A Whale of a Weekend

   

cropped photo of a whale off of Race Point

   This weekend Laurie and I took a trip to the Outer Cape. I had two missions. First I wanted to see whales from the beach. Secondly, I wanted to get video of herring going upstream.  Along with these two goals, we were also just looking for nice places to walk and I wanted to find places to take postcard quality photos

   During this time of year migrating whales make their way north to their summer feeding grounds. Many North Atlantic Right Whales spend time in Cape Cd Bay. Right now as many as seventy are in the bay. Other whales go by Cape beaches to Stellwagen Bank and points north. The best place to see them from shore is Race Point in Provincetown, but if you are lucky, you can also see them from other beaches. As for the herring, I had researched Cape Herring Runs, while most runs start later in the month, a couple of rivers are loaded with them. 

  We left early on Saturday morning and made it to Herring Cove Beach in P-town by 8:30 AM. It was cold but we had a clear view of Cape Cod Bay from the car. We sat for quite a while but eventually a Right Whale came by heading toward Race Point. We watched it spout three times and saw its back on and off for two minutes. It was way out but in the binoculars we had a good look at it. After another hour we decided it wasn't going to get any warmer so we may as well head over to Race Point. 

   The point is about two miles from the parking lot over some fairly soft sand. We went out that way and sat down to rest and scan the water. Laurie found a whale and called me over. It was a feeding whale really far from shore. We actually saw its head come out of the water to feed. I was looking through my binoculars not my camera unfortunately. There was a lot of bait in the water and gulls were all over it. I did finally get one photo of the whale's back but as I said, it was way out (maybe 1.5 miles from shore). I really had to crop it. On our walk back to the car we saw multiple whales near the horizon. Not worth photos, but kept us occupied walking over the sand.

                                                      Video of herring below

 

    Next we went to two herring runs. The first one in Orleans was on Herring Brook Rd. It only had a couple of herring in it. I'm told it is very tide dependent and the fish swim upstream on a raising tide. The tide was low while we were there. 

  The second at a Grist Mill on Stony Brook Rd in Eastham had a lot of herring. The light was bad as the sun reflected all of the trees and bushes in the water. I took some photos and a videos but I knew we'd go back Sunday and hope for better light.

   We ended our day at the Roadway Motel in Orleans. It was a $97/night before taxes. It was spotlessly clean. It had a microwave and a fridge. We watched a Jeopardy rerun (that we had never seen) where Laurie kicked my ass 15-6. My only saving grace was that I got the final jeopardy question right.

  Sunday

   After a great night in a really comfortable bed, Laurie went to buy a donut from a place she heard was great. I did my back exercises and packed our belongings. I had hoped to go to Race Point again because the plan was to go both days if Saturday wasn't spectacular. Though we saw whales on Sat, they were far off, so I was happy to see them, but spectacular would not describe the day. I decided to change the plans when Laurie, who was sore from our endless beach walk said " I'm not in the mood and I have a tude" (attitude). So we changed plans. 

 

   So I took a couple photos of a windmill down the street then went to Coast Guard Beach. We looked over the embankment for a few minutes incase we saw some whales. Then we went up the road to Nauset Lighthouse. 

   On our way back west we stopped at Fort Hill. This is a very good birding spot in May, though we were a month early, we just decided to go for a walk. We walked the Red Maple Swamp Trail. Then went up a hill where there was a rock used by the natives thousands of years ago to sharpen tools. There were grooves where rock axes were sharpened. I thought it was amazing.

   After we left Fort Hill it was close to noontime and went back to Stony Brook Rd herring run. The light was better since the sun was right above us. I took many short videos of the herring. It is a pretty place. The river is very pleasing and daffodils were everywhere. The Grist Mill with the paddlewheel made a nice backdrop.

  It was still early so we then went to Chatham hoping to see seals. We only saw one Grey Seal! This amazed me, I thought there would be hundreds. We looked at the beauty of the sandbars and took  a photo of the lighthouse.

   On our way home we stopped at Crane Management Area and the herring run at the outlet of John's Pond. The herring still hadn't made it into the river (the Quashnet River which is where I caught wild trout last year)

 

Nauset Light

   All in all it was a great two days. Though the whale show wasn't mind blowing, the fun was in the looking. Though we only had a good run of herring in one river, it was enough and we enjoyed watching them. We found beauty at lighthouses, the shoreline, and a red maple swamp. Not a bad weekend!

