Yesterday afternoon I found myself in the southern end of the NH coastline. With rates as low as this it seemed to be a good choice to refinance my house, so this would be the second closing inside of a year. Booooring.
All said and done at 3:50 I decided to head to a secluded spot not far away in Rowley, Mass. This area looks out over Plum Island Sound and is a known hunting spot for the Short-Eared Owl. This would be my 4th visit to this wet and windy area hoping to catch a glimpse of this bird that would be considered a lifer for me.
As luck would have it, the road leading from the car to a good observation point was flooded with brackish, sulfur smelling water. There I stood, with my only nice shoes, button down shirt, camera in hand, perfect setting sun, staring across the water to where I needed to be.
It seemed clear I had but one choice. Immediately I rolled up my pants and took off my shoes and socks and began wading across the freezing water to the other side, about 40 yards. Once on the other side, I dried my feet quickly in the dried sea grass, slipped my shoes back on and trudged onward.
Within 30 feet of getting my shoes back on an owl rose out of the grass 50 yards in front of me in perfect light. Then another, for about 10 minutes I watched as 2 owls seemed to taunt each other and hunt over the marsh. Just seeing these amazing birds for the first time was like a dream. The moment made me forget about my freezing, wet feet and the fact that the wind had picked up and I realized I should have probably put a jacket on some time ago. Looking back at my truck a half a mile away I stuck it out til sun set.
The water gauntlet with no way around.
1 comment:
Just Awesome!! Fantastic pictures as always!
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