Lake Macbride Pelagic Trip, Saturday 4 October 2008

Saturday morning dawned clear and cool, a beautiful mist rising off the still waters of Lake Macbride as I crossed the causeway and headed towards Knight’s Marina. About ten people boarded the Guppy, cast off and headed out onto the lake.

There were a few gulls and possibly a tern flying over the lake but the first birds we got good looks at were a Great Blue Heron perched on a snag coming out of the water and an immature Turkey Vulture sitting on a power line pole, waiting for sunshine and warmer air. Pulling closer to shore we had a few Am. Goldfinches and a couple of birds whose identity was left as Confusing Fall Warbler or Kinglet sp. as they spent most of their time bouncing around in a tree that still had most of its leaves. We also heard Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees.

About the time we were finally able to identify one of the gulls as a Ring-billed, the wind picked up a little, and we crossed a small wake and water started to splash over the front of the platform. Water started pouring in and soon a veritable tidal surge swept towards Ed in the back of our brave ship. A minor tussle broke out when lifejackets were ordered for those who could not swim, ‘Where’s my lifejacket?’ Decisive actions by Our Heroic Cap’n soon had the situation under control. By the time we limped into the sailboat dock on the North Arm, water had emptied off the back of the boat. We tied on and exited the boat. It was clear that the boat was floating high and dry although there were some wet feet and one camera was wet.

A number of the group chose not too get back on the our ship and retuned via the White Pine Trail, back to the Cottage Reserve and Our Hosts’ House. We must have looked a little bedraggled as we came out of the woods as several people offered us rides back, ‘Do any of the Titanic Survivors need a lift?’

Our ship’s crew beat the hikers back to the dock. Upon repairing onto Our Hosts’ Four Seasons Room we found that the late arrivals and crew had not even dented the hot coffee and tea, fresh fruit salad, homemade pear bread, egg casserole, and other goodies. Our Heroic Cap’n explained what happened as Simple Physics. Personally I never found Physics as Simple,

On the hike and at Our Hosts’ we added Pileated, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a Brown Creeper performed its Anti-Nuthatch Act just off the porch. A junco was seen at Our Hosts’ while we were hiking.