I highly recommend it, Trbrat75 ! Paddleboards are great because they are so easy to get onto the water. I can put in just about anywhere--a dock, a beach, a muddy riverbank, a floating reed bed--and iSUPs are easy to transport too. My board, paddle, pump, and life jacket all fit into a big knapsack which fits easily into the trunk of a small car. Mine is a "touring" board, which is a hybrid between the long and fast racing boards and the wide and stable yoga boards. It's not built for speed, but I can go quite a distance on it (I covered 17 km in yesterday's paddle) and I find it's stable enough for yoga too. It's also awesome for paddling into a secluded pond and lying down on it for a nap.

The one drawback to a flat board is that it will take on water if the water is at all choppy. Paddleboarding season is definitely shorter than canoeing/kayaking season for this reason (at least where I live). But its ease of use, ease of transport, and versatility more than make up for the shorter paddling season for me.

A couple more views from Twin Oaks Pond:





A view of the marsh from Long Pond:



The sand spit at South Point (with a couple of ducks!):



South Point beach and Lake Erie:

Homeward bound:

Wow looks great, water temp is already ok?

As you can see from the ducks in my photograph of the sand spit, and the tiny little gull on the post in the middle photograph of the above post, my paddleboarding camera is not ideal for bird photography. It's waterproof. But it only has 5x optical zoom. I saw hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds on yesterday's excursion, and many other birds as well: Canada Geese, Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows, Eastern Kingbirds, Marsh Wrens, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Song Sparrows, Herring Gulls, Wood Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Mourning Doves, Turkey Vultures, Baltimore Orioles, Mute Swans, Great Blue Herons, a Green Heron, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plovers, Least Sandpipers, and one American Coot or Common Gallinule (seen from a distance--the Coot/Gallinule took off and quickly disappeared into the reeds long before I got a good enough look to determine which species it was). I also heard, but did not see, at least a couple of American Bitterns:



Can you see a Bittern in there? I searched and searched. That guy was singing enthusiastically and repeatedly. But he was not going to show himself to me!

I also heard, but alas did not see, my beloved Sandhill Cranes.

This is the best I have for you in bird photos:

A small flock of Canada Geese taking off across the Bay:



Our tiniest sandpiper, a Least Sandpiper:



I saw a small flock of Leasts, running along the sand spit with a few Semipalmated Plovers.

Of course, photographs are not the only way to document the presence of birds in the wild. This is a research station I discovered in the marsh, collecting audio information about songbirds in the area:



The brown protrusions on either side are microphones. I don't know what the spikes on the top of the post are for. I'll have to ask someone!

Yes, CaptainCanuck . (I did not submerge. But I was kneeling and even sitting cross-legged on my board for parts of the homeward bound journey. That was out on the open water of the Bay, where the water was quite a bit choppier. My pants got soaked through. But I was fine.)

Because the water I paddled in yesterday was so shallow, I was able to see many fish in it: everything from tiny little jumping minnows to big fat guys over two feet long (carp or bass maybe--I'm not great on fish IDs). I saw several Longnose Gar:



and one Spotted Gar:



The Spotted is a rare fish in Ontario!

I also so turtles:



Lots and lots of turtles:



Northern Map Turtles were basking on just about every log they could find, sometimes packed so closely together they were on top of one another!



All turtles in Ontario are now considered to be species at risk here. So I was happy to see such a healthy population thriving in the Bay.

Here's another Northern Map Turtle (because: Turtles!):



a raccoon:



and a Muskrat that swam right past my board!:

Awesome photos - so many different species! I really want to go canoeing again in the summer.

Wow! Thanks for sharing the awesome photos of your trip. So cool!

Awesome!!

They use spikes like that in cities to prevent pigeons from perching and pooping in certain locations. I can only assume they're trying to prevent birds from pooping on the microphones here. In Boston they often put them over entrances to the subway. You can find them for sale by searching for bird spikes.

I love all your photos and stories!

Bathtime for Baby! (A baby European Starling having fun in our bird bath.)

This guy finally showed up while I was outside today--and he sang for me!

Your bird pics make me so happy!!!

And I appreciate both your snake pics AND the warnings ... snakes both fascinate and scare me so I appreciate not being started by them.