The Lake to Ourselves

This morning was the first that we put our kayaks in the lake.  It was a still morning and the water was pretty flat, a great morning for the kayaks.  We had the lake to ourselves, well, almost.  There were no other boats out when we headed out, but there was a sea plane buzzing around by the time we finished.

However, there was some critters in and around the lake.

First up, we saw an otter.  We don’t usually see them just around the first point south of us, but there it was.

We thought it might have been a muskrat, but the shape just wasn’t right.

This tree swallow was flying low and landed on one of the bird boxes.  I’m glad it came to rest so I could get a picture.

Rose was the first to spot this eagle.  It flew up away from us.  I was able to see it land in a white pine.  I kept my eye on the tree so I could find it again for pictures.  But, before we got there, it flew again along with a second eagle, back into the trees.

The sun was not shining at all while we were out, so I didn’t expect to see many turtles.  I saw only two, and this was the only photo I could get.

There was a pair of mallard ducks near the south end of the lake.  They took flight, but only going about 100 yards ahead, then swimming around back behind us.

In the cove at the south end of the lake we found another otter.  This one didn’t seem to be afraid of us.  In fact, it swam up to within about 15 feet of me in the kayak.  Here are several photos.

Otters are quite curious and this one was no exception.  It was not aggressive in the least, but at a distance of about 15 feet, I decided it was time to move along.