Scattered Thoughts . . .

We hadn't seen the resident Bald Eagle pair in a couple of days so we were wondering where they were hiding. We also hadn't seen any other significant wildlife such as bobcats and bears so I was feeling I needed to wander out to find something worth photographing. Sheila and I headed out on our kayaks yesterday morning. I had three cameras in my kayak... a Sony action video camera, a Sony full-frame camera with a 70-200mm lens, and a Sony crop camera with a 400mm F5.6L lens which gives me an equivalent of 600mm. I also brought along a wide angle lens for any landscape photos that may present itself. With these cameras, I was confident I could capture photos of loons, Bald Eagles, bears, bobcats, turtles or whatever wildlife appeared.  About a mile from our lake house, I pulled to the shore to check a nice sandy beach on State land for any tracks... I saw none. We continued on down toward the dam at the end of the lake.  As we approached the end of the lake, I noticed a ...

As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, today was a day of sleep and rest.  My health hit a wall last night and then worsened as the night wore on... the fatigue was brutal! Much of the day today was spent sleeping. I still have some lingering effects of last night's health problems but I'm feeling much more stable this evening than last evening. During the few hours I was awake today, the wildlife around the lake house was minimal, at best. I didn't really see anything worth photographing. Early this morning, however, I did see some interesting, dramatic light hit the shore on the opposite side of the lake... I really like this one... the sun was peaking through some clouds and early morning fog... the light was like a spotlight on this cabin across the lake... I really like the reflection on the smooth morning water... I like the depth of the photo... and, I like the color... this is a really nice photo!

Yesterday was perhaps one of the most beautiful days we've had at the lake. The visibility was noticeably crystal clear... the sun was bright... it was warm... the water was warm... it was quiet... and I was in very nice company! Today, weather-wise, was fair but both Sheila and I were exhausted. We ended up sleeping away most of the day. I had some health issues last night too and that always has a tremendous bearing on the days afterward. Today was no exception. We pretty much just slept and rested all day.  This evening, however, I had some time to sort through some of yesterday's photos... At this point in sharing these photos here I must ask, "Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Sony cameras, microphones, stereos, mp3 players, and televisions?" These photos here remind of just how much I love Sony electronics. It is a joy using cameras which produce such beautiful tonality and color while also providing the fastest and most accurate au...

Today was a rather lousy day for shooting photos of wildlife. We sometimes go through spurts of seeing absolutely no wildlife. One year, we didn't see any wildlife for almost two weeks! Today was just one of those days... quiet. Instead of shooting photos today (although, I kept my eyes open in case something appeared outside our lake house windows), I sifted through some of the photos I've shot thus far and I found another Bald Eagle shot worth sharing here...

For a long while, we had a school of friendly Perch swimming around our beach and dock. There were twelve of them to be exact! It was really nice to see them because that is a sign of a healthy lake. Plus, it is nice seeing all sorts of wildlife no matter which direction you turn your head! These very friendly Perch were always hanging around our beach and dock, that is, until the kids insisted upon fishing and our little Perch friends immediately abandoned our beach and dock area for safer waters after Lukey caught one of the twelve. They left, obviously annoyed with us and terrified, and they haven't been back. "Post Edit - June 22, 2017:  For days, I've been thinking about this problem of this school of Perch being run off due to fishing. There is now a new rule in place for the lake house...  " Absolutely no fishing from the property. If you want to fish, get in a boat and fish near the State land or out in deeper water away from the house."  The fi...

People seem to get excited to hear that the Bald Eagle is making a comeback in the northeast after being almost extinct. Personally, I find these birds to be an annoyance equivalent to a seagull and seagulls are something I always refer to as a rat with wings. The Bald Eagle is an aggressive predator preying upon other birds, wildlife and disrupting the life cycle of other animals already on the endangered list so I really do not look upon this nasty bird with affection at all. One of the things we always loved about Lake Groton is the amount of active loons. There is even a healthy dose of transient loons who come and go. I've learned a lot about loons and their quirkiness by carefully observing them over the years including all the difficulties this endangered bird has with effective reproduction. Having a monstrous predator hovering over their heads, harassing them, agitating them and trying to eat them is of no help to building the loon population. I'd rather see the loon...