Sept. 17, 2006

A noisy heron just flew over the pond - perhaps he was annoyed that I was approaching his desired landing spot.

It's overcast, foggy, and misty this morning, although I can see blue sky above me suggesting that it will burn off. Strangely, it's breezy already at this hour, but anything to ward off the mosquitoes is welcome. Another heron flew overhead, although this one appeared white.

Bird calls have died down considerably from the summer. I can hear an occasional twirp or song in the distance, but I cannot identify it. I also heard ducks at the east end of the lake, but I can't make them out through the mist.

Cottonwood leaves - brown or occasionally green, are scattered on the grass all around me. The tent months on the Tilia tree are no longer crawling among the leaves. The boughs with their tent homes are bowed by the weight of the presumably morphing worms inside.

The squirrels are still chattering a bit, but even they are not noisy as they were a month ago. A woodpecker is thumping softly on the large cottonwood.

The cabin has become an extremely noisy place on windy evenings. The hickory nuts of the shagbark (I think not pignut) behind the house dropped onto the roof, sometimes from great heights so that it sounds as though someone is throwing large stones on our roof.

We went for a lovely hike at Pinkney yesterday - this time on the lesser used trails north of Hell. We saw no one else on the trails except one hunter coming in as we were leaving.

A very small flicker has just started pecking away at one of the small trees near me (maybe 3" in diameter). It might be a cherry or chokecherry tree - many of its leaves have been eaten by the tent moth! Another bird - perhaps a sparrow - poked into one of the moth tents, then successfully snagged a love tent caterpillar.

We gathered several types of mushrooms - some large boletes a hen of the woods, and some small puffballs.

We also went by the George Biological Reserve and marvelled at the huge, cyclone deer fences.

Out of nowhere the surface of the lake in front of me is covered with small bugs - surely a feast awaiting the bass. The bugs must know better than that somehow as the fish are not taking notice. Ah, at last glimpsed some fish movement to the west among the branches of the fallen cottonwood ("ideal fish habitat" as HT would say).