On Thursday, July 30th, Ann and John White, Ann Pierce, Dave and Sue Huff, and myself met in Manns Harbor for the Purple Martin Extravaganza Paddle. Dave and Sue were waiting for us on one side of the street and we were waiting for them on the other side of the street. We finally hooked up when Dave spotted some kayakers and realized it was us!
Dave and Sue caught up with the rest of the group as we sat on a deserted beach having a bite to eat and watching the fish jump with the sun gently closing it's eyes.
Summertime...and the living is easy...fish are jumpin...and the marsh grass is high.............
You could hear that song playing over in your head. It was such a beautiful night. I was a bit worried with the heat of the day. There was just enough gentle breeze as we sat on that beach taking in the delights of the day.
We headed back towards the bridge at dusk just as we saw the first flicker or two of Purple Martins coming off the marsh. We paddle back easy and the chatter was just as easy. As we approached the bridge, Sue was trying to catch a glimpse of Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren in the crowd. Surely they had to be close somewhere. The birds came from all over and were swirling and swooping. It was magnificent! We paddled along the bridge towards the highrise of the bridge. We didn't get down that far because from where we were, there were thousands of birds jockeying into position for a spot for the night. Thousands of birds swirling like a cloud of dust in the horizon. At one point, the cars on the bridge had to stop because their cars were covered in birds. Unbelievable! There was such a cachophony of sound! They were so LOUD even over the sound of the water. Celloman would have been in his heart's delight.
The waves were rolling and just gently rocked us as we were caught up in the show. Finally after taking it all in, we turned around and rode a moonbeam back into the put in. We knew then that we had to do it again. A full moon would just be a bonus.
Dust off those kayaks and come to the greatest Outer Banks Show On Earth!
Outer Banks Paddlers Club: www.obxpaddlers.org
0 comments:
Post a Comment