More photos below

The best bird I saw 
Iceland Gull

Dunlin

Stony Brook Grist Mill

Laurie on the sharpening rock

The fish ladder on Stony Brook

Chatham Light

View from Chatham Light

Herp Photo Upgrade ( Red Bellied Cooters)

 

Today I went to Plymouth in search of trout. While the trout fishing sucked the trip was not a waste of time. I stopped at a pond that I saw Red Bellied Cooters last year. Red Bellied Cooters are native to Mass but are endangered. Strangely, the next closest population is in New Jersey. Last year I got a couple photos but they were on a log that had a branch blocking the head in my photos. Today I got lucky and I could see their faces.

This was my "best" photo from last year.
So definitely an upgrade today.

Boothbay Harbor, ME

 

Pemaquid Island Lighthouse

   When I was a kid our family would take a yearly vacation about an hour away from Acadia National Park. We would spend two weeks on a nine mile lake called Toddy Pond. To get there we had the option of driving to Bangor and heading south to Ellsworth or to take coastal Route 1. My parents being who they were, took Rt 1 most of the time. 

   One of those times we made a quick side trip to Boothbay Harbor. It was brief, I don't even remember getting out of the car. I do remember all the boats in the harbor an the beautiful coastline scenery. I always wanted to go back.

   I had my chance last weekend. Laurie drove up while I lied in the back seat with a blanket and pillow to keep my back as pain free as possible. We left at 7 am and got there around 11:30 am because of the stops we made.

   Boothbay is definitely a tourist town for people with money. There are a ton of nice restaurants where meals start at thirty dollars. There are a couple of ice cream shops, a smoothie shop, and at least three places that sell fudge. The downtown area was much smaller than I expected. If you didn't stop you could walk from one end to the other in ten minutes. Even giving time to window shop and look at the harbor and a few menus, it took less than half n hour.  

I spent much of the boat trip looking for
Black Gullimot. Here is one in winter colors.

   The only attraction that we did was a boat ride. The company was called Cap'n Fish. They offer boat trips from whale watches to short harbor cruises. We took what is called the Pemaquid  Point and John's Bay Cruise. It started at 1 pm and took two and a half hours. The cost was $35.Pemiquid Point is a lighthouse. One of three along the way.

   The boat goes out to some islands looking for seals first. On the way we saw a bald eagle perched on a bare rock. We saw a few seals and happily for me, a few Black Guilemot. From there we headed to Pemaquid Point. Then we travel inside John's Bay. Named by the egotistical Captain John Smith for himself.

   I have to say, Cap'n Fish trip was top notch. The captain who was also the narrator was great. He gave us a ton of information but he didn't talk when there was no reason to. I can't speak for the other boat trips such as the whale watch or puffin trips, but the Pemaquid Point trip deserves a five star review. 

   All in all, the highlight of Boothbay Harbor was the boat trip. The small tourist town was what you expect with shops and restaurants. It was a nice overnight trip, but I wouldn't know what to do if I had to spend a third day. However, if you like narrated boat trips and lobster in every restaurant, Boothbay is worth a quick overnight trip.  All photos below are from the boat trip

Western Grebe

   Today I got my first lifer in six months. My friend Mike Tucker, whom lives in Woods Hole, posted a picture last night of a Western Grebe that he saw at John's Pond in Mashpee. It was a continuing bird and had been in this pond for a while, and before that it was in another pond in December. 

   I decided to go look for it today. Luckily it was not hard to find. It was lounging off of the town beach at John's Pond Park. It didn't dive much. It was mostly just swimming back and fourth casually in between naps. From the beach I had a great view of it with the sun behind me in both my binoculars and spotting scope. The photos were only okay as it was far out for my camera. I cropped a couple photos to give you an idea of what it looks like. 

  For anyone interested in seeing it, it seems to like the north end of the pond which is where the park and beach is. A scope would be needed if it were in the middle of the pond. If you GPS the location, make sure you write John's Pond Park. If you just type in John's Pond it will send you down some private roads on the south side of the pond.

