How to use this Page

As we have, for many, many years, my family and I went to visit my in-laws on Sanibel Island, Florida for our winter break.  It’s a home away from home. I love the beaches.  The restaurants. The kayaking.

And the wildlife.

This year, I got wind of a new place to hang out.  Bunche Beach, just over the Sanibel flyway, in North Fort Myers.

The place didn’t disappoint.  Pelicans dove for their food as pesky gulls tried to steal it.

A large Great Blue Heron basked on the beach.

While taking a day cruise to Cabbage Key, I was able to see dolphins!  They follow the cruise boats daily, without the captain changing course at all. The louder we cheered and clapped, the higher they jumped and the more they rolled.

Even the little ones.

When our time came to an end on the beach, Dave and I folded up our chairs and picked up our bags. I turned to find this guy waddling out from the treeline behind us.

I dropped my chair and raised my camera to get that one shot above. He scurried away so fast, I never got another.

Dave and I laughed.  I picked up my chair and we walked along the shoreline toward the entrance and parking lot. A few feet later, a gentleman called to us. “Hey!” he yelled. “Check your bag.”

I looked at my camera bag, but he was pointing to the bag Dave had. In it, we’d brought sunscreen, towels, and books.

The man came closer to show us pictures he’d taken on his phone. “When the two of you took a walk, it came out of the woods.”  The picture he showed us, was the raccoon standing on its hind legs, looking into our bag!  I wish I’d thought to ask him to e-mail me the picture. It was adorable.

That raccoon, has now inspired a subplot in Book 4.

You never know quite where inspiration will strike.

I almost left this as a wordless post – and let the pictures do the talking . . .

But this author doesn’t always know how to “do” wordless, loving instead to give the background on what I’ve witnessed ‘in the field’.

While kayaking last August, I saw in the distance an eagle on the edge of the lake, in the shadows. It appeared to be bathing. The splashing water is actually what caught my attention at first. Well, that, and an eaglet up above on a branch hollering down to it, probably looking for its next meal.

Bathing pictures are on my bucket list, so I slowly paddled forward, hoping to get close enough, but alas, it took to the air.

In my direction.

Landing on a branch, almost directly above my head, it spread its wings, and left them there! In the back of my mind, I realized I’d read about this while doing research for Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, but it was a first for me to see it.

I sat in my kayak, watching this photographic eagle for forty minutes!  Mostly, it stayed in that one pose. Eventually though, it began to preen . . . .

Before hanging its wings again.

They’re so regal looking, aren’t they?

Right now, in October, November, the eagle pair do still hang around the lake. Just last week, I wandered to the shoreline for sunrise photos, to find them adding branches to their nest!

They will come and go for the next couple months, with me not seeing them for weeks at a time. But when I do, I’ll post photos here and on Facebook. In mid-January, I usually have to don my snowshoes to get to the edge of the lake to see them. In March, the pair stay closer together, near the nest, and I see them every time I trek down. If I’m lucky, I’ll even witness  them mating, which is  a sure sign we’ll be having chicks.

In April, we typically find one eagle sitting down in the nest, with just the tip of her white head showing. This means they’re on the eggs for the next 35 days.

During the very last week of April or first week of May, my campers and I point our cameras toward the nest, hoping for a sign of little gray chick heads bobbing up and down. They aren’t able to hold up their heads until they’re about two weeks old.  At this stage we’re looking to snap pictures of two or possibly even three, gray heads up all at the same time as proof of how many chicks we’ll be following that summer.

Click on the Eagle tag on the right, and you’ll see previous years posts showing their nesting.

Come back often this winter and I’ll keep you posted on this years chicks! I love sharing my findings with all of you.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

Every year, I look forward to hosting my writer’s group to a working weekend here at Poland Spring Campground.  Fall is the time when I transition from primarily working on campground “stuff” to digging into writing projects.  So meeting with other writers, sharing in their celebrations, hearing their struggles, brainstorming ideas and projects . . . it helps to motivate and inspire me.  Spur me forward.

This year, I’m especially excited to share photos of the weekend with my students, because the critique circle, and its rules, are something Shannon and I have used in the classroom  with great success.  Knowing “real writers” use this method to give feedback on their work, makes the students more willing to share and trust in the classroom circle, too.

