A Weekend of Wildlife and Wild Rides
This past weekend hubby and I escaped for a long weekend to Solomons Island, Maryland, on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay; and I’m finally getting caught up on some photos to share. We went to see the 3rd Annual Solomons Offshore Grand Prix powerboat race on the Patuxent River. Yes, I love the feel of your adrenaline pumping while going fast! Seems odd when I also love to sit for hours and photograph a single bird! LOL
So although these next photos are not wildlife, I thought I’d share just a few of the hundreds I took. I wasn’t too happy with my post location at the boardwalk railing as it was packed with people trying to see, but at least I had a direct view. Last year 15,000 attended!
As in all of the offshore powerboat races, the Miss Geico turbine extreme powerboat is always the crowd’s favorite. At 3700 hp, it’s top speed is 190 mph. Now that is fast, loud, and definitely an adrenaline pumper!
But no, I don’t want to go THAT fast! I am more comfortable at our 50-60 mph, with our top speed of 80+mph. That’s enough adrenaline pumping for me! Here’s our boat with hubby at the helm.
Our 38′ Sonic – “Magic Carpet Ride”
The boat race wasn’t our only enjoyment. I also had a need for some quiet with wildlife action! This year we went by car instead of boat to adventure on land the day prior to the big race day. We crossed the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge (Rt. 4) in the above race photos and headed south for about 30+ minutes to see the Point Lookout Light Station located at the mouth of the Potomac River on the Chesapeake Bay. It is no longer an active lighthouse and is presently owned by the U. S. Navy as a test center.
We then headed to Point Lookout State Park which was pretty awesome! We did some trail hiking to see if we could discover any wildlife. I was happy to come upon an osprey in a tree eating a fish. He obviously wasn’t happy with our presence though and took flight immediately. He was close to another tree that had a well-established osprey nest. Maybe it was his/hers.
Osprey with dinner
Osprey Nest
Minutes later a Bald Eagle came by, soaring beautifully in the sky. At quite a distance, I didn’t do so well on clarity with hand-holding my camera.
American Bald Eagle
American Bald Eagle
This next fella didn’t seem to appreciate our presence either. Funny though, he refused to fly away, so we were the ones to leave his territory. 🙂
Northern Mockingbird with attitude!
And this young fella just hung around the piers at the public boat ramp.
Immature Laughing Gull
While hanging around the public ramp and photographing another Osprey, I discovered this next jelly fish, stirring up the white sand around him, clouding the shallow water. He was gorgeous, one I had never seen before.
Jelly Fish
Jelly Fish
I had hoped to see some migratory birds but it wasn’t in the cards that weekend. A bit soon as yet for many, but I did hope!
Upon our return Sunday evening, we were lucky to witness a dramatic sunset from our balcony.
Sunset overlooking Kent Narrows south entrance and Kent Island – 9/16/12
Finally, an update on our daily visiting Great Blue Heron. He has now taken over our osprey nest platform as a perch for himself. This is a clear sign that our area osprey are gone! I’m finding him perched before sunrise most mornings.
Great Blue Heron at sunrise – 9/12/12
Great Blue Heron at sunrise – 9/20/12
This evening, he and I enjoyed the sunset that provided a more dramatic sky behind him than the sunset itself.
Great Blue Heron at sunset
I’m hoping he continues to hang around through the fall for our community’s enjoyment!
As always, thank you for stopping by, I truly appreciate you! Have a great TGIF and weekend!
Very nice pictures Donna, great sunsets and good looking avians! Have a nice weekend! 🙂
Thank you very much HJ! Avians are the best!!
Beautiful photographs, I loved them all. But especially the jelly fish photographs fascinated me, dear Donna. Thank you, have a nice weekend to you too. Love, nia
Thanks so much Nia, we have a lot of jelly fish in our waters, but I had never seem one like that so I was pretty excited to get to photograph him! 🙂
Thank you for the jellyfish pic! I’ve never seen one like that before either – it is beautiful.
It looks like most of our osprey are gone too. Of the six nests near me, I’ve only seen one osprey. A local bird expert said we may see some migratory ones; they may visit the existing nests for a night on their way south.
