Osprey during the solstice. Photo by Steve Weileman

It had been a busy week for both Theresa and myself so I decided to surprise her with a picnic dinner shared on the banks of one of our favorite little spots here in the south sound on this the longest day of the year. Our little beach just south of Chambers Creek is a nice get away, but with the new golf course it’s not quite the secluded get away it once was.

The mouth of Chambers Creek is a very convenient put in and gives quick access to the South Sound. When paddling in this area I’m usually accompanied by an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and assumed that her nest was somewhere close. I just never really realized how close. How about right on top of the rail way span? How many times have I paddled under it without ever noticing her nest? The train trestle here is counter balanced and actually travels up and down to let the boat traffic from the small private marina access to the sound. I can’t imagine what the birds reaction must be when all of the sudden her nest begins to move upward. Still, it can’t bother her much as she selected this site to build her nest.

Osprey and her nest. Photo by Steve Weileman

After admiring our feathered friend we turned north toward the old rail road workshop. I haven’t been able to find much information concerning this operation, but there was once a gravel pit and the accompanying infra-structure including piers in the area, so I assume this was a part of that as well. Still, it’s a nice place to poke around and I always find something unusual.

I had put together a light dinner which we enjoyed while watching the sun takes is slow lazy arc to the western horizon. A handful of paddlers waving from offshore attested to the fact that we weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the summer solstice. Seems like we’ve had an usually cool start t to the summer, but today was the exception and it felt wonderful to take in the view and feel warm.

Western Gulls at sunset. Photo by Steve Weileman

But all too soon the suns warmth started to dissipate and we reluctantly packed our belongings back into the boats for the return trip home. Looking for the nest I saw our Osprey keeping a watchful eye both on her nest and any opportunity for dinner.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 3:05 am and is filed under Journal Entry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.