn't leave the Red Sox because this was his dream job. Fans love him here. He was voted New England's favorite broadcaster two years in a row. The Sox had the right not to renew his contract. However he is well loved by the fans. The players like him and from everything I read, he is great to work with. Dave O'Brien might be just as good, but why get rid of a fan favorite that is doing a great job.

As things unfolded, their have been leaks from the Sox. The Red Sox asked a fired Don Orsillo to lie and say his leaving was mutual. He would not lie to us, he hasn't for 15 years, he wasn't about to now. How awful is it to fire a guy, then ask him to "take one for the team"

Also, the Sox would not allow any pro Orsillo signs into the stadium after they got back from their road trip. Signs were confiscated at the gates. THEN!they lied about it and said signs were not confiscated. Seriously, do these people have any morals. I am losing all faith in the Red Sox/ NESN ownership.

I new that the Francona years were "the glory years". I knew I was watching something special. Francona was the best manager the Sox have ever had. When the Red Sox similarly dismissed Francona I was mad. I knew it was the end of an era. I was so mad I boycotted the Red Sox for all of 2012. I didn't watch one game. I never saw the disaster of Bobby Valentine in a Sox uniform except on Sportscenter. I plan on doing the same thing next year. The way the Red Sox kicked to the curb someone that has been in their family for 15 years is awful. I am ashamed to say I root for this team owned by such low class scumbags!!!

ESPN needs to get over themselves

You may have read that ESPN was suspended Curt Schilling for at least the rest of the year because he made a comparison in a tweet between Muslim terrorists and Nazis. This is one of many incidents where ESPN has suspended its personalities. I have a problem with this and it is getting old.

First off Schill is a hardcore Republican, ESPN knew this when the hired him. He is active in politics and campaigned for W. If they thought he was going to keep his conservative beliefs to himself, they were naive'. Secondly, Curt is in love with his own voice. He likes being the center of attention. He thrives on it. He used to call the radio station WEEI when he was a member of the Red Sox to do impromptu interviews. He can be arrogant and bullheaded. There is no possible way ESPN didn't know this when they hired him.

You know what else Schilling is? He isn't a bullshitter. He tells you how he sees things and lets you agree or not. You may not like what he has to say, but he is going to tell you anyway. In the land of "Bill Belichick cliches" it is/was refreshing to hear an athlete tell you exactly how they feel about something. I am not a hardcore Republican so I agree with about 40% of what "Curt in the Car " has to say. Whether I agree with him or not, he is thoughtful and some of his comments open up discussion.

So I think it is ridiculous that ESPN suspended him about a tweet he made. Why, because his opinion  made the channel look bad? Seriously? I am tired of ESPN doing this. I don't think his tweet was offensive, but even if you do, why shouldn't he be able to speak his mind about terrorists? Or for that matter, any other subject?  Don't these analysts have the right to have an opinion without fear of losing his job? He didn't say anything on the air, and even if he did, why can't ESPN just say  " the views of our analysts do not necessarily coincide with the views of our network"

This has happened to Bill Simmons because of a rant about Roger Goddell. Yes, a two week suspension because he ranted about Goddell, calling him a liar over the leagues domestic abuse policy. Your suspending him over that? Come on ESPN have some balls and stand by your people. By the way Simmons contract was not renewed either.

Tony Kornheiser was suspended in 2010 because he made some inappropriate comments about Hannah Storm. They were sexist, and crossed the line. I won't argue what he said was wrong. However, couldn't he just apologize. He made a mistake, he got on a bad roll and kept going with it. Of any of my examples, Tony most deserved a suspension, but again, he gets paid to have an opinion. It bothers me that these people get paid a lot of money to open their mouth, they just have to make sure they don't open it too far or they will get muzzelled

Two Days in South County RI

Least Sandpiper

I was told on Wednesday afternoon that I would have Thursday and Friday off from work. If I would have known sooner, I would have gone to New Hampshire. I would have packed on Tuesday and left for the Granite State on Wednesday after work. It's just not worth the gas and not enough time to go if I can't spend two nights there.

