Loon!

 I was going to put all the waterfowl in one post, but I can imagine looking at dubious bird photo after bird photo might be a bit daunting! So, this one is just loon. I'd not been up here long before I noticed these lovely predators paddling around again. I'm not sure how long they will stick around, the lake is clear and there appear to be fish of some sort in it.Loon prefer clear lakes with fish.  I'd love to see them raise babies, but this lake is often a decoy lake. As they fowl look similar, except in size, it is difficult to know which is which. At any rate, often only one will be here being territorial and the other is on a different lake raising kids. If you read loon websites, their lethal boss gang methods are rarely mentioned. I've seen them at the far end of the lake watching a young duckling blithely paddling around and suddenly the loon is gone and seconds later, so is the baby. They don't eat them, or so I'm told, but they will drown the ducks they sneak up under. I was in the kayak one evening watching a family and an adult duck jumped into the air, followed by the sharp beak of a loon! At the moment, there aren't any babies around. I'm not sure how many families will be here this summer. Mum used to put out cracked corn for the ducks, I'm not going to. I assume some will settle here, we'll just need to wait and see!

This photo made me laugh. Auto focus is so annoying sometimes, but every so often something fun shows up! 

 These last three were a couple of days later. There is only one loon hanging around now, I think the other is nesting. Although, according to loon information, BOTH parents take care of the nest. Maybe they are taking turns on our lake? The birds have been just offshore. I've never seen them this close to the bank before, but the water is a bit deeper than usual summers.They are such a fascinating bird!

Sand and Ice

This has a LOT of photos. I was fortunate enough to visit the beach again on Good Friday. It was fairly warm, but there was still a great deal of ice out there.I was also happy to see how much snow there is on the mountains! 

Even fishermen were out. These nice men said I could take their photo. They were hoping to catch some halibut. You can see the ice on the shore behind them  From there you needed to jump down  to get to the beach. 

I took a great many ice on the shore photos. They were full of rocks and sand and dripping water. Powerful pieces of winter waiting to melt into spring. 

On the way back to the car, I found out the best footwear to use when walking on the beach are rubber boots. It is much less stressful to wade in the waves instead of dodging them. Although, dodging them IS fun!!! 

I had to take a photo of this white thing...it is a seashell! A clam half with a bit more. You rarely find shells on this beach! I was at the one down by the Tesoro docks. No ship today. just lots of sunshine and beautiful rocks. I wasn't going to bring any home. I managed to stop at 3. 

                                          

Sky, Water, and Wind.

Often we'll get stunning skies to end the rainy days. Unfortunately, the red skies at night doesn't quite work and more rain shows up later! 

The last couple of days have been quite breezy. You can see how it whipped around my flimsy locks while I was down by the lake. 

The normal mill pond of our lake had actual 'swells' on it! A couple of times, I even spied the beginning of a white cap. Definitely not something we see too often out here. The water snicked against the tires the pallets were sitting on and transported me to Minnesota. I almost felt like I was in Duluth on Pike Lake!!! Odd how sounds can take you back to a time in your past. However, I didn't have a fishing pole and the air was NOT warm! 

 While sitting on the edge of the 'dock' I was able to get a photograph of the bank near the house I don't generally get. Mostly because I'd be out in the water and trying to beach the kayak instead of taking pictures! There are some signs of fall, it isn't quite here, but soon.......

Duck Hunt

Remember the Nintendo game, Duck Hunt? I felt I was inside it on Monday afternoon! 

There are two lakes out north, Bishop Lake and one with no name. Honestly, there are lots of  unnamed lakes out north, many of them are small and surrounded by bog. Like the one I visited today. It is fed by a creek from Parsons Lake and then that body of water has a creek going into Bishop Lake (google maps is VERY helpful!).  This small creek and lake break up early and waterfowl nest there. Especially swans. For decades a pair of swans have raised babies in this area. I have always passed this spot in a vehicle and gazed dangerously as I guided the rig around the curve in the road. I wanted to hike out, but never did. Until Monday. 

One of the things which caught my attention was the vast silence. I found out what the word soughing means and sounds like. Inside the quiet, the wind moved thru the dried grasses. Calming, soothing, beautiful. 

 I was, once again, VERY glad to have breakup boots!!!!! This is a hike I'd not do in warmer months. I was already ankle deep in water at times and the ice under the mosses kept me on firm footing. And as it gets nicer, it will most likely be infested with skeeters!

 This feather is about 3 inches long. Maybe a tad more.

 I liked how this 'dead' itty bitty tree had specks of new green on the tips!

 I didn't see any swans, but I did scare up a few mallards. At least, I am pretty sure they were mallards!

 Tree with a blank sign. It told me at one time it was protected by someone with an agenda, but now..well, I didn't see any signs today!

 I didn't get close to this, it was getting pretty wet and hiking thru squashy mossy stuff is a lot of work!

 This mountain is EVERYWHERE! I might try getting this shot again, when it is clearer out. Although, it must also be cold enough to walk out to!

 This is where I had the Duck Hunt deja vous! As I stood still next to a dead tree my size, two ducks exploded from the sedge and then split apart, to fly away.

I was a VERY long way from where I had parked mum's car!! This shot is looking back to where the beaver hut might be. I was standing nearer the road here. 

 The culvert under Holt-Lamplight is another place to see water birds. I just saw reflections to play with.

 This last shot is one of my favorite sights as I drive on the road. It is next to the driveway of a man I  used to know as a kid. It isn't a bear or even a pelt. It is a blanket of grass which was plowed up into a snowbank this winter! As the snow has melted, it has folded around the 'structure' and catches the eye.