Bottom of the circle, clockwise: Jeanne Bracken, Denise Ortakales, Mary Morton Cowan, Anna Jordan, Joyce Johnson, Nancy Cooper, Mona Pease, Meg Frazer Blakemore, Val Giogas, Andrea Tompa, Laura Hamor.

The authors and I worked hard, beginning at 8:30 with a “What’s New With You” whip around.  Joining us this Fall, was our visiting editor Andrea Tompa from Candlewick Press. Each author has 20 minutes of time and everyone contributes to the feedback. Once  again, I’m humbled and grateful for the in-person comments, support and loving-nudging that flew around the circle.

We have writers and illustrators, non-fiction and fiction, with picture book, middle grade, historical fiction, and Young Adult manuscripts in various stages.  Some of us are published, some are very close. The projects read this year were absolutely fascinating!

I’m most excited to bring back to the classroom, a picture book dummy from Laura. It’ll be a great tool, when we start our graphic novel unit.

We worked hard, breaking every so often for movement.  And of course, lunch.  By 2:30 we were onto a Q & A with Andrea about the industry.  And by 4:00, it was time to take a walk, kayak or read under the trees, before gathering again for supper.

Top: Laura, Anna, Denise, Nancy Middle: Mary, Val, Joyce Bottom: Meg, Mona, Me, Andrea, Jeanne

And this morning, those of us who stayed the night, met for coffee in the office and decided to go for a quick early morning kayak ride .  . .

In the rain, of course.

The rain passed.  Loons flew directly overhead, so close we heard their wings cutting through the air.  Still other loons called back and forth from area lakes, chorus style.  And eagle flew down the shoreline. The sun came out.  The wind picked up.  We headed back.

Now six of us are left here at the campground, working, writing, revising.  Inspired by each other to keep doing what we love.  Driven to put the perfect words, in the perfect order, to write the story we were meant to write.

And tomorrow, I’ll share all this with my students.

Then ask them to do the same.

Sometimes, when I go out in the kayak, I’m intent on finding photo opportunities.  Sometimes, I’m looking for time to to let my mind wander in the quiet around me.

Sometimes I need to “be” one with nature, to clear my head and fill my soul. No thinking allowed – only observing all the marvelous sights and sounds around us. How green the leaves are, the sound the water makes as it laps at the shoreline, the  shapes of the clouds as they float past, the beads of water on a spider web built between two Water Bulrush.

It was on one of those days that I decided to snuggle my kayak up to the shoreline, and just be. I put my paddle down, raised my camera and waited. I saw little bugs dance across the water. A fish jumped up out to catch one, as birds flitted over to get one, too. And then I heard a commotion in the bushes a short way away.  I turned my camera on it and saw a female red-winged blackbird rise from between the leaves, a dragonfly in her mouth.

She hovered there, and at first I wasn’t sure why.

But I understood as soon as a chick rose up to follow her.

She led it on a merry chase to a nearby branch.

The chick hollered and hollered. But Mama bird didn’t go any closer.

Instead she showed off that dragonfly, then turned her head, almost as if to say, “How badly do you want it?”

The little one wouldn’t budge, so she eventually scooted down the branch to give it the dragonfly, it so desperately craved.

I know, that with its mother’s patient teaching, it won’t be long before the little one is grabbing dragonflies of its own.

And perhaps on my next moment of “being”, the bird I see snatching dragonflies from the air, will be this little one.

While kayaking last week, I was amused to watch these baby Tree Swallows fight over supper . . . 

I’ve often seen birds harass the eagles, driving them from trees and even away from their own eaglets.

But on Friday, I managed to catch a series of photos of it!

I was watching the eaglets , and talking with one of our campers when the eagle swooped into view.  It was being chased by small birds who were screaming their frustration.

By the time I’d unpacked my camera, the eagle landed with its eaglets. I’m not sure if it had something for them to eat or not. Regardless, the little, tenacious birds kept swooping and pecking like pesky mosquitoes until the eagle took to the skies again, its tiny bullies in hot pursuit.

I was quite a ways from all the action, but when I zoom in on my photos, it almost looks as if the smaller bird has landed on the poor eagle’s head!

And then pecks at it!

A second bird took to the chase and this one, I’m pretty sure, is a Downy or Hairy Woodpecker.