So that night I put a list together of possible things to do on my days off. I certainly did not want to waste my time off sitting at home wondering what to do. The options I came up with were...

Charlestown Breachway birding in the am and looking for albies in the afternoon

Hike Mount Monadnock

Birding at  Parker River in Newburyport

I won't bore you with the pluses and minuses of each. Suffice to say I chose the first option for Thursday. Depending on the weather and how much fun I had for Friday I'd make up my mind on Thursday night.

Thursday morning at Charlestown Breachway

I put my kayak in at the boat ramp and paddled towards a mud flat at 9 am. I saw three birders on the

Looking into Charlestown Breachway
from the East Beach side

way to my destination. I decided to beach my watercraft and see if they had seen anything. They hadn't seen anything special. The best bird they had on the flats were a few black bellied plovers. I talked to them for a few minutes. They were very nice, it paid off later in the day that I made this connection.

I birded around Ninigret Pond for some time. Besides the plovers, I saw a Whimbrel, which is a pretty big shorebird with a down turned beak. Finally I beached my kayak on the biggest mudflat, which wasn't that big because the tide was rising rapidly. Again, I had the usual assortment of common shorebirds. Then I spotted a large sandpiper I did not recognize. To make things worse, it was backlit against the sun. I had no idea what it was. However, my three new amigos were walking towards me. I called them over and they looked at it. One of them was carrying a scope. He identified the bird as a Buff Breasted Sandpiper. Score! this was a lifebird for me. While we were all together, he found in his scope an American Golden Plover, this was only the second time I have ever seen one. It was another terrific find. THEN, the spotted Western Sandpipers, another lifebird. I had two lifebirds, the plover and black terns ( I found on my own) in a matter of fifteen minutes.

Finally the tide rose and it was getting late. I kayaked back to my car and went to Trustom Pond. A Black Guillemot had been seen there for two days. I had never seen one. Still haven't. I spent two fruitless hours that I could have been fishing looking for it. I saw the usual yard birds. By far the best bird I saw was a female American Redstart that sat on a tree limb looking right at me. She was a sight. I left about 2 pm.

Fishing Thursday afternoon

It was so late I didn't go to the West Wall. I knew a trip there would cost me an hour. Well worth it if

School of large menhaden

fish were around, but I didn't want to gamble with the 60 minutes. So I headed up to Narragansett. While I was searching in vain for that bird, my friend Dave was scouting fishing spots. He saw breaking fish at a couple places. I met him at one of the avenues that he saw  fish. When I got there, no fish had been close enough to shore to catch.

 While we were sitting on the rocks a large pod of bait got close to shore on our left. Soon after fish started ripping through the school.I took a chance  the fish would still be there if I made my way over. So I climbed over bowling ball sized rocks to the fish. The fish would only pop up for a minute and then they'd be gone. If you were lucky, you'd be able to make one cast into them..  I ended up catching four stripers around 25 inches with two others on. I didn't see any albacore.This does not go down as the best fishing day ever. Never the less, I was pleased to end such a great day with some fish.

Friday-

I woke up Friday to a chilly morning. It was overcast, so that took hiking Monadnock off the table. I considered going to a waterfall in Rhode Island I just found out about (Step Stone Falls) but since we haven't had any rain in a month I doubt it would have more than a trickle. I thought about going to Plum Island, but what I really wanted to do was catch more stripers. So that's what I tried to do. The chilly morning came with a northeast wind. Thursday the air and water was dead calm. I knew that the northeast would churn up the water. This can light up fishing. Not today! I tried all over Narragansett without any luck. I hit all the avenues and Point Judith and never saw a fish or even bait.  I went back to some spots a couple of times. Basically, I fished hard for six hours into a giant, sterile, fishing pool.

