September 6, 2010

There was a lot of activity around Lake Wicwas today, as cooler temperatures arrived.  Although with yet more hot weather this past week, the lake is as warm as I can remember it ever being on Labor Day, even with the holiday being so late this year.  It is more like July than September.  This morning, the still cool air over the warm water showed a lot of mist rising off the lake.

I met the doe and her three fawns this morning.  When they saw me, mother and two fawns bounded off in one direction, but the third was separated, and went off in another direction, swimming across a narrow stretch of water, and then bounding across a swamp and onto Sheep Island.  They were too fast for pictures!

The painted turtles were out everywhere right at mid-day, sunning themselves on logs anywhere they were in the sun.

Painted Turtle

I found one with its rear legs stretched out into the air.  I'm told they do that to kill bacteria.  I find lots of leaches on the  legs of turtles, and I wonder if by drying them in the hot sun they also get the to leaches to let go.

I also saw a flock of four ducks (American Black Ducks, I think) enjoying the sun.  As I kayaked by, a couple of them flew off and landed farther into the marsh.

American Black Duck?

I haven't seen many ducks lately; maybe it's the cooler weather that has them out during the day, or maybe it's the start of migration...





but this evening, even the sky had a fall look to it.