Lost Loons - Somes Pond

Thursday July 6, 2017                                                                 Most Recent Posts:
Acadia National Park                                                            A Picnic and Great Head Point, TWICE
Bar Harbor, Maine                                                                         Echo Lake Paddle       

 

 

 

One of these days we have to do some serious planning and put our kayaks in down here on our own shore and paddle around to see how far we can go. The problem is the map. We are the Blue Dot near the top middle. The water on our coast is the Mount Desert Narrows which is part of all the greater bays and the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, it’s a bit unpredictable.  You have to know the winds, the tides and often the former change their minds from what is predicted.  It’s hard to plan when you could take a flat water, not an ocean kayak out.

 

 

 

 

But we’d still like to do it. Who wouldn’t with this view from the put in.

 

 

 

Although clearly in this picture the water is far too shallow for launching from the shore.  You’d have to wade out beyond all those picturesque rocks.

 

 

 

So not  today.   This morning  we go to Somes Pond which is a sweet spot as well. 

We have no more than gotten the boats in the water when the loons start calling and we see 5 of them in the distance.  I grab my camera and put it up to my eye to take a shot and am informed that there is “no memory card”. 

That means no pictures.  I’d left the card in my computer from the day before.   I can’t believe it.  So I tell David he’ll have to be the photographer and he informs me he’s forgotten his camera all together.

 

We’re some pair.  Here we are with the greatest number of loons either one of his has ever seen in one place and all we have is my Samsung Gallaxy S5 camera.  

So here’s what I took with that.   The color is not accurate, faces are dark and the zoom is a measley 4X   But it records our day, sort of, without any pictures of the loon group or any of the other birds including an eagle that we saw.  While I took a lot of pictures as usual these are literally the only ones that look remotely like what we saw.  Clearly we will have to return to Somes Pond.

It’s about 7:15am when all this happens.

 

 

The loons were way out there where my Canon’s zoom would have picked them up easily.  But a 4X is pretty much useless.

 

Areas of the pond are covered with Spatterdock and other water plants.

 

 

There is a small island in the middle of the pond.

 

Must be a bit disconcerting to have people paddling around your house.  The “dock” is in the water.  Wonder what happens when the pond rises?  Is it in your living room??

 

Beautiful views from your deck.

 

Somes Pond is 102 acres with a 3.2 mile perimeter around which we paddle.  Along the shore we come to a the North End put in which requires a bit of a carry from your car.  This is actually private property though the owner generously allows the public to use it.   It is very near the headquarters of he Somes-Maynell Wildlife Sanctuary.  The Sanctuary protects and conserves over 230 acres of forested and wetland areas surrounding Somes Pond.  On their acreage they maintain a network of walking trails which are open to the public during daylight hours.

 

Just a bit further on we turn up what looks like an interesting water path and find ourselves in the sanctuary.

 

Below the Wood Duck house is a small Somes Maynell sign.

 

I’m a bit behind him and when he comes back and says it doesn’t go very far, I still have to see for myself.  How far one can go is sometimes a matter of opinon.   I think this is the spot he felt was getting too narrow.  I go on through and wind around and around.  Love these sorts of places.   It widens and narrows in turn.

 

 

But eventually even though I can see it is wide enough for me on the other side of this barrier, the beavers have decided I’m to go no further.

 

I have to paddle backwards until I can find a spot wide enough to turn my 13.5 foot boat around.

David is waiting for me and pointing to the only wildlife we see all day that are close enough to photograph.  Mallards often seem to be fine with human company.

 

 

The pond is glistening in the sunlight as we head back.

 

Pictures or no, it was a wonderful morning.  We saw much more than we were able to share.  Hopefully next time.  Wish I could call the loons for a repeat performance. 

Patient Ruby waits by the side of the road.  There is room for two or three cars at the most if one of them isn’t a truck.  That pretty much guarantees you’ll have at least the south end of the pond to yourself.  Today we had the entirety to our selves.  Can’t wait to come again