At 5:30 I decided to go fish a quiet backwater spot. This spot can produce snapper blues, schoolies, and hickory shad. I would have taken any of the three. Anything to say I caught a fish. It turned out

My Salvation
Hickory Shad

the hickory shad wanted to play. The spot was loaded with them. Hickory Shad are usually pretty easy to catch. If they are around they can be caught on every cast. Today they were very fussy. They were breaking all over but I had a hard time catching them. While the sun was still high I had a lot of follows and swipes but not many hits.

As the sun went down they became more aggressive. I started getting hits on every cast. Usually multiple hits on each cast yet I wasn't catching many. I kid you not I had three hundred hits. I don't know if they were banging my three inch Zoom fluke or biting the tail. To make things worse ( keep in mind I was very happy to be on fish, just confused that I wasn't catching them) many of the fish I was hooking came off. I kept track, I hooked up with 28 shad and landed a total of ten. I'm not complaining, catching ten shad salvaged a bad day fishing. I'm just saying I landed one fish for every thirty hits. I love hickory shad, so I stayed at the backwater spot until dark.

So clearly Thursday was the better day. Birding was awesome and the fishing was really good, Friday ended up being okay. By the time I got to the ocean there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so by the chart, I should have hiked Monadnock. I had to follow my heart though. I wanted to catch more stripers. I would have thought "what if" all day if I didn't try.

One of my least favorite birds, the cormorant
I couldn't pass up this picture though

An Interview with my friend Matt Craig- Concert Guru Part 1

Matt Craig in the middle with Ronnie James Dio and
his band

The people that I have the most respect for are those that have passion and hobbies. These are the people I find to be the most interesting. Obviously, I am fanatical about fishing and hiking. If I meet someone that knows more about fishing than me, or hiked places  I haven't hiked, I'm most likely going to ask a million questions and learn what I can from them. However, I find people interesting when I do not have the same hobbies as them. Sometimes, I enjoy talking to them more, because I can learn so much or have my eyes opened up to something I know nothing about.

The people that I just do not understand are those that spend their life as workaholics and those that spend it in misery. Those people that stay in bad marriages and those that don't do anything to make their life happier, I do not comprehend. It's as if they think we get a "do over" if this life doesn't work out. As I said, the people that I most respect, live life to the fullest. They are passionate about something. It doesn't matter to me if that something is building ships in a bottle or extreme sports. Matt Craig is passionate about live music. He is also a huge sports fan. He loves the Celtics, and Providence College Men's basketball team and goes to many of their games. As I said, he lives life to the fullest. Although I love sports and go to some Friars games also, his love of live music is what most interested me.

That is why I asked Matt Craig if I could interview him for my blog. Matt has been to around 800 concerts! He is a lover of music, it is safe to say going to concerts is something he lives for. I met Matt in seventh grade. He was the first person I became friends with in Junior High that was not in my elementary school. Even back then, he was writing all over his book covers in the "font" of the bands he liked. I remember it clear as day his covers would covered in band names. Matt knew the names of members of many of his favorite bands. To this day about the only band I can name all the
members of is Motley Crue. 

Matt and two friends with Kings X

I asked Matt if I could interview him because, if someone goes to that many shows, they are bound to have gained a lot of knowledge. As I said, I enjoy learning about things I know nothing about. I'm sure Matt knows the  best venues, best acts, and has loads of personal stories to tell . I assume that if I find it interesting other people might as well.  

Doing this post was a fun "project." Usually, I do a day trip or go fishing  and write about it. This post took a little thought. I sent Matt  a series of questions, he would answer them in a day or two and I'd send him a few more. Then I asked him for some pictures. I didn't want to overwhelm him with hundreds of questions in case he was only agreeing to answer them as a favor to me. I have to say, it was refreshing to do this post. Instead of writing about myself or telling "my story" I get to hear about someone else's experiences and write about it. So a big thank you to Matt Craig for taking the time out his day (more than once) to answer my questions. 

Before I begin, I have to apologize about one thing, a lot of the questions I asked him required only one word answers (such as how many concerts have you gone to this year, or favorite venue) I am hoping to get more "stories" in Part 2 of the interview

1.Do you keep track of how many concerts you have been  to? If so do you know how many? I keep a journal of many lists such as daytrips, movies, books I have read, I thought there was a good chance Matt keeps track of concerts for the same reason, to help keep the memories organized.

