Loon Pair

Predators come in all sizes on a lake. Today we had an osprey visit and a pair of loons. I was able to get fairly close to the loon in the kayak. I wondered why and then I remembered. They are predators, not much scares them. 

 I did research on these creatures and WOW! Loon are not ducks, they are more akin to penguins and cormorants. They have denser bones, which allows them to sink and dive more efficiently. They are mostly monogamous, they stick with the same mate for about 5 years. Unless one vanishes or gets chased away by another mate. They are territorial birds and defend their area fiercely, chasing and killing other birds or even large fish. They also leave their kids and visit other lakes, most likely to distract other predators from knowing where the loon babies are. They can have two broods a year with two hatchlings per brood. If one pair doesn't survive, they work on the second pair. The babies are self sufficient fairly soon after hatching, but rely on the parents for nurturing and rides. One instance I read about (see link), shared a loon adopting a golden eye baby. Which made me wonder. After loon visit, the golden eye population on this lake has diminished!
At any rate, I was incredibly fortunate to follow these two around in the kayak and capture them on camera. (because I had to use the telephoto feature and was shooting floating birds from a floating object, sometimes things are not entirely all in the frame!)

 I searched all over the lake for babies. There were a few out, but most of them were in the lily pads. You can't really tell, but there are at least 3 families of several ducklings floating out there in the pads. I don't go in this area until the babies are larger. It is the lake nursery and I don't want to rile up anyone. I'll let the dog, osprey, raven, and eagles do that!

These are just random fun photos I took not on the lake-

 

Muck, muck, ewwwwww

Or how I spent my Sunday evening! After dinner, I decided to tackle this lake project.(I never remember to take before photos, so you will get that one 3rd in the line up.) I wanted to make a less mucky, less murky, less frustrating spot to launch and land the kayak. I hauled pitchfork, shovel, and sharp yard edging thingy down to the lake and discovered the best tool were the ones God gave me. I pulled the unwanted stuff by hand. I started about 7 and by 8pm I had gotten this far. 

 (This photo is from BEFORE when the kayak was 'parked' in the muck. You can see some water grass I was using as a marker. It is on the left as you look at the photo)

Me in the lake! 

Pulling roots from their berth among the rocks I remember we used to have as a lake bottom....

Lots of handfuls of organic material. Mum's dog had great fun chasing the blobs as I tossed them on shore. Mum wasn't as impressed since Obi got super wet! I did use a glove, next time I'll use two! (I had a sore finger and didn't want lake goo in the injury) My ungloved hand has much shorter nails now!!

These are photos of the section I cleared out--I think this was around 10 pm.

 You can see, I still need to do a lot of work. The little harbor is kind of a catch spot now for debris. Actually, our side of the lake appears to get debris. A lot of partially burned wood bits are under the roots of the water plants. I have not yet run into any nails, thank goodness!!! Anyway, I need to round out the shape of the grasses on the right and rid the area of more on the left. There are many really stuck fast roots under the water. They are kind of like grassy reefs now and I need to get rid of them. If I can move next week!!! I'm pretty sore from my fingers to my toes!  The baby ducklings had fun bobbing in this tiny harbor. I must have stirred up a great deal of stuff as I pulled roots.

I was going to end with a sunset, but didn't wait around long enough. This was at 1030 pm on June 4. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I sprinkled a bunch of wildflower seeds all over near the tires on the edge of the drive. If it rains, I don't have to water them!! 

 I cast seeds last fall, too. I am not sure where they went......

May moves into June

May ended with a couple of rather lovely days. I didn't get out but one of them--I am very thankful I did! 

Ducks!!!! (Goldeneyes)

 Mum was given some raspberry plants by a family near here. I need to plant them.

The second of June we saw babies on the lake!!! I think, but am not entirely positive, they are green winged teals. I decided to walk to the point on our side of the lake and barely got 15 feet on the lake shore before almost stepping on this family! I need to have better reaction time, I forgot how to use my cell phone camera and almost didn't get these shots! 

 Mama duck was VERY put out with me. I was watching where I was going and I totally didn't see them til they exploded almost underfoot!!! Mama played wounded duck for quite a while. I retreated in quick order. Later, I went out in the kayak and didn't see any babies. And it was VERY VERY VERY cold!!! I had on a tank top with the life jacket and should have hand on a sweatshirt!

