field guides

today I invested in a set of field guides so I could better identify lake life during my visits there. So now if I come across a butterfly, bird, insect, wildflower, tree, or amphibian I should be able to figure out what specific kind of life form I'm seeing (assuming I have the book with me or get a good picture, or am able to remember identifying characteristics until I have access to the book). Since I'm completely new at identifying nature, I was just hoping to find some help in telling the difference between, say, an oak and any other kind of tree, for example. Hence I was a teeny overwhelmed to discover in my perusal of the newly acquired guides that there are umpteen different kinds of oak trees each with their own specific bark and leaves, etc. Yikes, I think my head is spinning.

Sunday sightings

this past Sunday I saw a gazillion (literally ;) dragonflies and damselflies, three deer, crossing our driveway (deer are common around the general area, but we don't usually see too many of them on our particular lake property), a red-tailed hawk, and a frog. The only one of which I got a decent picture was the frog.

Birch Tree

Maybe a Gray Birch, but I took this picture a year ago and don't have a clue what the leaves looked like. Now that I've started collecting my lake "findings" in this blog, I'll have to take better notes and/or more pictures of the particulars so I can more specifically identify what I'm seeing. Who knew there are so many varieties of Birch (and every other kind of tree)?

14 July 2007

Northern Leopard Frog

27 June 2008

Sunday ritual

over the past month I've developed the habit of leaving church and driving straight to the lake, getting in a row boat and heading to some random location on the water where I anchor down and just relax for a while. Definitely makes for one of the best parts of the week.

salamander eggs

you never know what you'll find under a rock. I could actually see the teeny dudes moving inside each egg.

Great Blue Heron

according to family, it's not uncommon for a great blue heron or two to make a visit to our little lake. today I got a good look at one for the first time this year (I may have seen one in previous years, but am not sure). The bird flew just above the water near the shore where it caught my attention and then flew to a large piece of drift wood more towards the center of the water. Mr./Ms. Heron stood there quite statue still for a number of minutes as I attempted to row close enough to take a picture. I got sufficiently close to get a good look at the fowl with my eyes, but the bird took to flight before I could get a fix with the limited camera I had with me. I need to get a zoom lens!

lake life

especially during the summer, I spend a good deal of time at a small, 35 or so acre lake my maternal grandfather built some 50 years ago. From a swampy area of land, he removed a lot of trees and stumps and dug out a bit of the ground and then let natural springs fill up the area that is nearly surrounded by rolling hills covered in maples and pines (among a number of other types of trees).
The result is a nice little piece of nature to which I can escape and quietly enjoy the calming scenery. The more I do so, the more variety in life forms I find - birds, trees, insects, flowers, land animals, and, of course, various aquatic life.