We got out on that Bacus Lake that I showed the pictures of a week or two ago. It is the lake that was still frozen. It was a beautiful day but windy. There are absolutely no homes or cottages on this series of lakes, so we had it to ourselves.
I say we had it to ourselves but that is not absolutely the truth. We had only been out for a few minutes when Mary yelled, "Look!" I looked up and there was a beautiful Bald Eagle about thirty feet over my head. Now this is no big deal for you folks in the northwest but for me it is a thrill. It looked like it had a fish in its talons.
Mary is a bit nervous in these backwaters as she calls them the "Humpy Places" We were out on one a few years ago and the fish were spawning. Pike, Bass and Dogfish. Well we were paddling through the Lilly pads and of course that was where the fish were. Some of those fish were rather large and when our passing would spook them they would sometimes hit the kayak with a thunk! This instantly changed her opinion of kayaking the shallow backwaters.
She finally relaxed and enjoys it now.
We saw a pair of Osprey on a nest. The DNR puts nesting platforms in these areas. I have posted pictures of them but for those that have not seen them they are a pipe platform in the shape of a pyramid, with a nesting area at the top. They are set on islands or out in the water where predators can not get to them.
We saw a pair and moved closer. They started their high pitched screeching to let us know we were not appreciated. We try to stay away but we had no bionoculers so moved within a hundred yards or so. They took off and looked like they were dancing in the sky. I think they were doing a courting flight, soaring and flipping over to face each other in the sky.
They went pretty high and the sky was full of their screeching. Soon there was another pair with them and as we neared the nest area they got excited and came down to protest. It worked as we backed off. I tried to get Mary to paddle right up to the platform so I could get some great action shots of them beating the crap out of her but she was not in the mood for it that day
We saw a bunch of deer in the yard, ten at one time and I heard a bunch of coyotes yesterday morning from my deck. What a racket they put up and last night I heard turkey gobbling in the woods across the street.
All in all, even with the rain, it has been a nice weekend. We are going for a hike in a while in a Nature Preserve I found while Geo-caching. Such a beautiful area. I hope the rain lets up.
By the way, that dang Robin is out there beating the crap out of that basement window as I type!!
I say we had it to ourselves but that is not absolutely the truth. We had only been out for a few minutes when Mary yelled, "Look!" I looked up and there was a beautiful Bald Eagle about thirty feet over my head. Now this is no big deal for you folks in the northwest but for me it is a thrill. It looked like it had a fish in its talons.
Mary is a bit nervous in these backwaters as she calls them the "Humpy Places" We were out on one a few years ago and the fish were spawning. Pike, Bass and Dogfish. Well we were paddling through the Lilly pads and of course that was where the fish were. Some of those fish were rather large and when our passing would spook them they would sometimes hit the kayak with a thunk! This instantly changed her opinion of kayaking the shallow backwaters.
She finally relaxed and enjoys it now.We saw a pair of Osprey on a nest. The DNR puts nesting platforms in these areas. I have posted pictures of them but for those that have not seen them they are a pipe platform in the shape of a pyramid, with a nesting area at the top. They are set on islands or out in the water where predators can not get to them.
We saw a pair and moved closer. They started their high pitched screeching to let us know we were not appreciated. We try to stay away but we had no bionoculers so moved within a hundred yards or so. They took off and looked like they were dancing in the sky. I think they were doing a courting flight, soaring and flipping over to face each other in the sky.
They went pretty high and the sky was full of their screeching. Soon there was another pair with them and as we neared the nest area they got excited and came down to protest. It worked as we backed off. I tried to get Mary to paddle right up to the platform so I could get some great action shots of them beating the crap out of her but she was not in the mood for it that day
We saw a bunch of deer in the yard, ten at one time and I heard a bunch of coyotes yesterday morning from my deck. What a racket they put up and last night I heard turkey gobbling in the woods across the street.
All in all, even with the rain, it has been a nice weekend. We are going for a hike in a while in a Nature Preserve I found while Geo-caching. Such a beautiful area. I hope the rain lets up.
By the way, that dang Robin is out there beating the crap out of that basement window as I type!!
,your going to have to come up with a name for that robin.