I do keep track. I have giant notebooks binders with all the info including dates,venues,bands,setlists.

 My 1st show was 11/19/88 to most recent one last Saturday. How many not sure rough estimate probably @800

2. How many shows have you been to this year?

25 so far this year but have many more scheduled

3. What's your favorite large venue?

.Dunkin Donuts Center. Its local and easy to get in and out of

4. What's you favorite small venue?

Twin River Event Center and Showcase Live

5. What's your least favorite venue and why?

TD Garden

As far as TD Garden Its too big and getting in and out of that building can be frustrating. Plus I'm not a fan of going into Boston unless I have to

6. Who have you seen the most times?

Dream Theater 21 times

7. When we were growing up Matt was taunted by his best friends for being Stryper's biggest fan. Stryper is a Christian rock band. Is Stryper still your favorite band?

Dream Theater #1 but Stryper is a close #2

8. Who is your favorite that came out since 2000?

Fozzy

Did you see Nirvana? 

Never saw Nirvana but have seen Foo Fighters 3 times and did Krist Novoselic once

10. Did you see any other iconic people that died?

Unfortunately a lot. Ronnie James Dio, Dimebag Darrell, Peter Steele, Chris Squire, Jon Lord, Kevin DuBrow, Jeff Hanneman, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkinson, John Entwistle, Davy Jones, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Paul Baloff. There may be more but that's all I could think of.

11.What is the farthest you have ever gone to a concert?

Farthest ever was new Yankee Stadium in 2011 for Big 4 show (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth & Anthrax

( I have to give Matt big props for this, Can you imagine being surrounded by 50,000 Yankee fans. Sounds awful)

12.Have you ever flown specifically to go to a concert?

2)Never flown to a show

13/14 I know you have met a lot of famous people, who spent the most time talking and caring about their fans?

Do you recall any conversations with any rockers that got to the point of "getting to know you" talk?

As far as musicians I've met some of the nicer more fan friendly ones were Michael Sweet (Stryper), Dug Pinnick (Kings X), Jerry Only (Misfits), Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Chris Jericho.

Matt sent this a few days later-

 I failed to mention that the absolute nicest guy I met is the late great Ronnie James Dio in 2004

15. I hesitate to ask if anyone was a dick because anyone can have a bad day. You never know if someone just found out their girlfriend cheated on them right before a Meet and Greet, but did anyone leave a bad taste?

 I can't say anyone was a dick or a jerk.Most of my experiences were positive.

16. I'm curious about Davy Jones

I saw Davy Jones when he and Mickey Dolenzwere performing as The Monkees featuring Mickey & Davy. Fun show btw 

17. I'm thinking about going to see Meatloaf at Twin River. I'm guessing you have seen him. Give me a concert review before I go. How long does he play? Is he passionate or just go through the motions? Does the crowd get into it? Does he include the crowd.. I'll take anything you got

Answer_ I'm not a fan of Meatloaf. I like a few songs but would never pay to see him so I cant help with any additional info on him

Matt is right. I looked up tickets. He is playing at Twin River in November. The cheap seats are $80. I am not paying that to hear "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" and "Two outta Three Ain't Bad"

I know that many of you reading this clicked on it because you are friends with Matt and never have been to my outdoor blog. However, I have a request, if you have any questions for Matt such as a review of an artist, or any other question, could you put that question in my comments section instead of asking him personally or on Facebook? Chances are if it is of interest to you, it probably would to me and his other friends also. I will include it in the questions for Part 2. 

Thank you for reading.

Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein from Misfits
I'm guessing you can figure which one he is

The Outer Cape- This should be on your bucket list!!!

For the last three days Laurie and I have been at the ocean. I wasn't getting much time off this summer, so we planned a quick three day vacation. We left early Wednesday morning and came home Friday afternoon. We started our trip off with a whale watch and ended it with some birding with a whole lot of fun thrown in.

