Friday was Daniel's 30th birthday. He wanted to stay home and hang out with us and so we had a light dinner and lots of cake! Then we sat around listening to some new birthday music, playing games and watching this show the girls were putting on for us:)
We all went on a canoe trip on the Saluda River for his birthday on Saturday. Although when we woke up Saturday it was looking pretty gloomy outside, the weather turned out to be just perfect. There was a cool breeze and bright sunshine. Since everyone in Columbia stays home on Saturdays in the fall to watch football, we were the only ones on the river for all of the trip. It was so peaceful and relaxing to be floating down the river and observing the turning of the leaves and also experiencing a part of nature that we don't get to see very often.
We were so excited when we saw several belted kingfisher.Then we got an amazing view of a bird that we didn't recognize. It stayed with us for a large part of the trip. It would skim the water then perch on a branch.
It looked like some kind of hawk with a white belly and striped face. Lesley and Jason probably know exactly what we are talking about. When we got to the end and the park ranger picked us up he told us it was probably an osprey. That is exactly what it was. 
We also saw a beautiful red tail hawk and counted 30 turtles on logs and rocks and we floated by.We stopped at an island and had a little snack about half way through. This is where the birthday boy lost balance and fell in as he was getting out of the boat. I was very proud that he was able to laugh it off.
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5 comments:
LOVE the photos. I am still a Kruidenier wanna be.
Jen, please send me the recipe for the cake! :)
Daniel is only 30? Man, I thought he was like 37.
How did you get the nice close-ups of the birds? They look like they must have been taken with a long lens. Really nice.
To Scott, as you well know, it is my wisdom that makes me appear so much older. HA!
To Dad, those were stolen off of the internet. Imagine me risking a nice camera and lens with my poor canoe-balance-skills. But the scenery really was breathtaking.
To Anna, come on a canoe trip with us. I am sure I can knock your canoe over and make it a full Kruidenier experience. BTW the cake was absolutely amazing.
I tend to think the eastern US bird life in the cooler months is boring compared to our summers, but thanks for the reminder that our resident species are equally as beautiful and interesting...especially the piscivorous varieties that you guys saw.
Looks like you had a super river adventure - not complete without one person getting wet. Happy B-day!
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