That poor eagle!  It swooped.  It dove.  It did every move it could to shake the pesky, determined pair.

This is the last shot I caught, before the three of them went around the corner and out of sight.  I’m sure that eagle ended up with quite a headache!

The adult eagles are on and off the nest, bringing food to their two eaglets.  They’re never very far away, keeping watch, keeping their little ones safe.

Look at the difference in the talons in these next two pictures. Aren’t they amazing?

So how do they manage to keep from harming their own chicks.  By curling them, when they walk on the nest themselves.

Feeding the eaglets is a full time job right now!

Every time I go lakeside, I can hear them crying for attention.

I bet the poor parents are tired!

The view from the back side of the nest isn’t as clear as from the front.

Especially since the eagles have done some rearranging and seem to be moving large sticks to that side as the eaglets get bigger.

Even after all these years, I still manage to record a new-to-me behavior!  They’re amazing creatures!  Graceful in flight. Great parents. Strong builders.

I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to study them year round, and to use that research in Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, as well as sharing my nature adventures with campers and readers all over New England.

I can’t wait to see what eagle adventures I witness this coming summer!

Today, after teaching, and after starting a large order for the campground store, I grabbed my camera and headed to the lake.  No sooner had I pushed off shore, I spied a loon fishing halfway across the lake.

I drifted toward it, as I fiddled with my camera to get just the right settings for a slightly cloudy, slightly sunny day.  Suddenly, it popped up beside the kayak.

It stretched, and dove and stretched again.

And I must say, this is how I feel to finally feel the sun on my shoulders and the warm breezes on my face.

It took quite awhile, but I spied the nest, too.  Our loons have chosen a new nesting spot, and I must admit to being a bit relieved.

They haven’t had chicks in two years, and my fingers are crossed that this new nesting site will be a good one for them.

Only time will tell.

I thought you might want an eaglet update.  They’re growing very quickly!

And holler?  Oh my, can they holler when they’re hungry!

The eagle parents are sticking closely to the nest these days. For some reason, the geese make them crazy; flapping their wings, throwing their heads back and giving the danger call until the geese move out of the area.

When the adult eagles move from side to side in the nest, the eaglets pull themselves across the nest after them, by using their wings and beak.

These two little ones are big and strong. We’re going to have fun watching them grow this summer!

My elusive Kingfisher.

After an entire summer of chasing him all over the lake, he finally came to me, flying across the top of the water, and landing in the branch above me.

He posed for quite awhile, chattering at me twice.

I’d like to think he was saying, “Have a nice winter. See you in the Spring.”

Like most of you, I took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and warm temps this weekend . . . .

sneaking out of the office and out of my writing duties to get on the lake both mornings.  Sunday morning, I managed to push off shore at 6:30am and the view looked like this.

Heavenly.

As I meandered through the cove next to our swimming area, I heard the soft hoot of a loon on the other side of the eagle’s island.  They were still here!

I paddled silently to find two of them, swimming around each other, hooting and fishing. Before I had a chance to raise my camera, one took off down the lake, circled above us, then flew off to another location.

The one remaining, looked at me curiously.

I remember the first time I saw a fall loon, with its white face and neck.  I thought it was sick. Or old.

Of course, it’s neither.  They are simply  molting, getting rid of worn and frayed feathers so they can grow stronger, new feathers.

This is why we see them preening so much in August.  These new feathers will keep them warm in the cold ocean waters, where they will spend the winter.

Oh, how I’ll hate to see them go . ..

But at least I have the thousand photos I took of them, while they were here, to help pass the time until they come back next May.

Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed, and fumbled for my sweatpants and sneakers.  Running my fingers through my hair, I glanced out at the pre-dawn darkness, then at the  thermometer.  I chuckled.

Forty-four degrees.

I might have crawled right back into the warmth of the bed covers, but I had a kayak date.  When the first drips of coffee began plopping into the camp office coffee pot, I heard a gentle knock on the front door and looked to see Cindy Lord’s smiling face peeking through the window. I let her in to choose her favorite kayak paddle and life vest.

“The sky was awfully pretty as I drove over the hills of Rt. 26,” she said. So I hurried, screwing the lid on my stainless steel coffee cup and hoisting my camera bag over my shoulder. Checking one last time for my kayak key, we headed out the front door, locking it behind us.

