Take Two

I went for my last scheduled trip of the year to Machias Seal Island yesterday. There was only enough energy left to download the images on the computer and do some processing on these five.

No Razorbills or Murres are left so I was forced to stick to Puffins this time (poor me!). I tried to capture them doing things – but obviously that’s not always possible. I chose these shots because they fit the theme of “Two” and I was too tired to think of anything else. 🙂

I met three wonderful women on the trip – we were all traveling alone and made a great team. They are much more legitimate birders than I am, but that didn’t seem to matter.

They are all invited to come visit – next year … when I have walls.

It was overcast for most of the trip which means I didn’t get sunburned this time – wearing the world’s ugliest hat probably helped of course.

Thunderstorms were forecast for today and I woke up at 5:00 to the most glorious storm.

Heavy rain feels really good after weeks of ridiculous heat, but it was the pyrotechnics that made me sit outside with my coffee in the dark. Lightning would fill the sky and then the thunder lasted for much longer than I expected.

I’ve been trained since I was a child to count seconds between the lightning and thunder to guess the distance away from me. For the first time I also counted the duration of the thunder – it would last over 20 seconds in some cases.

There are more storms expected to roll through today so I should really go check and see what I’ve left outside that shouldn’t be there.

I also need to go do something about the water coming in from the still unfixed roof.

First though, I’ll get another cup of coffee and go watch the fireworks. I’m really hoping all this rain drowns the damn mosquitos. 🙂