What Is That In The Water?
I wrote about this briefly a couple of weeks ago and included a couple of photos but I just put together a more cohesive set of photos today so I'll write about it again.
On our first morning at the lake house this year, Sheila and I were sitting in the living room. The file info embedded in each photo shows that it was just after 5am (although, I thought it was two hours later but Sheila disagrees)... it was dreary... rather dark... but the lake was illuminated by reflecting the brighter sky.
We were sitting there having some morning coffee... Sheila comfortable on the couch while I sat at my desk beside the couch. My desk overlooks the lake and I noticed something floating in the water directly out in front of our house but halfway across the lake. This is a good distance and it is very unusual to see debris in the lake so it caught my eye immediately. I pointed and asked Sheila, "what is that in the water?"
At first, I thought it was just a big log floating with the current that runs toward the dam at the south end of the lake... no... it was moving too quickly... it seemed to be moving more quickly than the few waves kicked up by some early morning wind...
Sheila asks, "is it a beaver?"
I knew this was far too big to be a beaver... a beaver would be tiny at this distance... I picked up my camera which had my longest lens mounted to it hoping I could identify what was in the water by using my camera as a pair of binoculars...
The moment I focused on this thing in the water I immediately knew it was too big to be any of our usual small critters that live around the lake so I ran for the door with camera in hand so I could get closer out on the deck where I would have no windows screens in my way. Sheila stayed behind to watch from the windows of the living room.
I still wasn't sure what it was but I knew it was fairly big and it was swimming... it was turning slightly toward the shoreline adjacent to our house. If something was floating in the water, it would not be changing direction and heading toward this area.
As I was being attacked by a cloud of flies, my mind was running through all the animals I knew were in the area and comparing it to a list of animals I had always hoped to capture in photography... I kept coming back to bobcat for some reason. I guess I really wanted to capture a photo of a bobcat since I know they are elusive and they thrive in the area... but, a bobcat swimming across a lake? I kept shooting photos...
I kept asking myself, "what likes the water and would swim across a lake?"
By now, this creature is turning more and I can see which rocks he is headed for... I carefully steady my camera on the railing of our deck... I ignored all the flies landing on me and biting me... it is dark and difficult to shoot with so little light and difficult to stay steady with all these bugs crawling on me and biting me... but now that I know where he is headed, I can set a positive focus point on the shore and I have one brief moment to swipe away the bugs on my head.
I was concerned about my camera's settings since, at this point, I haven't really had a chance to shoot any wildlife since arriving at the lake so I was not even sure my settings were set correctly... I kept shooting anyway...
He stepped up onto the rocks and I immediately knew what this animal was... the lake is dark and quiet... nobody awake yet... but I want to scream to Sheila, "Do you see this? Do you see this?"
I restrain myself from jumping up and down with excitement and remain quiet getting a bit giddy that I was finally in the right place at the right time... and I kept shooting...
This black bear climbs up onto the rocks adjacent to our house but is still about 100 yards away. Now my mind is thinking, "where did he come from?" "Why was he swimming across the lake?"
Considering the direction that this bear was swimming, I think he entered the water at the Stillwater State Campground across the lake at the northern end of the lake. He climbed up onto rocks on an uninhabited section of shoreline near our house diagonally across from Stillwater. That is a distance that I wouldn't want to swim!
I began wondering what would have happened had we been out on the kayaks this particular morning when this bear was approaching... would we have been able to paddle faster than he could swim? This guy was moving and I knew I didn't want to be in his way!
In the end, I was pretty happy with myself. I remained calm and kept shooting. I kept my breath under control so I could shoot crisp photos. The lack of light was working against me but I still managed to capture some decent photos. And, I was really happy that I was able to watch and capture photos without bothering the wildlife I was attempting to capture.
I felt like I had just scored the winning goal in sudden death of a hockey playoff game... I wanted to jump and cheer, screaming with my fists in the air... instead, I needed to remain calm, composed, silent and invisible. It sort of reminded me of my old career...
On our first morning at the lake house this year, Sheila and I were sitting in the living room. The file info embedded in each photo shows that it was just after 5am (although, I thought it was two hours later but Sheila disagrees)... it was dreary... rather dark... but the lake was illuminated by reflecting the brighter sky.
We were sitting there having some morning coffee... Sheila comfortable on the couch while I sat at my desk beside the couch. My desk overlooks the lake and I noticed something floating in the water directly out in front of our house but halfway across the lake. This is a good distance and it is very unusual to see debris in the lake so it caught my eye immediately. I pointed and asked Sheila, "what is that in the water?"
At first, I thought it was just a big log floating with the current that runs toward the dam at the south end of the lake... no... it was moving too quickly... it seemed to be moving more quickly than the few waves kicked up by some early morning wind...
I knew this was far too big to be a beaver... a beaver would be tiny at this distance... I picked up my camera which had my longest lens mounted to it hoping I could identify what was in the water by using my camera as a pair of binoculars...
The moment I focused on this thing in the water I immediately knew it was too big to be any of our usual small critters that live around the lake so I ran for the door with camera in hand so I could get closer out on the deck where I would have no windows screens in my way. Sheila stayed behind to watch from the windows of the living room.
I still wasn't sure what it was but I knew it was fairly big and it was swimming... it was turning slightly toward the shoreline adjacent to our house. If something was floating in the water, it would not be changing direction and heading toward this area.
I kept asking myself, "what likes the water and would swim across a lake?"
By now, this creature is turning more and I can see which rocks he is headed for... I carefully steady my camera on the railing of our deck... I ignored all the flies landing on me and biting me... it is dark and difficult to shoot with so little light and difficult to stay steady with all these bugs crawling on me and biting me... but now that I know where he is headed, I can set a positive focus point on the shore and I have one brief moment to swipe away the bugs on my head.
I was concerned about my camera's settings since, at this point, I haven't really had a chance to shoot any wildlife since arriving at the lake so I was not even sure my settings were set correctly... I kept shooting anyway...
He stepped up onto the rocks and I immediately knew what this animal was... the lake is dark and quiet... nobody awake yet... but I want to scream to Sheila, "Do you see this? Do you see this?"
I restrain myself from jumping up and down with excitement and remain quiet getting a bit giddy that I was finally in the right place at the right time... and I kept shooting...
This black bear climbs up onto the rocks adjacent to our house but is still about 100 yards away. Now my mind is thinking, "where did he come from?" "Why was he swimming across the lake?"
Considering the direction that this bear was swimming, I think he entered the water at the Stillwater State Campground across the lake at the northern end of the lake. He climbed up onto rocks on an uninhabited section of shoreline near our house diagonally across from Stillwater. That is a distance that I wouldn't want to swim!
I began wondering what would have happened had we been out on the kayaks this particular morning when this bear was approaching... would we have been able to paddle faster than he could swim? This guy was moving and I knew I didn't want to be in his way!
In the end, I was pretty happy with myself. I remained calm and kept shooting. I kept my breath under control so I could shoot crisp photos. The lack of light was working against me but I still managed to capture some decent photos. And, I was really happy that I was able to watch and capture photos without bothering the wildlife I was attempting to capture.
I felt like I had just scored the winning goal in sudden death of a hockey playoff game... I wanted to jump and cheer, screaming with my fists in the air... instead, I needed to remain calm, composed, silent and invisible. It sort of reminded me of my old career...
Comments
Post a Comment