Pond Prowling

Strange looking? You betcha, as I was wearing my headnet due to tons of blackflies!

Wowee! What an absolutely gorgeous morning for a pond prowl! I was on the water by 6:30am. The air temp. was 52F, hence the sweatshirt and long pants. It's not summertime in Maine yet;-)

I think my smile was a mile wide for the entire 3.5 hours spent in my boat.

The sky was deep blue and there were variable clouds with a light breeze.

The waning gibbous moon was in the process of setting at around 10 am, and I took joy in trying to zoom in to the camera's capacity for a photo of it!

If you know me...you'll know that I always beeline it to the beaver lodge to see if any beavers are lurking! I sat quietly for quite some time and saw a beaver swim out from inside the lodge just briefly, but I didn't get any photos of it at that time.

While I was waiting for another beaver sighting, an Eastern Kingbird flew in to sit on a branch of a dead larch tree. I have confused Phoebes with Eastern Kingbirds before, so I was careful to make note of the white tail feathers that rim the edge of its tail.

And then there is the kingbird's bright, white breast. There were lots of kingbirds swooping around the pond munching on what I hope were blackflies!

After the kingbird flew off, I happened to look to my right and spotted 5 deer running into the woods, at the far north rim of the pond, with their white flag-like tails held high. I wasn't able to photograph them, but in the process of looking in that direction, I saw a beaver swimming away from the lodge! Never a dull moment;-)

I decided to paddle over to the outflow edge of the pond and sit there for awhile. I was hoping to capture some video and audio of birds, if possible. I was in luck as it is nesting season for the red-winged blackbirds (along with every other bird in our neck of the woods;-) Red-winged blackbirds nest in the islands of the bog where it is difficult for predators to get to. A male and female warned me off with several different alarm calls, which I captured on my camera.

I couldn't stay too long, as I didn't want to bother the blackbirds, so I headed back out of the northern cove and cut across the pond. Well... as I was passing by the edge of the bog islands, I saw lots of bright, sunshiny reflections off the shells of numerous painted turtles.

I have never seen so many turtles in one area of the pond in the 19 years we have lived here!

I counted 19 turtles in all. They seemed to covet the same spots and some were even laying on top of each other (no, they were not mating...) Drew has a new term for this, "A pile-up of turtles!"

Finally, I saw one turtle who had found a great log to sunbathe on. If you're like me, sometimes you just need some alone time;-)

As I reached the western shoreline, I was surprised to see a Painted Lady Butterfly supping the nectar of Rhodora flowers.

Rhodora (Genus Rhododendron) are in the heath family and grow in bogs and wet woods. These flowers are important as they bloom early in the season and provide recently hatched out butterflies with food.

Look how different the Painted Lady's patterning is on the underside of her wings versus the top side!

The wind was picking up, so I headed for the dock. As I passed by some small islands near the southern shore, I scared up some mallards who had been happily feeding and paddling around. They flew toward the north end, quacking all the way! They left me with a huge grin on my face, and joy in my heart, as there is nothing quite like spending quality time in nature...