 I need to dig a channel in the lake. The kayak is mired in muck. I had to scoot it up far enough so I could exit into the goo. Last summer, this would have been water.

 Before I went out on the lake (that was just after 9 pm), I dashed to town to give JaLeen the flowers mum asked me to buy yesterday. Mum was fully intending on attending the dance recital, but felt really horrible at 4 pm when I woke her to see if she wanted to get ready.

I didn't get to see JaLeen, but I did see Janet and Lee and Connie and Connie's mom and Jim and a few others! Janet and Lee took photos after-I thought JaLeen did hip-hop. She does jazz. I can't remember exactly what Janet said hip-hop was like, but I did bring her two tylenol cuz she said she forgot hers! 

A Beginning and an End

Babies everywhere are joining the world! We don't have any ducklings yet, but this mama allowed her baby to sun for a bit...but she was skittish and quickly dashed off with her young one. I am pretty sure it wasn't birthed today, but it is very tiny! 

 The end was this afternoon during the winds we've had. I was in the garage and had just stepped across the threshold to the gravel when I heard a noise. I looked up and saw a tree start to topple. Once I realised it wasn't going to hit anything important, I stood there with my mouth open, staring at the gentle fall of the giant. Sobering, sad, and yet powerful to watch. It wasn't pulled up by the roots, I checked it later, when I was sure it was not going to fall anymore.

 On the photo below, there are two stars. (Sounds sort of Dr. Seuss like!) The lower star is the base of the trunk. The upper star is as far as my camera phone would shoot! The tree keeps going-.

                   This next one was taken from near the back door. The bottom star is pretty far off the ground and you can see how much more tree there is in the trees!                                  

It wasn't kind to the springy young ones. 

 You can see how it is split in the trunk. I thought I heard that sort of a sound when it started to fall-kinda cool creepy.

 Unfortunately, this is why the giant was brought down. It was lovely on the outside, but completely worn out and full of punky wood on the inner rings.

Now, I need to get someone to come out and move it out from the 'snagged' position it is in! I'm really glad it is not near anything too important. I just don't want it to bring down anyone else with it! The young trees it is crushing may spring back..we'll have to wait and see!

Bacon Cheeseburger Dogs

Yes, you read that right. Keep reading and get cooking!!!

 There are links on the web for these cute tasty dogs. (not the one under the grill--which reminds me of a Laurel and Hardy skit!). They can be found on Allrecipes.com under All American Burger Dogs or here.  The last link is rather fun- It also has super easy peasy instructions. I usually have Jon help with each step and the photography. Since he wasn't around, Steve did it! He did a VERY good job. 

I would recommend assembling the ingredients and making the dogs ahead of time. 

INGREDIENTS: ground meat, seasonings, cheese to cut up into sticks, bacon, and hot dog buns. OTHER ITEMS: cling wrap, meat thermometer, grill. 

As you can see, they are simple. Whatever you want to add to your meat is up to you. Spices, bread crumbs, whatever! 

The first step is to make a squarish patty as long as a hot dog bun. I put them on cling wrap for ease of clean up and because they are faster to wrap. Put the cheese strip on one edge and roll it up inside the patty. 

 
 Most of the dog recipes mention the use of bacon, but don't add it. I did. Get thin stuff you can curl around your dog. MMMMM.

 When your dogs are wrapped in a bacon blanket, I then secure them in plastic. This helps secure them before grilling. Also, if you refrigerate them, they will keep their shapes nice like every well behaved pup on parade!

 UNWRAP them before cooking (yeah, no brainer, but sometimes people don't think!)

 Cook thoroughly-This is where I highly suggest using a meat thermometer. (135-150 degrees) Remember there is cheese inside and only put the thermometer in the meat portion of your dog.

 The cheese may escape from 'holes' in your dog. This is ok. Except, you are losing all that yumminess

 Place them on your prepared hot dog bun and ENJOY!

 Ours were a tad dryer than I'd like. Which is why I think we should have used a meat thermometer. Crunchy, gooey in spots, and filling!

I was very impressed with these guys and anticipate Jon and Steve will make them without me, just for fun!