We talked and walked.  Rounding the last corner before the lake front, my breath caught.  Cindy hadn’t exaggerated. The sky was glorious.  I wasn’t even a foot off shore with the kayak, when I lifted the camera from my bag and began shooting.

Cindy led the way past the eagle’s island to our favorite sunrise viewing spot.

I sipped my coffee and watched the new-day sun, slowly rise over the treetops.

Basking in its glow, Cindy asked, “Where to next?”  We decided to continue on, down the shoreline until we glided into my favorite cove.  I was looking for deer, or the muskrat, or a loon.

What we spied through the fog and shoreline shadows, was a heron, wading through shallow water.

It stood perfectly still for the longest time.  From a distance, it could be mistaken for a bare branch. But I knew what I was looking for.  They’re one of my favorite subjects to photograph.

Cindy and I took a few photos.  Silently paddled a little closer.  Took a few photos. Paddled a little closer.

Suddenly, the heron lunged downward like a lightening strike.  He came back up with a fish!

Oh, how I wished he wasn’t behind the fog and in the shadows!  Getting a feeding shot was on my bucket list of subjects . . . the photo above was okay, but not the bright, clear, striking photo I longed for.

Then the heron spread his wings, and took flight to land on a nearby branch.

He rubbed his beak on the tree branch, cleaning it off after breakfast.

This branching pose was a first for me!  While he sunned himself, I took photo after photo after photo.

Cindy and I were in awe.

Mornings like this are always so much more special when you have friends to share them with.

Slowly we paddled back.  It was time for me to open the store and then we had a special event to attend; lunch with Patience Mason before her book signing at Books N Things in Norway.

What an awesome day . . . Good friends, good weather and good food.

Couldn’t ask for more.

So much has happened in the month since I last posted.   The campground was super busy with our themed weekends, especially our Halloween ones!

And mid-month, Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest launched!  Over 200 people came to the campground, and sat on my front lawn to celebrate with me, my family and Islandport Press.  For a special treat, we invited Hope from Wind Over Wings to give a presentation on raptors and ravens.

Teddy – A Northern Saw-whet Owl

The crowd was enchanted with each and bird, and their hearts were touched by their stories and how they came to stay with Wind Over Wings.

Zachariah – Common Raven

Hope and Skywalker have a special bond, it was easy to see.  Sky sang to Hope, as Hope told Sky’s story on how he was shot out of the sky. He came close to death, but pulled through, only to find one wing had to be amputated.  Can you imagine being an eagle, only to find yourself grounded?

Angry, Sky turned his back on his caregivers. Literally.  It was only after much patience, love and special care on the part of Hope and her staff,  that Sky turned back to the world.

Hope with Sky – a golden eagle

Now he stars in many presentations each year to educate humans on the life and adventures of being an eagle.

The photo below shows Sky saluting me for my work on Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest.  I was very honored.

While my staff helped children make s’mores, and Maxwell Moose wandered around showing everyone who would listen about how he was a character in Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, I signed books for my readers and campers and friends.

The campground was still in full swing, but I did find time for a few kayaking trips to see the loons

They are preening . . .

and gathering in preparation for their journey to the coast for the winter.

And I even caught the heron, who frequents the marshy area every Fall . . .

School has started as well, and it feels good to be back in the classroom, talking up books, and writing and helping students make the most of each and every day.  We are planning an event at the school which will include Hope, and Wind Over Wings.

Going through my photos tonight, I realized I’ve taken many, but posted few.  This is mainly due to the time involved in editing them.  But now that the campground is slowing down, I can start going through them and will be be able to post summer-time photos well into the winter months!

And you’re going to have to hear all about my research and writing ups and downs, while I tackle book 3:  Mystery of the Missing Fox!

I witnessed the most incredible wildlife-happening Saturday while paddling in from the loon count.

As I made my way past the eagle island, I heard a ton of commotion.  The eaglets were both on the nest, screeching at one another.  Wings flapped as they moved around the nest and to the branches just above it.  I lifted my camera to get a better look.  One of the eaglets lifted off the nest, and flew rather clumsily to land on a branch of a nearby tree.

I could tell there was something in his talons . . .