The whale watch was out of Plymouth but the rest of the time was spent out on the Outer Cape. I have to admit, I am surprised by how pretty the scenery was. I knew and expected miles of beaches. I didn't expect the diversity of other habitats like beech forests and miles of vegetated sand dunes. I completely misjudged how incredible it is out there. I would highly recommend everyone take a trip to the outer Cape. You don't have to do the things I did, but there is is much to do I think you would find a trip with a little research highly rewarding.

Whale Watch

The whale's fin is white but because of all
the plants in the water it glows a bright green

We took our whale watch out of Plymouth at Captain John's boat. Whale Watch's can also be taken from Boston and Provincetown that go to the same place, Stellwagon Bank. Our trip departed Plymouth Harbor at 9 am. It cost 45 dollars (plus tax) for an adult. The trip out to the bank lasts about an hour. I have been on whale watches before, but not for a few years. All summer, I have been hearing reports of amazing whale activity. I was hoping to see some breaching. We didn't see any breaches, but he were really close to some humpbacks. They came right next to the boat, sometimes within a few feet. We had some really good looks at about five whales (including a mother and a calf). On our way back to the dock, the ocean exploded with whales and we could see blow holes everywhere, but we couldn't stop to see them. I really had a good time.

Nickerson State Park Camping

We stayed at Nickerson State Park in Brewster on Wednesday and Thursday nights. After we left the whale watch we headed over the Sagamore Bridge en route to Brewster. From the bridge, it's 40 minutes to the campground. We had reservations at Area 7 (there are actually seven camping areas

We had the beach to ourselves at Cliff Pond

spread out in this huge park). Area 7 is near Higgins Pond, a trout pond I haven't fished yet. Our site was flat and near the bathroom. All was quiet Wednesday night. Since it is dark around 8 pm, there isn't a lot to do. Happily everyone was quiet sans a few car doors slamming. Thursday, not so much, one camper had a radio blaring until almost 10:30.  After that, all was quiet.

The state park has evening programs at the Amphitheater almost every night . Wednesday the program was about mammals but we were out (see below) Thursday it was about African drumming and we did not go.

Nickerson has many "beaches" in the Kettle Ponds. We went for a swim on Thursday night. We went to Big Cliff Pond about 5 pm. To my surprise, no one was swimming at all ( a guy and his grand daughter came for a swim after we got into the water). The water was warm and clear. I could see about six feet down with my snorkel and mask.

I believe camping cost MA residents $22 a night. I think it's pretty good deal. It comes with use of a huge state park that has swimming, biking, hiking, campfire programs and fishing. Also its location is second to none being close to beaches, Chatham and very well centered in the middle of the Cape.

First Encounter Beach sunset

One thing I was hoping to do, was squeeze in a sunset looking west over Cape Cod Bay. Happily, we had some free time on Wednesday night after we set up camp. I had scouted my map book for a west facing beach. First Encounter is named because it was where Pilgrims and Nauset Indians met. It was easy to get to off of Route 6. We were not the only people with this idea. A few others set up lawn chairs, some with a glass of wine to take in the view. It was well worth sitting around a few minutes. The setting sun put on a spectacular show. We watched it light up the sky as it sunk behind the horizon.

Provincelands Bike Trail

The view from the top of a hill on the bike trail faces
Race Point Light

I had read before how awesome the Provincelands bike trail was. I had read it is challenging going up and over dunes and that it was very pretty. I was still not prepared for the splendor of this trail. The trail goes through a beech forest and up and over dunes. It also has spur trails to a freshwater pond, Herring Cove Beach and Race Point Beach. This is now officially my favorite bike trail. It is hard, there are some very long uphills. However the tight turns, huge sand dunes, and the views from the top of some of the dunes make it all worth it. If you like bike riding, DO THIS TRAIL!!!It's only 5.4 miles to do the loop, but you can add on a couple more doing the spurs to the beaches. We went to Herring Cove Beach but not Race Point Beach. It is a nice beach facing west. There is a food shack and restrooms. Do this path!!!