Wood Frogs save the day

 Since today was going to be a nice day, Sunday funday was going to be outside. I came up with a plan to look for wildlife at multiple locations. Most of the morning was an exercise in futility however. The morning started off with a dip on Great Horned Owls in Providence. Then we jumped over to Brickyard Farm in Barrington. The goal was to  see Black Crowned Night Herons that had been reported. Up to twenty were there this week but we did not see any of them today. We did see some Great Blue Herons and Ospreys. 

   From Barrington we drove back up to Lime Rock Preserve in Lincoln. This is a very good spot to see Wood Frogs a short walk from the parking lot. Knowing the ground around the vernal pool would be wet, we each brought a beach towel to sit on. We walked up to the pool and found a spot to sit at. We heard a few Wood Frogs but only a couple were in view and under thick brush at that. I got a photo of a couple of them but nothing I'd even keep in my archives.

   From Lincoln we went up to my hometown of North Attleboro in the hopes of seeing the Spring Peepers I saw last year. However, they were not active at midday. I knew seeing them so early was a longshot. We did hear more Wood Frogs but based on where they were calling, we didn't have a chance in hell of seeing them. Things looked a little brighter at lunchtime. We stopped at Rico's sub shop for lunch. We had the best subs that we'd had in a long time. I got an Italian and Laurie got a chicken cutlet with mayo, lettuce, pickles, and onions. Not that I have eaten many subs since I was diagnosed (maybe two others) but it was the best sub I've had in years.

 

Frogs making frogs

  From Rico's we drove to Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon. The one goal was to see Wood Frogs. These vernal pools are usually full of them so we had high hopes. Before we climbed the hill the pools were behind we could hear the chatter of an uncountable number of frogs. We walked down to the water with our trusty towels and sat. We didn't have to wait, there were a dozen frogs within spitting distance. Unlike most vernal pools, the frogs in this pool showed no fear. At any point, I had at least two frogs too close for my camera to focus on ( my camera needs eleven feet to focus and we sat three feet from the water). I still had multiple frogs within shooting distance.

   There were enough frogs very close that I could choose which one(s) I wanted to photograph based on the light. The sun was going in and out of the clouds so I played with my settings multiple times in the thirty minutes we were there. Before today, I had plenty of nice photos of Wood Frogs, but I have to admit, I was having a lot of fun taking pictures of them and just enjoying their antics. We walked back to the car more than satisfied with our amphibian experience.

   Since it was only 3 pm and so nice out we drove to Attleboro Springs Wildlife Sanctuary which is behind La Salette Shrine in Attleboro. We didn't have a target species we just didn't want to go home. We did find more Wood Frogs and some songbirds where a person left bird seed. Then we walked around the pond at La Salette. In the pond we saw big Goldfish, shiners, sunfish, and a catfish that I do not think is a bullhead. It was a good day. Plenty more photos below  

I am always happier to see the frogs than them me

White Breasted Nuthatch (photo upgrade)

Catfish

Outdoor Laws I would Change if I Ruled the World

 I've been thinking a lot about Rhode Island Opening Day and how archaic it is. It got me thinking about what laws and rules I'd change to fishing and hunting laws. So lets begin

Striped Bass- Stripers would immediately be considered a gamefish. All stripers  would be protected until they can breed twice. So the size limit would be 32 inches. However, when you buy your license, you get tags for five stripers a year. Yes, the most you can keep is five stripers. If you catch it and  decide to keep it, you tag it immediately. Only licensed fisherman can keep a striper. Meaning five year old kids do not walk away with a fish unless their parents buy them a fishing license.

   I'd consider building a huge hatchery on one of the large Chesapeake Rivers to rear stripers to fingerling size. I'd pump water in from the river and feed the young bass natural food. I'd release them at five to six inches and shoot for one million/year. If only ten percent make it to spawning age, over ten years, that adds a million breeders to the population. 

Bluefish- two fish a day minimum size 18 inches. No more killing Snapper Blues

Fluke- whatever size the ASMFC chooses for size limit, it will be the same for Recreational Anglers as Commercial. No longer can commercial vessels keep 14 inch fluke while rec guys can't keep fluke under 18 inches. What is good for one is good for the other. Also, I'll be outlawing trawling

Carp-  No longer would carp be treated as a trash fish. In RI Mirror Carp would be advertised to get fishermen to come to the state to spend money. I don't see any reason to keep a carp but I guess some people eat them So one fish slot either under twenty inches or over 30

Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass- Bass are worth more alive than dead since billions of dollars are spent on them across the country. No one needs to eat a twelve inch bass. You want to keep a bass- minimum size 18 inches one fish. That way you get to keep a trophy. If all the eighteen inch bass are kept and ponds are full of 16-18 inch bass, I can live with that. In lakes that end up having too many runt sized bass, the bag limit and size can be adjusted on a case by case basis.

