Images from a summer

In a few days, my students will be back for the fall session of DragonWing Arts, and I'll be back sharing art projects with you all, but I thought in the meantime I'd show you a few summer photos, since photography is a big part of my summer creativity.  Above, a great blue heron is playing peek-a-boo! Below, a luscious sunset over the lake, as viewed from our dock.

We are incredibly lucky to have a "camp" (that's the Adirondack name for a cabin or cottage or summer residence by a lake, or for some other recreation) on lovely little Loon Lake (one of several Loon Lakes in NY, but anyhow...), so any chance I get, I'm either in my kayak, or relaxing on the dock, or tromping through the woods. This summer my kayaking has brought me close to this great blue heron on a couple of occasions.  I just sat quietly and watched him. 

 That thing you see hanging in the center of my kayak below?  It's a waterproof box, for my camera, a spare battery, and a phone for emergencies.  Of course, since I obviously took the picture, you probably have realized that my camera was not in the box.  

 I'm not sure what this interesting aquatic plant is!

 Drip drop splish splash. 

 Morning fog

 Lunch!!

 I hope you've enjoyed a little of my summer joy! 

A loon saga

Today I am sharing the story of an injured loon, rather than the post I was planning, about using roofing felt as a wonderful painting surface, and much more.  I'll post that hopefully tomorrow instead.  For those of you who are my Facebook friends, you've probably already seen some of these loon pics, but I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing them again.   

 Our lake, where we we have a 'camp' (the Adirondack term for a cabin, a cottage, or whatever you want to call it), is on a lake named, aptly, Loon Lake.  But it is always a treat when we get to see or hear a loon, since they are animals that prefer quiet and solitude, not at all like the ducks, geese, and gulls that frequent the lake.  Loons are magnificent animals, with brilliant red eyes, and intricate patterns of stripes and dots formed miraculously by feathers.  I think I am drawn to them because their coloring (black, white, with a touch of red) is my favorite fashion color scheme!

Our weekend loon experience started, at least for me, on Friday, when my husband and I were relaxing on our dock, he with a beer, me with a book.  Partway across the lake, we spotted a loon, which is always exciting to see.  But as we watched, the loon looked like it was behaving oddly, so I took out my little Sony point & shoot camera which has a terrific zoom on it, so that I could get a closer look.  And this is what I saw:

 The loon repeatedly stretched up his neck and head.

 And he lifted his body partway out of the water and flapped his wings.

 But he didn't fly. And he didn't dive.  Typically, when watching a loon, you suddenly notice him pop up somewhere.  Then, he looks around for a moment, goes down for a dive, and comes up a minute or two later in a completely different location. 

Instead, this loon slowly swam down the lake, taking his time, and never once diving.  So I was curious.  I grabbed my camera and got in my kayak and quietly paddled in the direction of the loon.  And as I got very close, I noticed a few things.  First of all, the loon didn't do a disappearing act when I came   close.  Second of all, I noticed this:

 Coming from the corner of his mouth was some fishing line, with a metal swivel of some sort on it, and I believe some sinkers.  It appeared to be attached to his neck.  I followed the loon as he swam aimlessly across the lake and here and there.   Occasionally he turned his head and fussed with the fishing line, but obviously was unable to remove it.

At one point, someone riding a jet ski came barreling in his direction.  I screamed 'LOON' (and a few other choice words) and pointed madly, but the jet ski rider didn't turn or slow. The loon very briefly went under water and immediately resurfaced. 

I spoke to my neighbor, who is president of the Lake Association.  He told me that the bird had been repeatedly spotted for two weeks, and that a loon expert (a vet) had been contacted and had visited the lake at night in a Jon boat with a searchlight (evidently the birds are docile then, and are easier to rescue at night) but had been unable to find the loon.  People who had seen the loon prior to my spotting had also indicated the loon had been seen fishing (which I personally did not witness), so the loon expert did not think the bird was in distress.  She said she'd be back if the loon was reported to be in distress, unable to eat.  Evidently at that time the loon would likely crawl up on a shore.  We do not believe the loon is able to fly.

The next day, Saturday, I saw the loon again, and again took my kayak and my camera for a ride.    There were more boaters on the lake, so the bird was definitely more cautious.  When I got close a couple of times he softly vocalized, so I did not attempt to get any closer.  But I also noticed a piece of line coming from the other side of the loon's mouth.  One hypothesis is that the loon caught a fish that had swallowed a lure with fishing line attached.

