Puffin Stalking

My afternoon of puffin stalking paid off.  No, not with puffin stew!  It paid off with exactly the kinds of wildlife pictures I've been trying to capture over the last two years.

I spent the entire afternoon last Saturday bobbing along in my kayak on Anton Larsen Bay, patiently waiting for my beloved puffins to make an appearance.  And then I spotted a nesting area.  Which I immediately took a beeline towards.

As I was floating along, four puffin came shooting out of the trees by the cliffside.  They were so close to me - it was awesome.  I actually laughed out loud after they sped by.  They're fast little mothers.  They can fly up to 55 miles per hour, so getting an in air picture is challenging.  This was the best I could do for an action shot:

Not too bad

I thought it was pretty cool that the splashes from his wings came out too.  After gawking at  them as they whizzed past, I watched them circle around and around before they decided to land.  And then my afternoon of puffin creeping began.

I've decided that the quality that has to be paramount for professional wildlife photographers is patience. You just have to wait for nature to show itself to you and hope you get the shot you want.  I think I did pretty good for an amateur.

How damn cute are these birds?  I totally see why they're called the clown of the sea.  Between that colorful beak and their dopey behavior, they're my favorite northern bird.  I caught them making their way toward the hubby while he fished from his kayak.

They're comin' for him!

He didn't catch anything, but the whole time we were out, the salmon were mocking him by vaulting out of the water all around us.  They wanted nothing to do with what he was selling that day.  He did end up catching a little rockfish, but he threw it back.  So, I spent the day tracking puffin, while he hunted salmon.  I won.

I also captured a few decent pictures of other shore birds.  Two black oystercatchers & some terns.  Let me tell you, they let you know when you get too close.  This one was downright obnoxious when I entered his comfort zone:

Can't you hear him?  He's telling me to get the hell out of his space.  And not very subtly!

Such vibrant beaks & beautiful coloring

I don't even know how I captured this black oystercatcher action shot.  It was a complete accident:

And these two were nice enough to pose for me on the rocks.  Of course they also warned me with little cheeps when I got too close.  Not nearly as obnoxious as the tern.

This was a perfect kayaking day.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the hubby caught a salmon or two.  It was another gorgeous, Kodiak at its best summer day.  I love Kodiak on days like this.

I took quite a few puffin misses picture-wise, but I took so many that there were a handful of keepers.  This next one is my favorite.  It was as crisp and clear as I was hoping, even though the colors of the water are a little washed out & on the dull side.  It's still my favorite:

Kodiak really is one of a kind. It was one of those days when the sunshine, temperate weather, nature, and wildlife all coincided beautifully & can only be described one way.  Synergy!

Ta-ta for now.

And Just Like That...We're Green Again

It seems to happen quickly every year.  We'll be truckin' along with our browner than brown mountains...and then boom!  The Kodiak summer time green roars in again.  The depth and magnitude of those summer colors is unbelievable.

Beautiful, vibrant, unforgettable - it seems I ran out of adjectives to describe Kodiak's allure about a year and half ago.  Unfortunately, when you blink, the green is gone just as abruptly as it appeared. 

But since it just started, I'm choosing to look forward to the next few brief months of the aptly named "Emerald Isle."  Because would you just look at that:

The green is still gradually crawling its way up the mountains - not quite there yet!

This is just the beginning of the transition to green, so it's not nearly as intense as it will be in a few weeks.  Those deep, emerald hues are still trickling their way up the mountain peaks.  But, it won't be long now!

We broke the kayaks out for the first time this season last weekend, and it was a gorgeous, sunny, Kodiak at its absolute best kind of day. 

I managed to find myself in the middle of a gull feeding frenzy, so of course I had to pull out the camera to see if I could grab a few shots.  How about those diving gulls?

Action!  They were noisy and erratic as hell!  Can't you just hear them squawking?

It would be more compelling if they were puffins or eagles, but it was still impressive to be right in the mix with them all diving and swooping around.  I was glad I didn't get pooped on.

Speaking of impressive, we had the privilege of seeing an enormous whale glide right up out of the water not far from our boats.  I heard him before I saw him, and he was just far enough away that I didn't freak out. He was twice the size of my kayak.  It was incredible.

This is by far my favorite time of year.  We repeat ourselves often, but it's true:  Kodiak's beautiful when the sun shines.  Too bad it doesn't happen more often.  Can't be too upset about it, though.  After all, the incessant rain is the reason why it gets so green in the summer.  Coastal temperate rainforest = lots of green in the summer, but lots of rain all year round.  I guess that's the trade-off.

I'll be a good little trooper and savor & appreciate the sun while we have it, and I'll do my best to focus on those memorable, sunny days. - And not fixate too intensely on the reality...which is that the best time of year is both fleeting and fickle in how often the sun decides to make an appearance.

Because really - sometimes a week of beautiful weather somehow (unbelievably) makes up for all the gray, dreariness that's the norm in Kodiak.  Remind me I said that after the next two week stretch of not seeing sun or blue sky.  And I'll probably tell you to suck it.  Ha.  Let's hear it for Kodiak summer. - Short-lived, but spectacular as it is!

Ta-ta for now.