Thanks Aneita, I had never seen a jelly fish like that one before either, so I got pretty excited. I even called over a family with children to show him to them! 🙂 I haven’t seen another osprey in our area for over a week. You are right, osprey from the north making their way down the coast sometimes fly down over the Chesapeake Bay instead of along the Atlantic coastline, which makes sense with the abundance of fish we have in the Bay. Last year I saw migrating osprey even in October passing through. One hung around a couple days on one of our channel markers, then was gone. He/she must have needed a few days rest OR the fishing was so darn good, they decided to refuel well on the bounty! 🙂
Thanks Aneita, I had never seen a jelly fish like that one before either, so I got pretty excited. I even called over a family with children to show him to them! 🙂 I haven’t seen another osprey in our area for over a week. You are right, osprey from the north making their way down the coast sometimes fly down over the Chesapeake Bay instead of along the Atlantic coastline, which makes sense with the abundance of fish we have in the Bay. Last year I saw migrating osprey even in October passing through. One hung around a couple days on one of our channel markers, then was gone. He/she must have needed a few days rest OR the fishing was so darn good, they decided to refuel well on the bounty! 🙂
What variety! Sounds like the powerboat race was thrilling. Like your boat. Thanks for posting all the photos – from the fast and loud to the floaty and silent!
Thanks Beth! I love your ‘from the fast and loud to the floaty and silent’ comment, perfect wording for my post! 🙂
Excellent photos and I love your boat…..it looks FAST! We were sailors, but I can imagine the thrill of speed. Really liked the sunset photo. Donna, you’ve done it again….always, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Joleen! We’ve never sailed, both hubby and I said we didn’t know if we could slow down that much, LOL. We have limped back on one motor a few times, that usually ended with us saying we’ll never be sailors (more because of the frustration trying to get back to port). BUT, when life will finally let us have more time to boat, I can imagine how very nice and challenging sailing could be. Someday maybe!
Wow! Thanks for an unexpected vicarious mini vacation. What a great time I had!
Thanks Dee, we do have a blast with our boat and watching others. Glad you enjoyed!
Wow, Donna, what an enjoyable post. A great narrative, plus outstanding photos. I loved all of it. 🙂
Thanks Bob, glad you liked it! Bet it showed many another side of me, lol. 🙂 That need for speed started back in my teens, and then I met my husband with the same need. But I sure do love sitting and watching birds and wildlife, slowing down in life is good for the soul! 🙂
Super photos Donna! This boat races are heart pounding for sure. Years ago they used to race hydros and tunnel hulls on the river near where I grew up ( Schuykill river in Norristown.) That was pretty exciting but I can only imagine what the offshore boats are like! The sunset you experienced was a great way to end the day.
Appreciate your comments David, they are heart-pounding! We love the hydros too, we have an annual hydros & skiffs race right here at Kent Narrows each summer called Thunder on the Narrows (http://www.kentnarrowsracing.com). What an awesome race it is too, those boats really wobble right on top of the water and are super fun to watch & photograph. I’ve seen a many flip over in a race, which is very scary, waiting & watching the rescue crew work feverishly in getting the driver out of the hydro that is upside down in the water. Kudos always to the rescue crew!
Somehow you’ve captured the excitement in the boat races and so glad you posted the speed as I was curious. A fast boat ride is fun and love your boat.My brother has a water ski boat.Then I like the turn to quieter things like the jelly fish and birds and the final evening shot has beautiful soft colours. Ah, so nice. Thanks for sharing and I wish you a great weekend.
Thanks Jane, hope your weekend was great too! We’ve boated for over 20 years and the one we have now we’ve had for 10 years, it’s been a great & fun boat. I can even drive it, not that hubby is too keen on it, it is his baby, I might hurt it, lol. Glad you enjoyed going from fast to slow with my post, that was my plan! 🙂
loved the photos as always!
Thanks Jerry very much!
Mockingbirds have added facial imitations to their repertoire!
Beautiful sea nettle.
Thanks Martha, so true! I really have enjoyed the common mockingbird this year, learning so much about their behavior and singing. They fooled me so many times! 🙂 I tried to ID the sea nettle but wasn’t successful, I agree he was a beauty!
So you guys had a fun weekend?… Excellent shots and post, I bet it was loud with all that power. Great name for your boat and the jelly shots are very cool..:-))
oh yeah 🙂 I thought those jelly shots were cool too, had to tell a family with kids to come look I was so excited, lol. 🙂
It takes us two days to get to the Potomac – you got there in 30 minutes! Didn’t realize until I read this post that you had a go-fast boat.
🙂 Well, we actually have two boats, hate to admit, lol. We also have a 23′ Sea Ray bowrider, which is my favorite up rivers and little creeks with my camera. But when we want to go the distance in a day OR beat a storm, the 38′ Sonic does the trick. Spoiled, I know… lol But know those awesome crab meals around the Chesapeake Bay are pretty darn expensive when we only get 0.5 miles to the gallon!
I know you are a sailor, which is a fellow boater; we respect every sailboat we approach with a courteous wave and wide water. For some reason we’ve both always had that adrenaline speed in us, but now that retirement is approaching, we do think about slowing down considerably. AND joke we just may end up with a sailboat some day…..which could possibly become a reality I don’t doubt! 🙂