 Some neighbors were kayaking to the marsh, and I thought about going too, but instead I decided to return to our camp for a swim.  I had just turned back toward home, when I noticed another loon.  The injured loon was heading toward the other, so I followed at a distance.   They met up, had a brief 'conversation', and the other loon proceeded to fish.  The injured loon just floated on the surface.  I  believe that perhaps the people who reported the loon had been fishing had been watching the wrong loon.  

A couple more loon shots -

 My neighbor had me email him my photos of the loon (evidently I'm the only person who had taken pictures that clearly showed the nature of the injury) and he forwarded my photos to the loon expert.

The following day, Sunday, I did not see the loon so I took my kayak for a peaceful spin through the marsh.  When I returned, my husband told me the loon had been hanging out in a little cove down the lake from us.  He witnessed a powerboat come close to running over the loon. The loon kicked up his heels - splashing his flipper-feet on the surface, and flapped his wings madly, but did not go under the surface at all.  What the heck is wrong with these people?  Don't they look where they are going at all?  This is a magnificent animal, and it is definitely large enough to see.  As a matter of fact, it is a VERY large bird!

Anyhow, before we left to go home, our neighbor told us the loon expert 'might' be returning that night, to search again for my loon.  If they find the loon, they will 'rescue' it, and I guess will remove the fishing line.  Meanwhile, here's a couple of pics from my peaceful kayak visit to the marsh, and one of a lovely person I met floating on the lake on my return trip. 

 

 Above, a turtle.  I was worried about it, until friend and turtle-lover Mr. E. informed me that the turtle is shedding his shell.  I didn't know they did that!  I wonder though, at this state, when he swims, don't the loose shell parts get caught on seaweed or something?  And I'd love to see, what's under that shell?  The parts of the turtle I can see have such rich coloring; I wonder if he's like that under the shell, too?

Below, in the marsh.  I believe this floating thing was set up for loon nesting.  I wonder if the loons use it?

 And, the sweet lady I spotted on my return.  I've seen her and dog many times over the years, and the dog used to float in his own little float basket!  Now that he's older, he sticks with her. 

Unfortunately, we won't be back at the lake for more than a week, so I'm hoping that the expert and her team will return and will be successful this time. The Lake Association has a Facebook page, and I was promised that if the loon was rescued that it would be posted to the page.  As of this time, there has been no posting.  I'm gonna keep hoping, but I know, it's a wild animal, and that means it unpredictable. 

I'll close with a funny photo for you.  I wasn't really planning on watching porn while I read my book!!  

 

I just have to share!

bald eagle, 6/8/14, cropped

In a happenstance conversation a week ago, I learned that, last summer, a bald eagle was spotted in my favorite kayaking location, roosting on a particular tree in the marsh where I kayak.  It returned frequently to the tree until its mate showed up, and then they left together.  I heard that that the eagle had been spotted in the marsh again this year, though it hadn't been seen sitting in the tree.  Since, like I said, it's my favorite place to kayak, I was there paddling again yesterday.  I looked, but he eagle was not on the tree.  A couple of hours later, after seeing turtles, and geese, and ducks, and a redwing blackbird, and after hearing bullfrogs galore, I decided it was time to leave the marsh and head back down the lake.  I took another quick peek at the tree from across the marsh and there it was: the telltale white spot, like a golf ball in the tree.

Of course, I immediately paddled back across the marsh, and, WOW!  I was (and still am) so excited!  So incredibly beautiful!

I think he was looking right at me...

 Of course, the eagle isn't the only thing I saw in the marsh.  I spotted this cutie-pie below, having a drink.

The day was ridiculously pretty!  Blue sky, puffy clouds, waterlilies, and calm water.  What a nice kayak sojourn; what a nice day!

 By the way - in the midst of all my excitement about the eagle, I totally forgot that I promised to pick winners for my jewelry giveaway, as per last week's post.  I'll select the winners tomorrow, and let you know ASAP! 

Another 'while you were teaching' post!

 Here, in the foothills of the Adirondacks of NY state, it was a cold November day, never even making it to 40 degrees.  But despite the cold temperature, it was sunny, and my husband and I took a drive to our 'camp' on Loon Lake.  While he put on the storm windows, I took the kayak out on the quiet lake.  I wore a sweater, a heavy sweatshirt (my son's), a fleece 'turtle fur' hat, fleece gloves, two scarves (one wasn't enough), and warm socks; I put the spray skirt on the kayak to keep the cold water off my lap, packed up my camera, and away I paddled!  Here's a selfie from somewhere in the middle of the lake. 

