Paddling the Mouth of Otter Creek

A pictorial of my paddle today.  It was cool.  About 25 degF.  The bays were frozen, . . .

. . .  as were the slower slangs and river valleys.

Low-lying areas are still frozen.

The Otter Creek is ice free, and it has flooded low-lying areas around it.

The broad lake still has a sizable ice-pack, . . .

. . . as have most of the bays.

Evidence of the recent icepack breakup on the river is found on this beaver lodge.

A lot of waterfowl are to be found.  Buffleheads (female on left, male on the right), . . .

. . . male merganser, . . .

. . . bald eagles,  . . .

. . .  and immature bald eagles!

Paddling in the flooded woods is like paddling in a swamp!

An occasional cormorant.

Flock of mergansers getting ready to take flight.

Canada geese.

Takeoff!

One of many osprey nests.

One of many wood duck boxes in this wildlife management area.

My kayak.  Warm spirit, cold feet!

Enjoy.

Nearly Done!

We were visiting our daughter the last few days for Christmas. Our visit was too short. I miss her so much!

My wife and I got back late last nite and opened a few gifts we left behind. I now have 3 more decoys to work on (a mallard decoy, a generic small shorebird, and a puffin)! The shorebird and puffin will not be too hard. The mallard has a cork body (it is a real working decoy) so it will take a little more care.

And . . .

I finished the major painting of the merganser.

I still need to add some eyes, accent the piece with black accent lines, and distress it.

Pretty good for a first try. I learned a lot from this decoy. I hope to improve over time. It is nice to work with my hands instead of punching keys on a keyboard and scribbling on a whiteboard (PowerPoint gets old fast...)

Merganser 3.0

As I looked at the merganser decoy, I decided to square up the tail somewhat, add more curve to the neck, and reduce the height of the body somewhat to make the decoy a little more streamlined. I then finished the fine sanding of the merganser decoy and gave it a coat of grey primer.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the carving. The texture on the bark helps to define the wings. The lines are pretty good, though next time I would flatten out the tail more and reduce the size of the breast somewhat.

I used a grey primer as the wings on the female merganser are a dark grey. The head will be a rusty red, while the belly feathers are a lighter grey. I still haven't decided how I will do the eyes, or whether I will distress it some more. The body did check somewhat as it dried, so it is starting to have that whithered look.

I won't be working on this until after Christmas. I hope to be finished by New Years. Keep on the lookout for a final photo.

Another Cold Day

It was unseasonably cold this morning. We have about 4 inches of snow on the ground. It was around 14 degF last night. We got about 1/2 inch of new snow. Though it wasn't much, I decided to plow it so the sun would hit the driveway and dry it out. I don't want any icy patches.

Speaking of ice, the recent cold spell has started the creek freezing. I like to walk down to the creek in the winter and listen to the water. The chickadees will usually be about, curiously watching me as I watch them.

I rowed 20K meters this morning. As you might know, I row indoors on a Concept2 rower. I try to row1 million meters in a year. I hit my million meter mark on December 5th. I'm working towards rowing 200K meters between Thanksgiving and Xmas (its part of a yearly challenge the Concept2 company hosts). Right now, I am at 120K meters. Barring any last minute travel, I should be able to finish this by the 21st of December.

I made good progress on the merganser decoy. I started the rough sanding and fitting the head to the body. I was going to mortise it in, but it is easier to just nail it in. I'm pretty happy with it so far. The body needs to dry quite a bit more. I've decided to bring it inside and keep it near the stove. Hopefully, it will dry in a few weeks. Then I can finish the shaping / sanding and then tackle the paint job.

Chilly Workshop Day

It was cold this morning (low 20s degF) when we got up. I made a pot of coffee, enjoyed a cup or two with the wife, and then rowed 20K on the indoor rower.

I put the kerosene heater in the workshop, filled it, and lit it. I went back inside for some lunch, and then went to work.

I sprayed the ark toy with clear coat. I also continued on with the merganser decoy. I shaped the body some more, and started to work the head. I'll carve the head a little more, then mortise it into the body. After that, I will finish the carving.

I want to use a distressed paint scheme. Anyone know how to do it?

A Merganser in the Making

I roughed out a merganser decoy today. As I previously posted, I had some wood from my mother-in-law's property which I decided to use for my carvings. I finally got to use my shaving bench. I roughed in the body with power tools and the draw knife. I saw a picture of an old merganser decoy on the Internet which I used as a pattern for the head. I roughed out the head from a piece of 2" pine board. Like the primitive decoys I saw at St. Mary's City, I left some of the bark on the body to give texture to the wing feathers. The wood in the body is very green. I will have to it dry out before I can take this project any further. Once the body dries out, I will mortise a slot in it for the head, and then jump into the shaping of the body and the carving of the head. I will report back in a few months . . .