These pictures were taken back around the end of September, and I’d been meaning to post them, but I got a little busy with something called Helene. I’ll have more to say about Helene later, after the dust settles a bit more.

This Kildeer was operating along the top of the dam:

I can’t help but wonder if this is one of the Canada Geese that was rehab’d and released after encountering a industrial sludge pond. And, more kildeer:

I don’t see Crows along the lake so much as in the woods:

Turtles were out that day:

Spotted one of our Bald Eagles. In fact, he gave me a pretty good look as she flew by:

A Great Egret making a nice full-stall landing:

And, of course, the obligatory Great Blue Heron pictures. I saw several doing some airframe maintenance:


And the payoff for that maintenance:

It seems that ever since I got back from my epic road trip I’ve been in catch-up mode. So, I’m not really surprised that it took this long to get my kayaking season started.

I actually got out last weekend on a sunny, if slightly cool, bright puffy-cloud day. The lake level was about 40cm above normal, which I always like because that lets me get into more little feeder streams and backwaters. This included one that I never could get into before (that’s not the actual route, just a little place along the way through the woods):

which led to a really beautiful little pond.

Shroonchyaa!
I followed that up with a little dawn outing on Monday:

This morning was a very different day, again cool, but low overcast and breezy out of the northeast, enough to create some chop on the lake near the dam and Osprey nest. Prepare to land! Gear down!

The dreary-looking conditions seemed to have a lot of the wildlife laying low, but of course, the Geese are (almost) always here:

And ducks:

And, finally, the obligatory Great Blue Heron picture:

It was a really nice late fall day today, and one that made me think about getting out on the lake one more time this season, even though there was some wind making the lake a bit choppy. No matter, on to the lake!

Any time there’s good sun on a cool day the turtles will be out.

This big white guy (duck? goose?) seemed intent on crashing the duck party:

I’m not sure how this picture happened, I saw some ducks on approach and started shooting (with the camera, of course):

Splash down! This is what I was wanting to get:

There were several large groups of Canada Geese around. One took off near me:


I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, just when I think I’ve seen about everything the lake has to offer, I see something new. I don’t remember ever seeing an American Coot here before:

And for the obligatory Great Blue Heron picture… I passed a Heron who was almost hidden in the brush along the shore, and figured I’d gotten by without disturbing him. Then he took off, flew past and ahead of me before I could grab the camera, but then he circled back towards me. I got a lot of camera frames from his fly-by, making it hard to pick the ones I wanted to post. Imagine flying on those big wings!


And I wished him well as he flew south towards the sun; looks like something out of “Jonathan Livingston Heron”…

The trip on Strava.

Well, everything else around here seems to be getting into spring early, so I figured I might as well join in and start using my new boat permit. (Reminder, since it’s been a while, you can click on the images here to get to a full-resolution version.)

A little catch up, a few weeks ago I was about to go out the back door and stopped to see if I’d be disturbing anyone out there. I saw this Cooper’s Hawk in a nearby tree:

Turns out he stopped by for a late dinner (there wasn’t much light left). Later I looked around and found what looked like some Chickadee feathers below the dinner table.

Lots of creatures find a meal in my yard.

Anyway, like I said, things are greening up already:

And there were a bunch of these little flowers popping up along the bank of that little feeder stream:

A few ducks were out and about:

A group of my Corvid familiars were hanging out in some trees on an island:

Motion caught my eye, and I was a bit surprised to be able to get a picture of this little Tufted Titmouse in a bush on the shore:

A Turkey Vulture was soaring up high, on patrol for a cleanup job:

Cormorants are starting to gather in numbers here, getting ahead of the shad probably.

Not too early for the Osprey to be getting down to business:

Didn’t see any Herons around, but of course the Canada Geese are here all the time (I hear ’em partying all night):

This guy let me get a bit closer than I would have thought, but she was also keeping a close eye on me:

Route on Strava

Playing some catch up on the pictures from the last couple of months.

This might be one of the Spotted Sandpipers I noted earlier

Those geeselets grow up fast.

Seeing Great Egrets around already; in the past I wouldn’t see them until later in the summer.

That’s a lot of bird to land in a tree.

But birds have a LOT of flight control authority to make things like that happen.

Early one morning I found where the Egrets were having their morning meeting.

Turkey Vutures like soaring. That’s a lot of feathers; it’s no wonder there’s so much rustling when they settle in to roost for the night.

Osprey also like to get up there to look for fish.

I was out on foot early one morning and caught the sunrise through the trees across the lake.

Not a great obligatory Great Blue Heron picture, but I had to use this early morning shot so I could caption it “with legs like these, who needs a chair?”

I know, where have I been? I was all set to make a trip out on the lake about a month and a half ago when I was alerted to an advisory for a hazardous algae bloom, and while boating was not discouraged, in a small kayak you might as well be in the water. But, with the advisory now lifted, it was time to get back Out There! I just hope none of my wild familiars were harmed by the algae.

Is that a little touch of color in the trees? That might be more due to the dry spells we’ve had than any change of seasons:

I’m not sure who these geese are; they’re definitely not Canada Geese:

This guy passed right near me…

and the encounter ended predictably, for a Beaver:

This Crow was surveying everything from the very tiptop of a lone tree:

It’s the time of year to start seeing Great Egrets. This one found brunch to go:

While this Killdeer pondered the menu in this very productive little end of the lake:

I guess something you just have to stretch your legs on a long flight, even if you’re an Osprey:

This one threw me the first time I saw one. The bird in the foreground is actually a juvenile Little Blue Heron. Notice she doesn’t have the yellow peak of the Great Egret in the background:

And of course, we have to have the obligatory Great Blue Heron picture:

Yup, another one, yawn.

When I got back to the boat ramp, there was a bit of a traffic delay, where these ducks were also using the ramp:

But they moved on and I was able to complete my trip.

I snuck out early this morning to beat the forecast thunderstorms. Turns out that was a good idea as the weather started getting convective right around noon.

Last time I was on the lake I was surprised to see an Egret this time of year. Looks like that wasn’t the only one, or maybe this was the same one; birds do get around:

Speaking of getting around:

The usual residents were out and about:


There were several swarms of these guys. These two got caught in a spider web, and there was no untangling them. Another one of those predator-prey relationships:

The water level was down a bit, but no so much that I couldn’t get into at least one of my little hangouts:

And, of course, the obligatory Great Blue Heron picture:

I’ll kick off this creature feature in my back yard. I went out back doing a couple of chores and something caught my eye. There, under a couple low branches, was a small fawn in the grass. He was so small I could probably have picked him up with one hand (not that I’d try of course):

They grow fast though:

There was plenty of “lawn maintenance” going on this morning. These geese were
working on the lake dam:

And crows were working the other side of the lake:

The new nesting platform that was put up for the Osprey looks to have had some activity since I was last out there a few weeks ago. Seems kind of late in the season to be starting a nest, but I’m sure the Osprey know what they’re doing.

And, of course, the obligatory Great Blue Heron picture:

Plus a bonus!