 

 It was a magnificent sky!  I struggled setting my camera while looking into the sun and wearing gloves, but it was so beautiful that it was very forgiving of my camera setting selections. 

 

I haven't told you all about it, but recently I had the opportunity to take a one-day photography class with esteemed Adirondack photographer Carl Heilman.  His photos are widely published and we are lucky to have him live in our neck of the woods.  I took his class at the Adirondack Folk School, and learned about things like hyperfocus (I have done photography for years and neve had heard of this), and got a handle on some more of of my camera settings.  Now my next step is to learn to use photoshop!  (No, none of my photos has been edited in Photoshop.  It has been on my computer just one day and I don't know where to start!) 

 

Problem is, pretty much everything Carl taught was dependent on patience (I have none) and putting your camera on a tripod to use the smallest aperture for the greatest depth of field.  But you can't put a kayak in a tripod, so I'm dependent on hand-holding the camera and adjusting the ISO to get the exposure I want.  But I learned a lot from Carl, and I look forward to "Getting Perfect Pictures Every Time", which was the title of his wonderful class. 

 

Meanwhile, enjoy  my photos of my day, and stay tuned, as I have some more art-related posts coming soon,   with a great museum trip planned in a few days, a Project Runway-related project almost complete, and much much more.  Don't give up on me;  I promise there will be art lessons coming soon too, as I prepare to teach 3 workshops at my state conference in 3 weeks. 

 

 

You saw WHAT while kayaking?

My lovely marsh, June 20

If you've read my blog for a while, you know that sunny weather means I'll likely be at our Adirondack lakeside 'camp', paddling my kayak to the marsh at the north end of the lake, and that I'll post take lots of marsh photos and post them here instead of art lessons.  So that's what I did on Wednesday in the late afternoon sunshine (I went paddling with my Nikon along for the ride).  Usually, a paddle to the marsh means sightings of turtles, spider webs jeweled with dew, assorted water fowl, and waterlilies.  So when, from a distance, I saw what appeared to be an unusual knotted branch or maybe a vine on a branch on a little bush growing on a mound in the marsh, I had to go closer to see what it was.   And when I got there, here, my friends, is what I saw:

 

I know.. a lot of pics of the same thing...  but really, how could I resist?!  t is either a northern water snake (non-poisonous venom, but it's saliva contains an anticoagulant that makes its bites bleed like crazy; I found this out through research after I returned home) or maybe it is a timber rattlesnake (which, also through after-the-fact research, I discovered does indeed swim).  Egads!  

My hubby thought perhaps someone was playing a prank, winding a toy rattlesnake around a branch to scare someone gullible like me.  I thought he was full of ****, since I almost NEVER see anyone else kayaking way in the deep back end of the marsh, and because all the stumps and rocks and muck and   shallow water in the marsh make it pretty impossible to get close enough to do something like that.  

So I set out to prove him wrong.  If the next day the snake was still there, in the same place, I was a victim of a hoax.  If it was gone, we'd know it was real and alive.  I tried to convince him to hop in his canoe and come with me, but he wanted no part of this excursion.  So midday on a bright Thursday, I paddled my way back to the marsh.  There were dozens of geese.  There were hundreds of dragonflies flitting around everywhere.  Bullfrogs were singing in chorus.  I saw a turtle plop into the water.  I saw fish jumping.  I saw water bugs skating.  I even saw a great blue heron take off and fly over the marsh.  (Simply lovely; amazing.)  It was a glorious beautiful day, and I searched every outcropping, every mound, every stump.  The snake was gone, which of course means it was the real thing.

Geese in the marsh

The snake was way in the back of the area of this photo

Marsh driftwood

On my way out -  toward the mouth of the marsh

I often go into places in the marsh where I cannot be seen, winding my way between the tall grasses.  My cell phone gets no reception in the marsh.  Sometimes I get a little stuck, and get nervous that I won't be able to back myself out, or that my paddle will get stuck in the muck, or that a snapping turtle will jump in my kayak and eat me (I've never actually seen a snapping turtle), or that geese will attack me (truth is, they either honk loudly at me in chorus, or freeze and pretend they are invisible, or quietly swim away while my head is turned), or that a jumping fish will land in my kayak and I'll freak out and flip over with my Nikon still around my neck.  But I never ever thought about snakes in the marsh!

Any snake experts out there that can confirm the type of snake from my photos?  Unfortunately the body was wrapped over the end of the tail, so it's hard to tell if there is a rattle or not... 

Meanwhile, I'm saving money to buy a longer lens for my camera, so I don't have to get so close next time!!