Finch Food

Earlier this summer I noticed a clump of sunflower seeds sprouting in a dirt filled window box I left on the patio. I typically pick the sunflower sprouts (from the birdseed) out of the flower beds, but I thought I would let these grow to see what happens.

The sunflowers survived vacation and earwigs and grew and flowered.  The early blooms are now starting to fade and the goldfinches have discovered them. If I can find room somewhere, I'd like to plant more - on purpose - next summer.

Final Vacation Pics

Have I drawn this out long enough? I guess our vacation was well documented. Here are some final, miscellaneous pictures from our trip. All in all, we had a really nice time. It's not our favorite vacation destination, and I don't think we'll be going back any time soon, but I'm glad we went once.

Danielle took this picture on our fishing tour. We hit a wave just as she snapped it. It makes me smile.



Lobster boats in the fog

Ospreys enjoying lunch. The other adult osprey was sitting in a nearby tree.

Fog on Beaver Dam Pond in Acadia National Park.

Jordon Pond as see from Jordon Pond House. We stopped for the famous Popovers.
Don't waste your time or money. Bleh!

Lobster traps

View at dinner one evening

Skipping rocks in the fog

A merlin in the woods by our house

We saw this barred owl on our way home one evening. We also saw several deer & 3 foxes.

Bar Harbor & the Porcupine Islands

Non-foggy view from the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.

Day(s) with Dad

I really hated to do separate activities while on a family vacation, but Ron and the kids really didn't seem to mind ditching Mom for part of a day. In fact, I think Ron was kind of looking forward to time alone with the kids.

When I went on the first morning tour, Ron took the kids to The Oceanarium. It is a lobster hatchery and education center. They learned a lot about lobster and their lifespan. I didn't get a whole lot of details other than they all had a very nice time and learned a lot about lobster. This was one of Ron's favorite vacation activities. When they were done there, they spent some time shopping for souvenirs until I got back.

 

Clara's souvenir

 

The second time I went whale watching, Ron and the kids went on Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater. This is a boat trip that goes out a little way into the bay. Then, Diver Ed puts on his dry suit (water temps are only in the mid 50s) and dives down to the bottom. He takes a camera, a bag, and Mini Ed and shows the kids the ocean floor and the creatures down there. Then, he collects some of the marine life and brings it back up for the kids to see. I was afraid Tyler would think it was kind of babyish since he can dive, but he didn't. The only thing that Tyler found annoying was that Diver Ed was a little over the top & dramatic. For example, he didn't really enjoy having a crab plopped on his head. But, both kids said this was their 2nd favorite vacation activity. They got to touch and hold all the things Ed brought up. Danielle kissed a sea cucumber and a crab. It looked like they had a really good time.

They got back a little later than expected because they had to rescue a kayaker on their way back to shore. A woman in a kayaking tour flipped her kayak and couldn't get back in. The water is dangerously cold so there wasn't much time to waste. Ron said she was fine, just very cold and a bit embarrassed.

One of the family dogs demonstrated proper life jacket procedures.

Mini Ed found an urchin

An unusual amount of starfish in one area

Um, gross!

No one missed Mom at all. Nice job, Dad!

 

More Garden Guests

Whales!

One reason we picked Maine for our vacation destination was because I wanted to see whales. I really wanted our whole family to see whales together, but not everyone was thrilled with the idea. Since the trip is long, the tickets are expensive, and the water can be pretty rough, Ron and I decided that I would take a whale watching tour by myself and he would entertain the kids. More on the entertainment in a later post.

I actually scheduled a puffin & whale tour. On our way to the whale feeding grounds, we stopped by Petit Manan Island. That island houses the southernmost nesting Atlantic puffin colony in the US. It was extremely foggy. Here are pictures of the puffins and Petit Manan Island. I used a 300mm telephoto lens and heavily cropped the pictures of the puffin. (Read: we were not very close to the birds!)

Puffin are able to hold on to several fish while continuing to catch more. They somehow hold them against the roof of their mouth, but I forget all the details.

 

There's a lighthouse here somewhere.

Here is a picture once we got to the whale feeding grounds.

 

The fog was so bad. We couldn't really see a thing. They encouraged people to leave and rebook while we were still sitting at the dock, so I guess I should have known. After no luck, we happened across 2 minke whales on the way home. Minke whales are small (for whales), only averaging around 23'. I just wish they didn't look so much like dolphin in my pictures!!

 

 

 

The tour company did not consider seeing 2 whales to be a complete whale watching tour, though, so our tickets became good for another trip of our choice, for free. Ron assured me he could entertain the kids again, so I rescheduled and tried again. Although the whales didn't perform as I had hoped, that was a much better experience. I did the whale watch only tour. Here are some picture from that day.

Endangered fin whales
They are the 2nd largest animal in the world, growing to almost 90'!
You'd think being that large they could manage to show me a little more of themselves.

I think this is a humpback whale "blow".



This is part of the jaw of a fin whale...I think.

The blowhole functions as the whale's nostrils. The "blow" is the animal exhaling, not spouting water, although his breath does condense and form water vapors as it is expelled. Different types of whales have different blows and can be identified by their blow shape from far away.



Humpback whale. The lighter blue right next to him is his fin under the surface of the water.

Humpback whale fluke



This is Triton's fluke. He was first identified in the 70s.
The scars on his tail are from killer whale attacks at some point in his life.

Fin whales



I like the barnacles on this one's tail.



A gray seal

If I ever have the opportunity, I would like to take another whale tour. They are fascinating animals, and I really would have liked to have seen more of them out of the water! I am thankful I had the opportunity to go...twice.