Turns can be sharp and steep adding to the fun

Provincetown

Dogs were everywhere in Provincetown
Although this isn't my favorite kind of dog
it was the first dog I saw after I realized
I should get a picture of one

I don't care what your views are about gay marriage (For those of you that don't know P-town has a very large gay population), I am telling you right now, Commercial Street is one of the most fun streets in America. There is a lot of places to get food. P-town also has a large population of artists.. Many of which have galleries in shops on the street. I was more than happy to get a burger since we were hungry after doing our bike ride. I then got talked into a cupcake from Scott's Cupcakes, that is supposedly one of the best cupcakes in the country.

After that we walked around a bit looking at the art and the harbor. Commercial Street runs right along P-town harbor. Then we went to one place where we got a pina colada and a

Commercial Street is colorful.
Hope you like rainbows

Key Lime tart and ate it on the deck overlooking the harbor. Yeah, it was a Jimmy Buffett moment. We hung out in town for about four hours, bellies full we left (and went for the
swim mentioned above at Big Cliff)

A view of Provincetown Harbor

Friday morning birding

The Salt Pond Visitor Center had a bird walk scheduled for Friday morning.Since I like birds and

 Laurie wanted to keep the trip as low cost as possible, it was an easy decision to go birding. The walk started at the VC, but we quickly drove to a place called Doanes Rock. There is some upland habitat, a marsh, and finally the path comes out to Coast Guard Beach at the ocean. There wasn't much to see in the woods (nesting is over and songbirds migrate about a month from now)

However, shorebirds are migrating right now. There was quite a few in the marsh. We saw laughing gulls, Lesser Yellowlegs, Black Bellied Plovers, Dowitcher, Snowy and Graet Egrets, Great Blue Heron, and common sandpipers. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but good numbers of the more common shorebirds.

Out at the beach we didn't see any birds, but we saw plenty of seals. The ranger told me the Cape Cod

seal population has exploded to 15,000! We saw a few of them swimming right in the surf line at Coast Guard beach.

After that walk we went to the Welfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary. I had never been there. There is a

five dollar fee for non-members. Laurie's feet hurt so we did the shortest trails to the ocean. This still resulted in a couple miles of walking. There is a large marsh that empties into the sea. We saw a couple good birds. We had a Whimbrel, a Dunlin, and I'm almost positive a Stilt Sandpiper. We had almost all the other shorebirds I named above also.

Bike Trails and the National Seashore

This area of the Cape has some of the best biking around. Besides the Provincelands trail there are miles of bike trails in the area. Nickerson State Park has miles of paved bike trails. The Cape Cod Rail Trail runs for 22 miles through the center of the Cape (you can pick it up at Nickerson among other places). There are shorter trails that leave the Salt Pond Visitor Center. Many trails lead to beaches that would otherwise have full parking lots.

As for the National Seashore, the best advice I can give you is to get a park newspaper. These can be

picked up at Vistor Centers. There is so much to do and see and it is all in the park newspaper. You could just spend every day at the beach, but you would be missing out on a lot of fun stuff. A list of ranger led activities and programs is in the paper. IT TAKES UP FOUR PAGES. Anything you could hope to do outdoors is available. From kayaking quiet marshes, to ranger led bike rides and hikes, there's something for everyone. Many programs are free ( like our bird walk) others cost money, but are very reasonable. It would be worth a few minutes  to pick up a park paper and see what programs are going on the days you are there.

So as you can see, I loved my time on the outer Cape. We got lucky with the weather, it was absolutely perfect. There was so much to do, I could have easily stayed the week. I plan on going back many times. My eyes were opened to an amazing area only ninety minutes from home. More pictures below.

