I put in at Portage Bay. There are some coots, some Canada geese and some buffleheads hanging out here. It is overcast, maybe 45F, with somewhat raw south wind.The beaver lodge that sits just 20 yards from the launch shows numerous signs of recent work. The beaver have left clear trails in four places leading from the water to the top of the lodge as they added branches to their structure. I look for good tracks, but find none as they seem to slip and slide in the mud just as much as I would have. I find a rusty half of a metal drum on nearby shore and haul it out with the canoe. I paddle north and just around the point into Lake Union for a short stop at Good Turn Park. I woke up last night thinking about the park. It is one of my favorites, a spot that is out of the way for both people on land and people on the water. In fact, it is more difficult to find from the water, so much so that I have never seen any other paddler use the park. But, more important for me is that I sense something good about the place. Maybe it is the name, Good Turn, which I think to be an excellent name for a park, but there is probably more. One time, I took my canoe out here - even though it means an extra half mile walk to home - and there were two boys playing here by themselves. It looked like cops and robbers to me. We didn't speak and I became just a temporary moving piece of landscape as the chase continued. I could see the creativity of the game and the ever changing rules. It was something kids should be allowed to do more often. I continue back east, and into the cut. Six Canada geese overtake me, low and silently as the wind carries any sound that they make away from my ears. I stop and admire the workings of their wings as they fly straight away from me. In the east channel of the burial island, I notice that the green has left the cattails and they are now a earthy golden color. A great blue heron gets up in protest of my arrival. Its blue gray colors, which I often take for granted, steal all of my attention.
Volcanic Ash at Palmer Lake
1 week ago
3 comments:
where is that great blue heron? i thought you might ve taken a snap....
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird. Some good images here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_heron
One sees them wading when they are hunting for fish, but they also perch in trees, which is impressive for a bird with such long legs. They nest in a colony, building large nests out of branches in the tops of trees. It is a pretty and elegant bird, with an awful croak for a voice.
woh!
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