Pond Prowling on Caesar Pond

Looking north on Caesar Pond

Yahoo! I finally had enough time to get out onto Caesar Pond. What a fabulous afternoon it was! I brought along two camera bodies (one with a 17-40 lens and one with a 70-200 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter.)

Note: If the kayak looks familiar, it is. We sold it to Shannon when my knees refused to cooperate anymore.

And, I convinced neighbor Shannon to accompany me. I was in my pond prowler while she paddled her beloved kayak!

We sure do wish the pond would support a pair of loons, but we usually only have one.

Within a few minutes of leaving the dock, we spotted a loon.

I've been hearing one on the pond over the last week and we were so fortunate to see it twice during our short outing. It was too far away for me to get a good photo of, so this is the best I could do.

Shannon chillaxes in the north cove

After the loon sighting, we headed for the north cove. Shannon got there way before I did as the wind was picking up and there were little white caps on the water's surface. I didn't want to use up my battery too soon, so I took it slow as I headed into the wind. With my recent release from a wrist cast, I don't have the strength to paddle yet, so I had to rely solely on my electric motor.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Shannon parked under a tree and was watching a group of Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting about. 

There were at least a dozen birds, and they rarely perched for more than a few seconds. 

I snapped photos as fast as I could, trying to get different views of the birds for I.D. purposes.

The birds were moving so fast that I couldn't get a good view of them to I.D. them on the pond, although I did know that they were warblers. The lighting was so harsh that my naked eye view of them was that of black and white shapes whizzing past.

I don't know what insects they were chowing down on, but they were very entertaining. Shannon said that the blackflies have arrived already!

And, they squabbled a bit as well.

Soon, we decided to skeedaddle over to the western side of the pond. As we entered the open water again, we spied a Canada Goose tucked into the boggy area. This is where some of them tend to nest each year.

Overhead an osprey was berating us for being interlopers into its territory. It then flew back to the cove and perched on a tall pine tree.

We finally arrived at the beaver lodge. And, what a monstrous lodge it is! The beavers must be working feverishly on it as it has increased in size since winter.