Above and to his right, the sibling eaglet screamed in frustration from the nest.

It took a minute, but this one finally won the battle of the fish.  I’m guessing that what I missed, was an adult swooping in to drop off breakfast.

Obviously, this one didn’t want to share.

I looked at my watch, and realized I had fifteen minutes to get to shore, lock up my kayak, trudge uphill, and open the store for business.  I’d lowered my camera to do just that, when WHOOSH -

a blur of brown and white buzzed by the eaglet with the fish, causing him to drop his prize.

An osprey?  The adult?

Again, I lifted my camera, using it like binoculars and gasped to see this juvenile had landed on the branch next to the eaglet.

Since it takes almost 5 years for a juvenile to gain their white head and yellow beak, I’m thinking this one is 3 – 4 years old.    Dare I suggest it’s one of the triplets from a couple years ago?  There was that one eaglet who just didn’t seem to want to leave the nest . . . not even after it had collapsed.  We called him “the baby”.

Anyway, all the hullabaloo started all over again.  The eaglet that lost the fish, screamed at the juvenile.  The eaglet in the nest, shrieked down at both of them, while the juvenile let them both have it.

Oh, it was loud!!

But it was about to get louder.

The adult arrived, buzzing the juvenile, who promptly jumped further into the branches of its tree.

Meanwhile, the adult landed on top the highest point of the island, and hollered down at the juvenile.  More than hollered, she meant business.  It was a call I’d only heard when the osprey buzzed the nest or the heron flew too closely.

She was not pleased with this newcomer.

Neither were the eaglets who were still making noise of their own.

I just sat in my kayak and chuckled at the whole thing.

Finally, the adult had enough.  She took to the sky.

. . . and  buzzed the juvenile until he was on the run.

Behind me, the eaglets had gone silent. All I could hear was the two of them screeching, as the adult chased  the juvenile to the other side of the lake . ..

Ooooooo, she was relentless.

The last of my photos have these two as brown dots in the sky.  She chased this one away, across the lake, over the golf course and well over Middle Range Pond, before I lost sight of them.

This was an experience I’ll never forget.  Awe-inspiring.  Nature at its finest.

And after all that, I still managed to open the store on time. Although the first hundred customers of the day had to patiently listen to me tell my story over, and over and over again.

Thanks to the reminder from a friend on Middle Range Pond, I finally remembered to join in on Maine’s Loon Count.  I’d always wanted to . . . planned to . . .  then the date would come and go and I’d  miss it.

Not this year!

As I dragged my kayak into knee-deep water,  6:35ish Saturday morning, I smiled to think of all the other Maine volunteers.   Some would take to boats and kayaks like me. Some would stand on the shoreline with binoculars.  But all would be watching, counting and documenting their findings from 7 – 7:30am on this day.

It felt kind of awesome to be a part of something that big.

Because I had to be back at the campground office to open it up at 8am, my plan was to kayak down to the state park end of the lake, and then slowly paddle back during the recording time, because I knew I couldn’t cover the whole lake in half an hour, but the loons seem to hang out on this end more than the firestation-end.

I’d barely dipped my paddle half a dozen times, when I saw a loon through the early morning fog.

I looked at the time on my phone.  6:40am.  Way too early to count.

But not too early to snap photos.

I stuck to my plan and headed toward the State Park.  To my surprise, the loon kept time with me.  I paddled slightly left to give some space between us, and it went left with me.  I slowed down, and it slowed down too.

“I guess you want to be counted,” I said, making conversation.

The loon just looked at me.

6:50am.

I couldn’t resist.  I snapped a few more pictures

and then the loon looked upward.

A second loon flew in and landed, before I could turn the lens on him.

I looked at the time . . .

7:01am.

“Well, who told you about the party?” I asked out loud.

The two loons didn’t pay me any mind.  They greeted each other, swimming in circles, hooting and dipping their bills into the water (not their heads, just the bills).  It looked to me as if one had been waiting for the other.

Not even five minutes later, one of the two looked toward the end of the lake and hooted softly.  A third loon had appeared!  I had just scanned that area with my long camera lens and hadn’t seen him. Perhaps he’d been under water.  Perhaps he flew in too.

But here he was.

