Various Photos

31 July 2015 blue moon over Assateague

Irish pine marten

Novegica jellyfish

Florida sunset

Assateague Channel in August - Riptide in foreground, Surf Queen in background

European ground squirrel

Great egret on Assateague Island

Recent Photos (Mostly) from Assateague Island

Warning signs on Assateague beach

Assateague Channel

Assateague lighthouse from Assateague Channel

Looking up from the base of Assateague Lighthouse

Wild Thing - photo by Captain Dan's Tours

Oystercatcher - photo by Captain Dan's Tours

Evening egret

A six year old photo of Surfer Dude

Waiting For the Pony Swim!

People have been gathering since dawn on the west side of the Assateague Channel, on Chincoteague Island, awaiting the high slack tide.  Today is Pony Penning Day, and I would be there, if I could.  When the tide is no longer running north or south between the two islands, the ponies will swim the channel.  After resting, they will be paraded north on Main Street from Beebe Road up to the Carnival Grounds.  In the corrals at the Carnival, the herds will once again separate, and the stallions will probably clash and spar.  The older mares know that tomorrow they will lose their babies during the auction.  It's a new beginning, but it's also kind of sad.
  More info after the Swim and after I receive photos....

Today's sunrise on Chincoteague

Boats are already anchored along the buoy-marked swim route

Jake Silverman of Milburn High School wades out into the Assateague Channel to get a good camera view for a documentary he is filming

Next Friday: The Swim Back to Freedom

The "last day" of Pony Penning receives almost no fanfare at all.  The Friday after the pony swim and the auction, the reduced herds are returned to Assateague Island - they are herded back to Memorial Point, and, once again, when the US Coast Guard fires a flare at slack tide, the ponies will swim back to their wild island home.  Gates that are usually closed to keep the northern and southern herds separate will be left open, and the ponies will gradually make their way back to their normal territories, with each herd following the lead mare.  There will be fewer ponies in this swim - most of the foals will have been auctioned off on Thursday, so the only foals in the return swim will be the "buy back" foals, and those too young to separate from their mothers. (Owners will have to return to pick up those foals in October, during the Fall round-up.) I always find the swim to be a wonderful event, whether the ponies are swimming toward Chincoteague or Assateague.   Horses are natural swimmers (they dog-paddle), and when it gets extremely hot or when the flies and mosquitoes get to be too much, the ponies will frequently wade out into the waters - of the rolling surf of the Atlantic, the gentle swells of Tom's Cove, or the pull of the Assateague Channel.  Herding the ponies into the Channel and "making" them swim across is not cruel or inhumane in any sense.
  As a reminder, there will be limited parking at Memorial Park on Wednesday, 24 July, the day of the Pony Swim, and those spaces will be for the handicapped only.  If you're not going to walk there, please use the free Pony Shuttle, to help avoid huge traffic jams.  For more information regarding the Shuttle, please see: www.chincoteague. com/pony_swim_ guide.html
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  As an aside, the Colorado "monsoon" season has arrived, with afternoon and evening thunderstorms.  The rain is needed and I heartily welcome it.  But we also get thousands of lightning strikes with the daily storms. Yesterday, a 65-year-old hiker in the Rocky Mountain National Park, and nine farm workers were struck by lightning within the space of an hour.  Lightning is dangerous in Colorado year round - please be aware of that fact, and seek adequate shelter and insulation.

Assateague Island Photos

2013 foal from Surfer Dude's herd

Another of Surfer Dude's 2013 babies - this is a colt

Kayaking in the Assateague Channel

Boardwalk on Assateague

Sunrise on Assateague

Ponies approaching the Chincoteague shore after swimming the Assateague Channel

Photos from Today's Pony Swim

Waiting for the Swim to begin

Also waiting for the Swim to begin

Into the water of the Assateague Channel

Swimming

Taking the easy way - foal has chin on mother's rump

Reaching the Chincoteague shore

Time for a milk break!

Taking a breather before going down Main Street

Grab grass while you can..

There isn't any on Main Street.

On the Carnival Grounds, awaiting tomorrow's auction

My Favorite Island Photos

The following photos are my favorite, most evocative shots of the islands of Chincoteague and Assateague, and the waters surrounding them:

Dawn on Assateague Island Beach

Assateague Channel

Chincoteague Island marsh

Chincoteague pony on Assateague beach

Assateague Island Lighthouse

Full moon and a flight of geese over the Assateague Island Lighthouse