Findley Lake 8/13/10

Another late afternoon/early evening excursion on Findley Lake. The usual herons. But the unusual deer in the forest, a cormorant, and an osprey - and a huge snapping turtle swimming next to my boat that startled me so much I didn't the camera in position fast enough to get a shot of. My back has been cleared by a specialist so we are ready to officially re-begin this kayaking season.

Findley Lake 8/10/10

A warm summer evening. A very quiet owl watching me watch him. A very compliant heron posing. And even a sleepy turtle. Nice time on the water. 

The trailer still had an annoying vibration. Turns out it helps tremendously if the wheels' lug nuts have been  put on correctly - not backwards. Problem solved (hopefully).

Findley Lake 8/8/10

Turtles - lots of turtles. A very calm snake. And several herons. A good evening on Findley Lake.

Findley Lake 8/6/10

Finally! Back in the boats - despite medical advice. And it felt very good. Nice weather. Our animal friends missed us. A couple hours on the water as the sun set. Maybe we'll do it again this weekend. The weather is just too good to pass up. Also decided it was time to repack the axle bearings on the trailer - starting to get noisy. I think we've put enough miles on the trailer to warrant some maintenance.

Findley Lake 5/16/10

An owl, a few herons, nest-hugging geese - quiet afternoon on Findley Lake.

Transporting Kayaks

Here's our new "kayak-hauling" vehicle - a 2010 Subaru Forester.

Findley Lake 4/4/10

Thanks to the unusually and early warm weather and the lack of a need for physical therapy we have started our earliest kayaking season - and it felt very very good. The wildlife at Findley included lots of turtles, some very relaxed geese, and more turtles.

Findley Lake 11/8/09

As we get closer to winter things get quieter and quieter on Findley Lake. No herons, no geese, no owls, no osprey, maybe 2 or 3 ducks and one wandering bat. Very few leaves on the trees and lots of leaves on the lake. We pulled the boats out of the water as darkness fell and I think we were the last people in the park. The temperature was comfortable, the water was smooth, the paddling was very very good.

Findley Lake 10/25/09

All photos by Nicki. Cool perfect autumn day. Not much wildlife. Didn't see a single great blue heron. Must be getting close to the end of the season?

Findley Lake 10/5/09

Monday late afternoon/early evening - great blue posing and exposing and basking, turtles getting the last warmth from the setting sun, and an osprey leading us around the lake. Hopefully this won't be the last kayak of the season but if it is then it was a good one.

Findley Lake 10/1/09

Middle of the week, beginning of October, well past the tourist season - things get quiet on Findley Lake. You almost start to give names to the few great blue herons that remain. Didn't stay till darkness this time.

Findley Lake 9/25/09

A nice Friday evening on the lake. Several blue herons and lots of crows, ducks and geese. We could hear an owl but no sightings. Only a few fishing people on the lake. A nice sunset and tolerably cool temperatures. In a little earlier than usual (5:00) and out just before the real darkness happened (which is getting much too early).

Findley Lake 9/13&15/09

Nicki had a session with a raccoon who may have been washing blueberries in the water (or were they blue berries?). Found a blue heron that seemed to be standing abnormally far from the shore where they usually hunt for fish. But he was standing on the edge of a submerged tree stump that formed a natural trap for fish - the fish would enter an open side of the stump and the outer edges of the stump would contain them in a pool that was about 3 feet wide - much like a net. Hard to get a picture of the stump - flash may have helped a bit.

Findley Lake 9/6/09

Seems we end up going out later and later each day - the days are busy. And sunset comes earlier and earlier. Tonight the final 15-20 minutes of our paddle was pretty dark - not totally but enough that we did the tie-ups by feel and car lights. On the paddle back to the dock our boats were circled by bats - hard to see them but could catch their reflections in the water. At this rate we'll need to run lights on our boats and start using the flash on our cameras.

Long Lake, Michigan 8/12-14/09

Finally kayaking a different location other than Findley Lake. This time we loaded the kayaks on the trailer and headed for a several day vacation on Long Lake in Michigan near Traverse City. The days were sunny and warm (bordering on hot) - the nights were cool - and the water was slightly wavy depending on other boat traffic. All in all a good time and worth the long drive. Other trip events are covered on my other blog.

Findley Lake 8/6/09

Calm quiet night. Very willing to pose Great Blue Heron. One batch of ducks.

Findley Lake 7/27/09

Another late start and a boating that lasted until dark. A fair number of people fishing and boating - not crowded or noisy - just a few places we wanted to explore that were already occupied with fishing lines. Good owl sighting in our usual spot - it must be a young owl - did a lot of screeching and seemed curious about my kayak. Most of the wildlife seemed willing to have their photos taken. Only saw one great blue heron. A good evening.

Findley Lake 7/19/09

Again a late start which meant we were taking the boats out of the water in the dark - almost 9:30. The weather and temperature were so nice for mid-summer that it was hard to want to get out. Nice that it is easy and quick to throw the boats on the trailer and tighten the straps - easy even in the dark. Not a great evening for wildlife. Most of our usual heron must be elsewhere. No owls - though we did hear their screech in the distance. A raccoon peeking from out of tree roots. One big kingfisher that kept teasing us - but was hard to get a sharp photo. We aren't going to complain given the comfortable conditions.

Findley Lake 7/13/09

A study of one particular great blue heron that happened into the final light of the early evening and who was very patient with a persistent photographer trying hard to not interrupt the heron's fishing - ultimately without success. Sometimes they pose - sometimes they leave quickly with a barrage of complaining squawks. These were the only photos of the evening as the lake was unusually quiet in the wildlife department.

Findley Lake 7/6/09

A late start getting the boats in the water. A quiet night with no extraordinary events. Several great blue herons posing and a green heron or two in the distance but not much else. But sometimes quiet nights are perfectly fine as long as the temperature, the company, and the sunset are right.