A lighthouse on our whale watch

Protected Diamondback Terrapin (a sea turtle)
nest at Welfleet
Bay Sanctuary

The middle bird with a black smudge
on its chest is a Dunlin

Having a lot of hobbies was a blessing yesterday

There is no question that I have a lot of interests. I love history, hiking, birding, fishing, sports, going to the movies, photography, and day tripping. I also like to snorkel in the summer, ice fish and snowshoe in the winter. I enjoy sporting events although I do not like paying the price of a ticket. So I mainly stick to Pawtucket Red Sox games, Wareham Gatemen (of the Cape Cod League) and Providence College basketball and hockey.

To make matters more complicated, as any fisherman can tell you, there are many types of fishing. A non fisher thinks fishing is fishing. However we all have our favorite species and methods. A guy with a bass boat may fish exclusively for largemouth and smallmouth. Some guys just chase the saltwater bass with seven lines. Some of those guys just use bait on the bottom, while others might be lure and eel fishermen I  enjoy chasing trout, carp and stripers. Those are my main interests. However, I also fish for freshwater bass, albies, catfish, hickory shad at some point throughout the year.

The point of all of this is...I keep busy having fun. That said at some points throughout the year, it just feels like there isn't enough time to do everything I want to do. Two examples would be May and September.

As I state every year, I love May. Although my definition of May" is roughly April 20- May 25, that six week time period is so much fun. That said, it goes by so quickly and I feel there just isn't enough time to do everything I want to get done. If I go fishing, it is usually for my big three ( carp, stripers, and trout) However, when I go fishing after getting out of work for one of those species, if I find out another species of fish were really biting I feel like I missed out and made a bad decision. I also love birding in May since it is migration. Birding is better in the a.m. than in the afternoon, and I work mornings. So I give up a lot of fishing trips on my day off to go birding.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining but it is a good problem to have. Like having too many starting pitchers or two really good quarterbacks, having too many things to do isn't a bad thing. I just wish I had more time in the spring to do them.

As for September, it's really about albies for me. Birding is really good in September and the weather can be perfect in New Hampshire. However, if the albies show up, I'll probably blow off the birds. I'd like to get to Wachusett Mountain where hawks can be seen by the hundreds, but I know I'll probably be on the West Wall. I'll probably go to NH at least once, but I know it won't be the second week of the month when albies seem to peak.

Where am I going with this? Having too many fun hobbies and not enough time can be a problem during certain times of the year (as I said a good problem, but a problem none the less). But having a lot of hobbies is a blessing in other parts of the year specifically summer and winter. If you only have one outdoor pursuit, things can get really slow. For example if your a surf fisherman in Rhode Island, in most years fishing can suck for three months of the summer (not so this year). What do these guys do?

Yesterday, August 21, was one of those days that it worked out for me. My plan was to go back to Plum Island and bird. However  I didn't check the weather. It was raining really hard when I got up. So I nixed those plans. Birding isn't very good in the rain. More importantly, although I don't mind the rain, my expensive equipment does.

So I thought about going carp fishing. I know a spot that fishes well in the rain. But the forecast called for clearing skies. I have never done well in that spot when the barometer is rising.

So I went with a plan C. Since it was going to be clear in the afternoon and tide was low about 6:30, I decided to go to Prudence Island and do some snorkeling. I took the 3:30 ferry over with my bike. I rode my bike over to a little cove on the northwest side of the island and snorkeled. The water was warm and it was fun to swim with the fish for three and a half hours. I did get bit by one crab and it hurt like hell, but I had a really good time.
 The cove was loaded with little baitfish. I was surrounded by them. They kept nibbling on me. The real small ones felt like non-stop little tickles. The ones that went five or six inches felt like a soft pinch. It was no big deal, but it does startle you when you get bit behind the knee. Swimming with thousands of little fish was a really cool experience, even though I was "attacked". I found a few quahogs and basically relaxed in the water the whole time I was there.

I took the 8:30 ferry home. It was completely dark on the trip back. I enjoyed looking at the stars as we made the three mile trip back across the bay to Bristol. What started out as a wasted day, turned out to be one of my favorite days of the summer, all because I had a backup plan