Panfish-Many species of panfish have no limits or limits of 50. That is crazy. No matter how many sunfish or crappie are in a pond, no one needs that many. Limit 10/day.

Pickerel and Northern Pike- Pickerel 1 fish/day 18 inches   Pike two fish/ YEAR 30 inches. Create trophy fisheries

Sea Run White Perch- Study rivers to assess the population then decide if taking them is sustainable. In rivers that a fishery is sustainable 6 fish/day 

Menhaden will be protected from commercial fisheries. Snagging for bait is allowed. 

I would invest in  the machines that take weeds out of the freshwater lakes and use it on choked up ponds so they will be fishable year.

Mammals-

Wolves, Grizzlies, Lynx, Bobcats, Mountain Lion will be protected. Only if life is in danger can a grizzly or mountain lion be killed. Enough of the nonsense that predator numbers need to be controlled. Have you ever seen a place overrun with bobcats? Trophy hunting is disgusting

Ranchers will be compensated for loses due to predation. Wolves and Mountain Lions can only be killed if they habitually kill livestock ,and only by those licensed by ME to do so.

Coyotes- I understand people hunt coyotes. However many states allow coyote hunting year round. For now on coyotes will have a season and bag limit. No coyote hunting while parents are rearing pups. Obviously, in different states the season will be different based on climate. Create bag limits that are sustainable.

Everything that can be done to restore a REAL population of Red Wolves at Alligator River must be done. Look for other suitable places for reintroduction. If this means eliminating Eastern Coyotes from the area first, that will be allowed

Game animals such as Mule Deer, White tailed Deer, Elk, Bighorn Sheep, Black Bear (not a fan of bear hunting, but they are considered game) will be managed in a way that keeps their numbers as close to the highest sustainable the landscape can hold. More money spent on population surveys.

Moose can be hunted if the population is strong. When the population is low such as now, hunting will be prohibited until population rebounds.

States that historically had Woodland Caribou will be required to restore a population in suitable habitat. Maine is one of those states

The sport of trapping will no longer exist except in certain situations (see Bobwhite)

Reptiles and Amphibians-

Snakes will be protected on public land including state land Rattlesnake hunting will be a thing of the past

Reptiles and Amphibians considered endangered will get assistance in the form of protecting eggs in cages, the protection of eggs and tadpoles in vernal pools. More studies to find endangered populations and ways to protect them. Creating a  national wildlife refuge to protect the land/water is not enough. Proactively there are ways to help them out. In the case of endangered turtles, frogs and toads, every possible attempt to create new populations in other ponds and vernal pools should be tried.

Birds- 

Woodcock and Doves can no longer be hunted. There is not enough meat to make them worth while. You want to kill a small bird, kill a starling or a thousand.

Sandhill Cranes can no longer be hunted

All states will come up with a plan to eradicate Mute Swans. Seems like a good time to start a hunting season.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island will try to reintroduce Bobwhite and Eastern Meadowlark. This will probably mean trapping small egg stealing predators such as skunks and racoons. Though I am not a fan of choosing one species over another, I choose the rare species over the abundant one. This would also help native Woodcocks also

Ducks-

I know duck hunting has a long tradition. I also know most wildlife refuges were created with money from duck hunters. The money from duck stamps is used for conservation. However duck (and sea duck) numbers are at an all time low. First there needs to be real population data. Secondly, there needs to be a plan to figure out how many ducks hunter can kill. I am not outlawing duck hunting, but the bag limit needs to be based on real science. 

Geese- States can do as they will with non-migratory Canada Geese to allow duck hunters  liberal bag limits.

Snow Geese populations have exploded in the Arctic. Liberal bag limits for hunters. This will also help Arctic Nesting shorebirds

Trout- Though trout are a fish, I'm giving them their own category. I am only going to regulate MA, RI, and NH for the most part. Those are the states I know the most about trout.

First- Powerbait will be banned. Almost all trout that eat Powerbait will die. Trout are attracted to the smell and swallow it to the gut. 

