Weekend Weather

Hunted Hoopers Island over the weekend. Saturday turned into one of the windiest days I've ever experienced on the Honga. With gust up to 45 miles per hour, the water was churned up, and whitecapping. In the channel of the river, wind and tide were fighting, creating plumes of spray up to 30 feet in the air:



This shot was taken from the blind. On the right, sunshine, on the left the leading edge of the cold front:



We did have some ok shooting, which inlcuded Bufflehead, Mergansers, Blackheads, and Black Ducks. These Black Ducks swam into the decoys. They were a hen and drake pair. The Hen is on the right, the drake on the left. Though they look similiar, drake black ducks have a yellow bill, while Hens have a mottled bill:



Today, it snowed in Annapolis:

My best shots from the last few weeks

Taken in the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, on the road to Hoopers Island


Same road, just a mile further down:


Decoys:


Bag Limit:


Hoopersville Sky line at dusk:


Marsh Grass, early morning:


Moon over the Blackwater:


Fin at dawn:


Moonset at sunrise:


And Finally, Christmas at the Bramble Household, its all about Peace on Earth:

Bathing Eagle

Driving into Chestertown, I noticed this eagle in water up to its belly. I'd never seen an eagle in water, so I stopped to take a picture, and he gave me a show:

Hunting

Been about a month since my last post, its time for some new pictures. Here are hunting pictures from the last few weeks. By the way, hunting is integral to fine living.

Ryan Beard, Brent Prossner and Jeremy, hunting in Teal Alley at Hoopers Island:


Post hunt shot:


Goose Hunt in Tolchester with Karl, Mark, and Joseph:


We were able to collect some jewelery:


Brent also hunted geese with us in another blind:


The following sequence came from a blackhead hunt on the Chester River:






He came and joined us for a drink:

From the same blackhead hunt, my father flashing his gang affiliation:

A closeup of our bag:

Everyone is happy:



The following pictures are from an all day shoot out of Hoopers Island. This hunt will go down as the most memorable for the season. We shot pintails, widgeon, gadwall and geese. This is the first hunt I've ever had where we did not kill a black duck or a mallard. These birds, except for the geese, are an anomoly in my hunting experiences in the land of pleasant living:

Dave Foote, aka Gay Hannibal, with a widgeon:


Me with a second widgeon:


Dave Sikorski with a Pintail:


Skip brings in two pintails at the same time. An impressive retrieve:


Our bag limit, 10 geese, 3 widgeon, 3 Pintail, 1 Gadwall and a Merganser. The shooters were Dave Foote, Dave Sikorski, Jeremy Mercer, Avery Draper, and myself:


Next day, we had a lousy shoot not far from where we had the great shoot. We hunted a sandbar. Here is the bar at low tide:

The same sandbar, midway through the incoming tide:

We ended the day with a bluebill, which Fin retrieved:

and a fox: