A good weekend!

We caught sunfish, crappies, and bass and a little bit of a sunburn. 

Dale's Crappie

Dale's Small Mouth Bass

 The owner of the resort was able to find some time late in the evening to head out fishing.  We knew we were in the right spot when they were fishing by us.  Here is the son-in-law's bass that he caught.  I was so far away, I didn't think they'd hear my cry, "Hold up the fish and smile!"

The owner of Hyde A Way Bay and His Son-in-law

I am always amazed at the wide variety of wild-life that I see up here.  I saw this bird flying over...I looked up online (later) to find out it was a Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

 I saw this weird menagerie in the tree and took a photo.  When I zoomed in, by golly if that doesn't look like a group of Turkey Vultures.

Turkey Vultures

I was surprised to see that Saturday night was a full moon.  But then again, that could explain a few things. ;^)

Full Moon

I Love watching sunsets.  Sunrises...not so much but it seems like on vacation I always manage to see both sides.  There is something just plain wrong with that fact.

Sunset, Close-up

Sunset Distant and more dramatic

Then there was Sunset and Sunrise.  The next Day.

Mist at Sunrise

There were many pairs of loons on the lake.  I love to watch them and the lens I borrowed from my sister allowed me to get so many fabulous shots!  Thank you Tabatha!

Loon 1 of 3

Loon 2 of 3

Loon 3 of 3

Underwater Plants

So much to see to little time.

I saw the Eagles frequently at a distance.  I never seemed to be in the right spot on the lake when they went flying by.  Even with my sisters camera, this was as close as I could get.


Eagle

Just as the guys were getting ready to load the boats, I found out where the Eagles nest was. 


Eagle's Nest

We took a quick trip over to the Eagles nest but the babies were tucked low into the nest and the parents were out looking for food.  I watched for them carefully on the way back.  They were no where to be found.

Having a Wild Time

Large flocks of geese have been flying over

Perfect formation

Mama duck and her ducklings watch us from the shore.

5 Ducklings on the Shore

Ducklings Out for a Swim

Ducks flying over....

Flying High

Don't forget about the loons.  There are fairly socialized here and not too afraid of people.  

Strutting Loon

This poor little turtle got just a tad bit lost...

Turtle

Bird of Prey

Loons

I love hearing the loons call to each other.  For some reason it is such a soothing sound.  This loon kept rolling over on his back primping.

Bath time? Or he's mooning you.

I was sitting on the end of the dock and I heard a really strange sound from underneath.  I couldn't believe when this loon came up just a few feet in front of me with a fish in his mouth.  It stayed in relatively the same position while it finished eating.  If you look carefully at the last shot, you can see the tail of the fish as it opens its throat and swallows it hole. 

Loon at Lunchtime

This Ma'am is how you catch a fish

See the tail?  No chewing for this bird.

A Good Catch

Here we are at Hyde Away Bay.  This young eagle was playing games with me.  Okay well maybe it was hunting and just far enough away that I couldn't get a perfect shot even with my sisters 300mm lens.  I took a picture then in the camera edit section I zoomed in three times.  So it is a bit blurry.  But you can see that it is in the process of changing colors.  It has started to get a few of of the white tail feathers. 



Young Eagle

The weather was beautiful.  A few random clouds in the sky.  Temperature in the high 60's to low 70's and a whisp of a wind.  A perfect day to be out fishing.  


Alan and Chuck heading back to shore

And in our "secret" fishing spot I caught this HUGE sunfish.  It was the catch of the day and I think the biggest one that I've ever caught. 

Trisha's Prize Catch

I finished a chapter in my book today when the others were out in the cold morning fishing.  I love it up here.  It is so relaxing. 

Beyond the Sky

From my earliest memories I can remember being fascinated wit the sky.  Laying on the ground watching the clouds change shape as they move across the sky.  Naming the shapes as they change. "Look at that rabbit chasing a dragon!" Only in the clouds could such sights be seen.  Sometimes we'd have contests to see who could spot the most creative scene.



The Witch has Lost Her Hat

 Maybe it is the artist in me, but I take a lot of pictures of the clouds.  Each one is so different in color and texture.  As the rains were breaking up from the last two days, I had to pull over and take these pictures.

 

Under the Waves

One of my favorite shows is the 2002 Sci-fi mini-series Taken.  In the show Allie Keys is reflecting and says

• "My mother always talked to me a lot about the sky. She liked to watch the clouds in the day, and the stars at night... especially the stars. We would play a game sometimes, a game called, what's beyond the sky. We would imagine darkness, or a blinding light, or something else that we didn't know how to name. But of course, that was just a game. There's nothing beyond the sky. The sky just is, and it goes on and on, and we'll play all of our games beneath it."

When I saw the view that I labeled 'under the waves', it made me think about this quote.  Almost like we are in bottom of the lake looking up.  Is this what the waves would look like to the fish?  Do the fish wonder, "What's beyond the waves?"  Then I thought of how sometimes when I walk by my Koi now alone in his fish tank, my sudden presence startles him and he jumps.  If the things beyond what we could see would suddenly become visible, would we become just as startled?

Sunrise - Sunset

The most beautiful sunrises and sunsets occur around the storms.  Just like when turmoil stirs in our life.  It may not be very pretty or feel very good when everything is going wrong.  But when the storm is past and the light begins to shine again, the light will radiate beautiful awesome colors depending on the storm around it. 

When one lone rain cloud passes by, the light reflects off the rain in a rainbow.  When a bigger, darker cloud breaks apart you will see brilliant vibrant and dramatic colors. 

BUT WAIT!  ..... in a matter of seconds the colors will change.  Time passes and the sun fades while the storm moves in the opposite direction and soon all memory of the storm will be broken and the truth of what was will be changed.  In the changing colors of time, look for the beauty.

The Eye of God

Doesn't this remind you of the all seeing eye in the movie "Lord of the Rings"?  Instead of seeing it as an evil eye, I choose to see it at God's eye watching over us finding ways to keep us safe.


Streets of Gold

The sun has set a little more here and the clouds are separating in the winds.  It makes me think that we are being given a peek into Heaven.  Look up at the streets of Gold. 

So you heard about the rich man who amassed huge amounts of gold on earth?  He found a way to "take it with him". As he met Peter at the Pearly gates, Peter asked him "Did you come to repair the road?" 
"No why?"
"Why else would you bring gold to heaven?"

Ring of Fire

Thanks to my sister, Tabatha for allowing me to share the wonderful pictures she captured of the Solar Eclipse last night.  Her brassy sister (me) called her about 15 minutes before the start of the eclipse to make sure that she was ready to at least try to take pictures. 

I had my camera with my 200mm lens prepped and ready to go.  She has a better lens than I do with a better zoom and a light filter.  My pictures turned out as blobs of light adding extra light as if the sun were a top spinning in the sky. 

I learned a lot about the setting on my camera, as I played around with some of the aperture settings and speed settings that I haven't found the need to use yet with the camera.  Nothing helped my exposures.  It was one time I wish I had my old SLR camera.  I have several filters that would have been beneficial.  I am sad to say that those filters don't fit on my SLR digital lenses.  Bummer.  In fact, I have a 1000MM lens and a doubler for that old camera and there are no adapters to fit the film camera lenses on the digital camera.  (I was told once that a man was working on it.  The problem was the cost would be so great that it would be better just to buy the digital lens.)

I was surprised to see that I was alone at both places that I was taking pictures.  (Except for my boyfriend at the first location.  I dropped him and the dogs off at home when they got bored.) The timing worked out perfect for a move because the sun was starting to fall below the trees.  And it was such a beautiful sight.  I figured out that I could turn the vehicle with the back facing the sun and set the rear view mirror in the reflector mode and watch a clear image without hurting my eyes.  When there is a will, there is a way. :^D

Photo by Tabatha N

Photo by Tabatha N

Photo by Tabatha N

Fish for supper

I left my place before 6:30 A M with Duchess. We walked to Dale's. Minutes later we were loaded and headed to the lake.  We didn't have any luck with walleyes or northern but we got our limit of sunfish! Good thing to because friends are coming over for supper.

It turned out to be a beautiful day out on the lake; so peaceful and relaxing. It bothers Dale when I sit and read, knitt, or crochet. But there is so much peace on a sunny day in the middle of the lake. Both Duchess and My Jenny were with us. There was one point both she and Duchess were side by side at the edge of the boat. They were standing too close to me for a picture.


Darn - - I had my zoom lens on :^)




Dale fillets some with bone and some without the bone for those who like it... :^)





Duchess Loves speeding across the lake in the boat.



"Is that fish for me?" 
Yes, we had a challenge that she thought the purpose of the trip was to feed her. 
LOL