RI- Trout limit is currently five, cut it to three year round. To keep a trout, an angler must catch it themselves. They must be able to cast the rod and reel in the fish. This goes for all ages. No longer can a guy with a two year old and a three year old keep a limit for three people. Unless the child can fish for themselves the trout must be released. Exception for disabled people

Though I think Opening Day is a tradition past it's prime and should be abolished I know many people enjoy this "holiday". Opening Day will move up to the first Sat in April. However, those ponds that are stocked with trout will be closed to the taking of fish from March 1- Opening Day. However, they will be open to catch and release with artificial lures only. No bait allowed during the closed period.

MA, RI, NH will identify the waters that have native trout. Stocking these waters will stop immediately. Create more catch and release areas where wild trout exist or stocked trout holdover with enough food supply. 

MA, RI-Trout Unlimited and any volunteers will attempt to make the streams more beneficial to wild trout creating undercut banks, planting cover, cleaning up river bed, etc... These waters will be designated wild trout waters and catch and release only.  RI- identify a trout pond that has cool enough water for trout through June and make it another fly fishing only pond. Restock fly fishing only ponds in the fall.

NH- currently has two ponds designated as wild trout waters. I know of at least three other ponds I've caught wild non-stocked trout. The state will identify all wild trout waters and stop any stocking immediately. In places where wild trout could breed and prosper but do not have trout, the state will ask Maine if they can get some from the Rapid River. The Rapid River brook trout strain grow much larger than most brookies. They can and do reach four pounds commonly. The goal is to attempt to start a trophy wild trout river/pond/ river system that would have large catch and release only trout. As mentioned, these fish must be put in a system without wild trout to begin with. One to keep the strain pure. Secondly, so as not to wipe out a genetic strain already exists in the river.

 

Trout at Lout

  Today I went fishing at Lout Pond in {Plymouth. After not catching any fish my first four outings this year I was pleasantly optimistic that I would get off the schneid. I knew that the pond was recently stocked with browns. Last week I went to Lout and it was one of the places I struck out.

   Luckily, today was the day to break the streak. When I got to the pond I was lucky to get the spot I wanted. No one was in the water, but other guys were pulling up as I was putting my waders on. I started out using my casting bubble and a fly (pheasant tail). I was wearing polarized sunglasses and as I was reeling in the fly I could see brown trout follow it but not take it. This happened on multiple casts. Sometimes as many as three trout would follow it and turn away at the last minute. As this was happening I kept changing up my retrieve. It didn't take long for a trout to get interested. I hooked a decent brown about thirteen inches. Since I had such bad luck so far this year, I was nervous I wouldn't land it. Luckily, it was easy and no drama ensued. 

   Within the next hour I landed six trout on the bubble/pheasant tail. Other guys had showed up and they saw me catch these fish. None of them had a hit. I wanted to get my fly rod out of the car but was afraid I'd lose my spot. So I kept fishing. Finally they gave up and left. I ran to my car as best I could in waders and ran back. I was so excited to possibly catch a fish on my new rod I was shaking. I've fished long enough that I no longer get nervous, but today I did. My first cast I tangled the fly around my rod. Second cast went into a tree and I had to break off. As I was retying, I settled down and finally put the fly in the water. Ten minutes later I hooked a brown. As I was reeling in the excess line, I let it go limp and the trout came off so I never landed it. Another stupid mistake because I couldn't control my emotions. Lesson learned. It was the only trout I hooked in a half hour with the long rod.

 

  I went back to my spinning rod and the float and fly seemed to fizzle out. So I put on a 1/8 Kastmaster and started catching again. I caught four more trout and ended the day with ten. Almost all of the brown trout were over fourteen inches. I was very impressed with them. I only saw one other trout caught the whole time I was there. I'd say at least eight to ten guys gave the pond a go. In my younger days, I'd probably get a little cocky being the guy that was catching all the fish. However, the last week has humbled me (and the last eight months in general). I was just glad to be catching fish.

   I will add this, every trout fisherman should have a float and fly as part of there arsenal. By far it is better than spoons, spinners, and small swimmers.
I've caught more fish on the float and fly than any other lure using a spinning reel.  It also has the advantage of casting further than all of those other lures.   

All trout were released in good shape ready to fight again.