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| 1) Sunrise at Arlington Park |
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| 2) A kayaker fishing down at Dog River Bridge |
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| 3) My what big eyes you have. |
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| 4) US Coast Guard buzzing the Kayak. |
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| 5) Dog River Bridge |
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| 6) I heard the waves coming before seeing them. The waves were compliments of a passing ship. |
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| 7) The western shoreline of Mobile is rather unattractive. |
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| 8) It was so humid this morning my glasses stayed fogged up. |
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| 9) Rumble in the distance - better head back to Arlington Park. |
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| 10) Whew! Made it back in the knick of time. |
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| 1) Someone enjoying a morning paddle on Dog River. |
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| 2) Dolphins in Dog River. |
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| 3) Fishing Spider. |
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| 4) An rather large alligator in Alligator Bayou. |
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| 5) Beach overcrowding. |
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| 6) Closeup of an Alien. |
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| 7) Alligator Bayou on a Hot puffy cloud summer day. |
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| Header image is the obligatory photo of a bird with trash in the background. Since shoreline garbage is so common in Mobile area waterways, it is easy to get trashy wildlife photos and it should not be that way. I continue to post such photos to highlight the worsening public litter problem and the fact that no agency or public works department removes the trash once it reaches the water. Mobile's mission statement says, "...assuring all of our citizens a CLEAN, safe, economically viable and progressive city that is responsive to changing needs." If I can easily get photos of wildlife with trash in the background, then someone in a position of authority need to start firing current leaders who are allowing this pollution to continue on their watch. |
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| Pre-sunrise hues on lower Dog River. |
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| A new buoy has been set to replace the old one that fell apart and sunk. |
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| There were several people fishing from their kayaks near Mobile Yacht Club out in Mobile Bay. |
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| Kayak Fishing in Mobile Bay. |
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| Momma Clapper Rail was grooming its baby. |
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| A black-crowned night heron. |
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| Header image is where the kayakers started to line up for the beginning of the race. Stan was racing his new white Epic V10 Sport surf ski for the first time and he was fast! |
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| The 2012 Mississippi State Games Kayak Races were held at Henderson Point Park in Pass Christian, MS this year and was run by Kim and Alicia who did a great job putting together a nice race and awards ceremony. |
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| Racers placed their kayaks near Mallini Bayou where the races began and ended. The short race (approx 2 miles) stayed in Mallini Bayou. The longer race (approx 4-1/2 miles) looped north out of Mallini Bayou into Bay St. Louis and went back into Mallini Bayou on the south side. (Map) |
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| The Mississippi State Games had a SUP classification (Stand Up Paddleboard) and four SUP racers participated. I can see why stand up paddleboarding is becoming popular - good for the abs. No canoe racers participated today. |
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| This kayaker had a Cobra Surf Ski with an interesting wave deflector nose which I'd never seen on a kayak before. It is built to handle the surf zone and ride the waves. The wide nose helps prevent the nose diving underwater which can be hazardous when the wave behind you is pushing. There was very little wind today meaning no waves. |
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| We were congregating near the shoreline to hear the safety briefing for the long race. |
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| That long yellow kayak is a Stellar Surf Ski but I'm not sure what model. The longer and narrower the kayak, the faster it can be paddled, if you don't tip over because the narrower the kayak, the more tippy it is. The young lady in the sharp looking yellow/red kayak is racing a Current Designs Suku. |
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| With very little wind racers were hot after the 4.5 mile race and some took a dip in Mallini Bayou to cool off. That is a Necky Looksha 17 the guy has his legs wrapped around. The Looksha 17 is my favorite paddleboat (mine is yellow) because it is stable, fairly fast, and it will handle some big waves. |
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| The little shelter at Henderson Point Park provided welcomed shade for the awards ceremony. It didn't matter what kind of kayak you raced in or on, almost everyone who participated walked away with a medal. Its a fun event. |
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| Header image is a photo of a kayaker on Halls Mill Creek. For those interested in buying a kayak, the key is comfort and this kayaker looks comfortable. |
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| Yellow pond lilies are still in bloom making Halls Mill Creek a good kayaking destination right now. |
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| The one hazard on Halls Mill Creek to be aware of is under the Hwy 90 bridge where there is about a two foot drop over a rock dam. You have to drag the kayak over the rocks going upstream. Normally you can paddle downstream over this rapids (if you don't mind scratching the bottom of your kayak on rocks) but recent rains deposited a large log which blocks the smoother path. |
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| Further up Halls Mill Creek the waters get very clear and shallow enough to walk across in some places. Today I paddled up Halls Mill Creek past Campground Branch behind the Environmental Center lake before running into a small log jam and turning around. What a shame...Mobile has two parks along Halls Mill Creek - Vista Ridge Park and Schwartz Park - neither of which provides public access to launch a kayak. |
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| A spider carrying around a blue ball which is probably its egg sack. |
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| Not sure what kind of ducks these are. |
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| An osprey eagle is feeding one of its three babies. |
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| Hippie Beach. Most of the trash is kept in a big pile which occasionally gets burned. |
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| Canal off Halls Mill Creek is still draped with plastic garbage bags. |
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| Near Vista Ridge Park there were occasional pockets of floating garbage consisting mostly of plastic bottles. Much of the trash looked old. |
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| Header image is a photo of baby Muscovy ducks. One of them looks like it received a head injury. |
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| The City of Mobile refuses to remove the shoreline trash at Dog River Park. Sure wish I could afford to idle my car while taking a lunch break like these City of Mobile employees are doing in their City truck. They City of Mobile apparently has plenty of gas to waste. |
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| That City of Mobile truck parked on the grass (see photo #1) was breaking the City of Mobile Code, which isn't even correctly identified on the sign. But I guess it does not matter because there are so many rules that the City of Mobile can't even get their Municipal Code numbers right much less enforce any of them. Mobile needs new leadership. Get the Jones out of Mobile! |
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| Mobile is facing a budget crisis and is already saving big bucks by ignoring the trash in the water so why not just shut down public works entirely and save even more money? Let everyone in Mobile live in their own trash like they are forcing some waterway residents to do. |
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| The herons take it one day at a time. |
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| A great egret. |
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| A Muscovy duck with several baby chicks behind it. Welcome baby chicks to Mobile, just ignore the trash like the City of Mobile, the County of Mobile, the State of Alabama and the Federal Government does. |
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| School must be out for the summer as there were quite a few young people out on the water today, some of who were in kayaks. |
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| How did Dog River get its name? There must have been a Dog involved. |
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| Some of the youngsters were being towed by power boats. Who is the best knee boarder? |
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| How do you cool your butt off on a hot day in May? Ahhhh. |
