By Tom Conor

Distance Paddled: 3 miles

Hot burgers, cold drinks and muggy air. The perfect start to a late afternoon paddle on Lake Murray. Of the twenty-three souls who called or e-mailed to participate, I believe we had eighteen that showed up. I wrote this report a week after the fact. My mind might be a little fuzzy.

We met at Sheila’s house on the lake late in the afternoon for the 7:30 PM paddle. We wanted to have enough time to socialize, cook our burger, eat, and chat. And we did.

Since most of us had already unloaded our gear prior to the cooking of the food, we were ready to hit the water at the appointed time. We started out en-masse for Lunch Island to watch the roosting of the Purple Martins at sunset.

We approached the island from the Western end and circled around the South side. It had been a year since my last trip out to “Bomb” Island, as it is also known, and the area looked very different. The lake had filled up to it’s normal level after the construction on the Lake Murray back-up damn had been completed. Gone were the wide beaches and in their place... water. This is a good thing, I suppose, because it tends to keep people off of the island and minimizes disturbance to the birds. There are signs everywhere warning of trespassing.

We stopped briefly for a short swim and water cannon altercation on the Eastern end of the island to cool off. When we climbed back into our boats and headed to the North side of the island the birds were starting to gather…as well as the spectators! There were a LOT of motor boats on the water to view the same thing we were here to see. And boy was there ever a slew of birds. Great black clouds of them. Thousands in the air, and hundreds more on the small sand bar beaches getting a last drink of water before heading to the trees.

We waited for the darkness and the dispersal of the motor boats and soon headed back to Sheila’s. By the time we made it half way across the water it was dark. The other object of the trip was to paddle in the moonlight, but the moon was not to rise until 9:30 that night so we missed it.

Having made it safely back into the cove at Sheila’s (despite the efforts of high speed, loud boats, which came way too close) about 9:00. A few of us hung around awhile and talked, most had to leave. Later on Sheila treated the last remnants of the group (three of us) to a lazy power boat ride to see the moonlight and enjoy the breezes of the lake.