7:08am

I watched for just a couple minutes more while sipping coffee.  The loons parted ways; the two staying together on the right side of the lake, while the last to arrive went off on his own to the left.

I dipped my paddle to begin the trek back to the campground.  Even though I poked into every little inlet and scanned the middle of the lake in front of the campground, no other loons appeared.

So ‘three’, was my answer on the paperwork.

Three adult loons on Lower Range Pond.

Have you ever seen a loon yawn??

I have!

The loon didn’t make a sound, as he gave the long, slow yawn, that ended with his closing his eyes and drifting away from me.

I kayaked away, as quietly as I could.

Our eaglets are getting quite big!  They’re spreading and flapping their wings.  Before you know it, they’ll be catching the wind with them too.

The adults still bring food, but they’re ripping and tearing dinner apart on their own.  One day, an adult and an eaglet played tug a war with a hunk of meat.  The adult won, before flying to a branch above the eaglets. (I took thirty pictures of that scene, but not one came out . . . see?  Not all my pictures are . . . well . . . picture perfect)

I see the adult eagles quite often when I kayak, but never know where I’m going to find them these days. Especially now that the eaglets can be left alone for longer periods of time.

My favorite sighting so far this year happened one gorgeous, quiet spring morning. I was paddling along when I rounded a corner to an adult eagle resting on a log which lay just  below the surface of the water.  It almost looked like he could stand on water.

I wish I’d witnessed this scene before finishing the edits to Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest.  I stilled, almost forgetting to take photos of this grand creature  It took a sip of water, then stared across the water, its reflection mirrored below.  A fisherman slowly meandered up the shoreline from the other direction, toward us, and the eagle turned to look at him.

Then silently spread his wings, lifted off and flew off along the log . . .

out over open water . . .

to a quieter spot on the lake.

The fisherman never looked up.  Never heard, and so, never saw that graceful exit.

That vision stays with me still.

Happy Mother’s Day to all my readers . . .

Today, I got out in my kayak for the first time this season.

Oh . . . it felt wonderful.  The sun.  The breeze.  An eagle soaring overhead as a loon silently surfaces next to me.

What’s not to like?  Or love?

The eaglets were vocal, chirping away.  The breeze brought me a little too close and I’m sorry to say the adult flew off the branch to a nearby tree.

Doesn’t this eaglet look like it’s saying, “Hey! Where ya goin’ Mom!?”

As soon as I back paddled to a respectable distance, Mom returned.  I’m happy to report both eaglets are looking health and well.

Over my Writer’s Camp ‘n Schmooze weekend, two of my friends, Cindy and Mona, went kayaking in the early morning hours to watch the sunrise.  They asked me to go too, but I was sooooo tired from juggling teaching, writing and camp, I decided to get the extra couple hours of sleep instead.

After seeing their photos and hearing about how they’d seen the fall loons . . . well, I’ve been regretting that decision ever since.

So when my friend Linda arrived for the weekend, I asked, “Want to see a sunrise tomorrow?”

Of course she said yes . . .

But there was no sunrise.  The fog was thick.  It danced across the water toward us, around us.  It clung to everything . . .

It made it hard to take photos of the ducks and geese, which have begun to gather for their trip south.

We followed the sound of the loons mournful cry to find them.

My how they’ve changed!

Loons molt in September, changing from their brilliant black and white colors to a gray, not unlike a juveniles.  After they fly to their winter home, they’ll molt again, this time becoming flightless for a time until their new feathers grow in and they return north.

We watched them for awhile . . . fishing and preening.  Then we continued  down toward the state park.

Right on the park’s shoreline, we saw a duck-like bird we didn’t recognize.  Five of them.  Diving, coming back up with little minnows, chasing each other.

It turns out it’s a common grebe!  I believe these are all females.  They were interesting to watch.  A new birding find!

As we headed for home, the fog lifted and the sun came out.

It was going to be a glorious day . . .

but we’d already seen the best part of it.

It was really tough (lots of sarcasm there) . . . but I kayaked twice this month in the name of research. 

The water was cold both times, and the wind was fierce for today's run, but the colors were vibrant!





I know I've mentioned it before, but one of my main characters is a nature nut.  Each time I was out, I tried to soak up the sounds, sights and feelings of being on the lake this time of year.  It's actually quite different than being out in the middle of summer.

