Kayaks and year birds

I haven't done as much birding lately as I would like, but I did get a chance to start off spring break with a short kayaking trip yesterday.

It felt so great to get back out on the water again. I had missed that feeling of drifting quietly through the mangroves and battling the choppy waves of the open bay.

Perhaps what I love most about kayaking is that feeling of being so free and so close to the water and the mangrove islands and the marine life, and all those wonderful things you can only watch from a distance, when you're on shore.

My friends and I kayaked out across the bay to this sketchy-looking overpass. It wasn't a very attractive place. Huge condos, homes, and office buildings crowded the shoreline, cars roared overhead, and the water was littered with trash. Nonetheless, it was somewhat of a diamond in the rough -- little crabs, fish, and gorgeous seashells were scattered around in the shallows.

We perused the shore for a while, until I realized we only had 20 minutes to get back to the school before the Waterfront closed. We hightailed it back in record time, despite paddling against the current and nearly getting flipped over several times by the wakes of speeding boats.

On a totally unrelated note, I did see a year bird this morning -- a Eurasian Collared Dove! It landed under a tree near my dorm, much to the annoyance of a nearby Blue Jay, which promptly hopped around on the ground, cawing loudly.

Well, that's my rather random post of the day. Until next time,

Happy birding!