My Kinda House

Mission Beach

We managed to get another kayak trip in a few weeks ago, when the rainy weekends gave us a welcome break with some sunshine and clear skies.  As we paddled along the beach and through the channel, we admired the diversity as we casually floated by all the different types of houses that dotted the shore line.  There's no shortage of variety in the homes along the waterway of Woody Island Channel.  Tiny little cottages, dilapidated trailers, modest lodges, and magnificent cabins all drifted by us as we rowed our way toward Near Island from our launching point at Mission Beach.

Behold...the Turd!  :)

It was our second kayaking trip together since we picked up a used kayak for me a few months ago.  I say kayak, but the running joke is that it's a plastic bathtub.  Hubby's kayak is all sleek, slim and sexy...it even has a damn rudder!

And then there I am bumbling along in my extra-stable, super-wide blue plastic bathtub that I've come to lovingly call the turd.  Sure it floats, and it's relatively easy to manuever, but it's not going to win any awards in the style department.  That being said, kayaking around Kodiak - regardless of what kind of boat you happen to be in - is pretty remarkable.

And here we have Mr. Sleek

On this trip out I was in total awe of the huge expanse of the underwater world we were just bobbing along the top of.  The water was so crystal clear that we could see all the way to the bottom where the abundance of sea grass, alien looking fields of kelp and other-worldly jellyfish dominated the whole scene.   I tried to get some pictures of the jellyfish - yet another National Geographic moment up here - but I just couldn't capture them.

We saw some of the usual suspects on our jaunt - Bald and Golden Eagles, and a sizable sea lion who swam close enough to our boats to make me hyper aware of where he was and exactly what he was up to.  They're seriously enormous.  As the hubby says, "They don't call them sea kittens!"  He's damn right about that one.  One could easily tip you over if it was so inclined. They do outweigh us by about 1,000 pounds.

One of the entertaining parts of our day was admiring some of the waterfront homes along the route we took.  Wow!  What a stunning view those privileged folks have out their windows.  I saw one cabin high up on a ridge with giant floor to ceiling windows, and a beautiful telescope sitting on a tripod at the window.  Just waiting for the spectacular night skies to emerge.  I bet it's something to see - right from your own living room.  My pick of all the huge, somewhat over the top homes along the way was this head turner:

One of my favorite houses we saw

I just love the combination of the warm wood tones, the stone foundation, and the tall windows.  The stairs down to the water with a kayak within easy reach, the shaded upper patio area with the hot tub that you can't really make out here...it's just such a spacious, beautiful location with a lovely view of the water.  My kinda house! In some sort of alternative reality where we have waterfront property, anyway.  It was fun to marvel at, though.

I'm betting that winter kayaking around the island will be just as beautiful. Might need to invest in a dry suit before I tackle that.  The Turd is stable, but I wouldn't want to take any chances.  Winter water in Kodiak?  Brr!

Ta-ta for now.

First Kodiak Kayaking Trip

Prepping for the day

Before our trip to Italy, we broke out our kayaks and went exploring on the 4th of July. It was my first time kayaking since we moved to Kodiak, and it didn't disappoint!

The hubby bought his kayak from the chaplain when he was transferring out last summer, and he tracked down a good deal on a used kayak for me a few months ago.  So, we finally got our acts together and took them out on Anton Larsen Bay.  It was such a perfect weather day, and we had a great time tooling around with all the water birds.  We were able to get up close and personal with sea otters and all types of birds.  It was very cool.

Getting ready to launch

There were a lot of black oystercatchers all over the bay, and I was able to get a few good pictures.  They're really easy to identify, but it's a little creepy that they have red eyes.

I paddled up pretty close to this little island a bunch of them were hanging out on, and I'm pretty sure I freaked them out. Once I floated over, they all started squawking and sounding the alarm for all their buddies.  I unintentionally created a little oystercatcher calamity with my picture taking.  

Along with all of the oystercatchers, we saw a ton of puffin, too.  Most definitely my favorite northern bird!  They're so doofy - I just love watching them in their natural habitat. 

They fly so fast, (up to 55mph!) and they love to splash around in the water.  They're adorable.

You can hardly see this little puffin. - That will change
once I bust out my new camera and I can zoom in better!

We were also able to get close to a few sea otters.  They're actually a lot bigger than you would imagine.  And also adorable to watch.  They float along on their backs & it's impressive how fast they swim. I tried to get close enough for some pictures, but they're quick little guys & they weren't having it.

Anton Larsen Bay is a great kayaking spot.  It's a protected little bay, so the water is calm and flat as long as the winds aren't too strong.

There were plenty of houses that dotted the shore line that seemed to be pretty self-sufficient.  Sprawling compounds with multiple hoop greenhouses, solar power, boats, and seemingly everything they would need to live so far from the conveniences of town.  They definitely fend for themselves out there! 

One of the compounds along the water

This was one of the most memorable 4th of July's I've had in a while.  There's really nothing like being able to explore the wilderness we live so close to - and being able to get out on the water to see it from that perspective is a whole new way to take it all in.

There's no way we would have been able to get as close to the puffin and other wildlife we saw if we weren't out on the water, so I'm looking forward to checking out some of the other areas around Kodiak that are kayaking-friendly.



There's no doubt that hiking and kayaking are two of my favorite things to do up here.  Can't wait to put a few more trips on the water under my belt!

Ta-ta for now.

Pyramid Mountain in the distance