The first run was a cooler day, but the lake was calm and the sun was nice.  Today felt warmer, but the wind was vicious.  I actually had to paddle back through small white caps;  two strokes forward and one gust back, while the water splashed up over the nose of the kayak.   I didn't mind though, it was a great workout.

Both times, I tried to pretend I was Coop, kayaking around to check on the wildlife. He would have been all kinds of excited at the photo opportunities I had last week!  

 



 

I have tons more, but I'll save them for another post. 

Today, due to the wind I think, hardly any wildlife was out.  I did manage to scare a flock of ducks 





and checked out all three beaver huts (which had grown quite a bit this year)



But mostly I got foliage shots . ..



All in all, fall is a glorious time for being out on the lake!  With any kind of luck, I'll get out another time or two . . .

For only the second time this summer - I grabbed my life jacket and a paddle and headed to the lake.  I had no other thought, than how wonderful it would be to kayak around, drinking up the sights and sounds of nature on the edge of Fall.





under the eagle nest


The lake was like glass, reflecting it's edges so clearly, it was sometimes hard to see where land ended and water began. 

I'd paddled all the way to the other end of the lake, down by the state park beach and had decided to turn around before Dave and B became worried. (I was only supposed to be gone an hour or so)

  But then I saw them . . .



Aren't they gorgeous??

And I immediately thought how much the main character in my loon/campground middle grade would give anything for this moment.  I must have floated there in the middle of the lake with Mom and her baby for  45 minutes, snapping photo after photo after photo . . .





I couldn't get enough of them!  They'd dive together, with the baby coming up first every time.  Mom would pop up silently seconds later, and thrash a fish around in the water for the baby. 

There was lots and lots of preening, until the water around them was littered with little white feathers.



The loons lost their first set of eggs this season, which would have hatched somewhere around Memorial Day.   I was relieved when they re-nested, and this adorable baby made it's appearance near the Fourth of July weekend.



He's still young, and the race is on for him to teach himself to fly before the ice starts forming on the lake's edges.  They need lots and lots of room for a running start, so it's important they be ready so they aren't hemmed in by the ice.   I didn't see him spread his wings once, or take a run across the water, both signs of learning to fly.  

Mom and Dad will leave long before this little one does. But for now, they're still fishing and hanging out together, like they have all the time in the world.  



I saw so many things!  Things I'd only seen photos of.  Like foot waggling, and preening

Two weeks ago, I bought a brand new notebook for myself.   A business notebook, with a sharp looking maroon and leather cover, and business card holders on the inside front pocket.   At 9 1/2 and 5 3/8 inches, it was the perfect size.  Not too big. Not too small.

I have the hardest time resisting notebooks.

I told myself I'd etch out a tiny bit of time to sit on my front lawn with it, filling blank pages with all the sensory campground details about campfires, recreation activities, food smells, kids calling back and forth.   I told myself how fun it would be to people watch.  There certainly is enough of them here to study!

Maybe, I thought, I'll even take it out on the lake, observing the baby eagle perched high on his throne hollering for Mom to feed him.  I've been TOLD about how he's now leaving his little island, but still goes back in the nest and hollers for Mom to feed him.  I hadn't seen him myself in a couple of weeks though.

Oh, I had such high hopes for my little notebook!

So, you know how many pages I've filled so far?

O

Yeah.  I actually fell asleep with it in my lap and still didn't even get a squiggly line on it.

And that, in a nutshell, is how crazy busy my campground has been.

I wake up at 7am every day, thinking about writing..  But I'm just too tired by the time 10pm rolls around and I've locked up the campground store tight.

Still, I can feel there's more writing time just over the horizon.  We're starting to book Labor Day in earnest . . . and I've turned the calendar to August (gasp!) much to B's dismay.

And today, late, late afternoon, B and I got out on the lake for a quick kayak ride



We kept to the the little cove, hoping to see some wildlife.  We weren't disappointed.  There were redwing blackbirds, purple martens, swallows by the dozens and



the baby eagle.  I wish I had a better shot, but the light was fading fast and we were in a shady area. 

I'm going to go sit with my little notebook now and see if I can't describe that lovely hour with B.  Hopefully, I won't fall asleep this time!

.