Deciduous Trees Reflecting Their Color. Photo by Jason Goldstein

It’s a pleasure this time of year, to be on the water, with all the motor boats hauled up for the winter, with just the sounds of your paddle blade slicing thru the water and the birdlife for company. The fall colors are impressive and well worth spending time pretending to be more than an amateur photographer. Today I did just that, move over Graham Charles (a fantastic photographer, adventurer and member of Adventure Philosophy). With camera and paddle in hand, today I’m off to document Henderson Inlets spectacular colors . Afternoon and evenings are a perfect time for this, so with the crockpot slowly cooking my evenings meal (Pork Tenderloin with all the fixings), I can enjoy the inlets beauty, without being in a hurry, and arrive home to a hearty feast. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the inlet, the southern end has almost no homes, thanks in part to the Capitol Land Trust making this watershed a priority in conserving. It has purchased several waterside parcels here to preserve for conservation in perpetuity.

Lessor Yellowleg Sandpiper. Photo by Jason Goldstein

I paddled past their property, and found some beautiful fall colors to photograph. A Great Blue Heron saw me coming, and squawked its displeasure in having to leave its roost, despite my stealthy approach. They are difficult to sneak up on to photograph. On the opposite shoreline, I caught up with a species of sandpiper I have never seen before, the “Lessor Yellowlegs” Tringa flavipes variety. 20 photos later I have a pretty good shot of one with its mirror image reflected in the mudflats. From the photo you can see how it gets its name, those legs are bright. I looked this species up in my field books, and it’s a stable common species to North America. An interesting note is both male and females raise the chick initially, but then the female abandons them and the Father is left to defend and care for little Yellowlegs. If you sit still and wait, these species are fairly tolerant to photograph, and several of these birds, trotted quickly back and forth feeding in the mudflats, calling one another with a “Tu Tu” high pitched sound.

I swung around and finished my southern loop of the inlet. Just before the sun set I caught a glimpse of some seaweed hanging from an overhanging tree limb. The see-thru nature and its odd appearance, such like a towel hanging on the line to dry made it a great photo opportunity. My outing got me over fifty photos , I’m happy with five of them. If there is one thing I remember from attending the odd professional photography seminar, it’s the familiar advice “take a lot of photos” and so I did just that. Great advice but perhaps I need to take a few more courses, and work on quality, not quantity! With my tummy growling I head home to a hearty meal. I can amost smell the crockpot, as I shoulder my kayak, and stroll to the house - man I’m loving living a stones throw from the water, my life is now dictated by the tides, near or above 7ft and I can put-in and take-out without any muddy trouble.

Hanging Seaweed. Photo by Jason Goldstein