7/24/06

Spent 1/2 hr. clearing trails on Saturday - we still need to chainsaw some trees.

It's again a beautiful clear morning on the lake - mist sweeping over the top, especially at the eastern end of the lake. Two large groups of Canada Geese just flew overhead - one group began well out of formation - I'd never seen anything quite like it before.

There's a woodpecker pounding away overhead - I should have brought my binoculars. A frog beside me is croaking and clicking. Martins are swooping along the lake's surface for breakfast.

I find it strange that we never see deer prints around the lake. Perhaps the lingering scent of dogs keeps them away… although the suburbs that they often frequent are full of dogs.

Four ducks just flew overhead - then crossed the lake 3 times more. Perhaps my presence made landing unsuitable. I would guess they are mallards, but tough to tell with the sun's reflection.

There's a tall white bird at the west end of the lake in the shallows. I only just noticed him now that the sun is upon him - before he appeared as a log in the shadows. Now that I have my binoculars I can see that there are two birds. One seems to be a heron and the other a kingfisher.

We collected a great many mushrooms yesterday! Two types of boletes - red/orangish, and then a couple of gilled mushrooms. One of the boletes stained blue, the other didn't. We found them south of the cabin, off the trail that runs across perpendicular to the road/driveway. Walking west along that trail towards the driveway, they are mostly along the wood margins/woods south of that trail.

Sometimes I wonder if the squirrels throw nuts + pine cones at each other - it certainly sounds like it sometimes!