A Beaver and Vintage Garbage Day

After art-moping in the morning, I head down to Union Bay. I follow the shoreline closely, hoping to hear the river otters, but no. So, I pick some trash including a vintage Listerine bottle and this pre-1975 Pepsi can, which was in mint condition until I dropped a tire on it, and a bunch of tennis balls. I find it interesting how gentle the lake can be with some debris - that a 34+ year old can should survive, bobbing in the lake for so long. The day is mostly calm and sunny, mid 50's with some spectacular clouds. In fact, the birds are surprisingly calm - that is the adjective for the lake today, "calm". It is a good day for spotting wildlife. My first spot is something submerged, I see a faint vee shaped ripple on the surface as it swims under my canoe. Holding up for a moment I see a turtle's head pop up. There are many turtles out today, more than I have seen in 3 months. Only two gray swans are left in the bay today. Paddling the north shore, I spot a beaver gnawing on something at the shore. It has the big flat tail, so I know it is not a nutrea or muskrat (and is larger than any nutrea that I've seen). I talk to a bird watcher and we see the eagle pair fly over, they are not hunting here. Heron activity is back to normal, no big congragations like I've seen during the last week. Then, to celebrate the beaver sighting, I go haul a big heavy tire out of the marsh.