On a lonely lake, it turned November

I called in sick to work today. Mainly because I was awake most of the night for some unknown reason, so I was tired in the morning and there was no urgent reason to go to work. So there. Actually, I think there is some higher power telling me what I should do with my life. But as long as the worldly god of health insurance rules, I must work. Aarrgghh..

The Hermit, Mr. Attitude and I did some soul searching in the afternoon by driving around and visiting a couple nearby lakes. I set out thinking I would like to see a rough legged hawk, which is a winter visitor here from way up north. I was not disappointed; we saw one fly from a telephone pole, showing its characteristic underwing patches.

I promised Mr. Attitude he could take one picture. This was it; fresh beaver gnawings on a tree. Pretty good, I thought.

I had checked out this lake once, while I was in the neighborhood on other business. The entrance is a narrow unmarked drive, to a steep incline down to the lake, which is all within tax forfeit/State land. In other words, this lake has open access to all who can find it. It looks fairly unfound.

There are lots of muskrat and beaver lodges on this lake. While we were there we saw two bald eagles and a flock of 50+ ducks (bluebills?) passing by looking for open water.

On the way back we stopped at another lake, which is actually an impoundment on a creek from an old logging dam. Most of the land around it is also tax forfeited, so it is open to exploration. There we saw another eagle, and four red headed ducks on a small area of open water. The lake had a lot of wild rice, looking like a promising duck hunting/ricing area for next year.

Ah, but the forests and waters do look lonely come November. And I found myself longing for open waters, for standing on a beach and not seeing land on the horizon. And after all the outdoor ramblings, I long for the warmth of a good woodstove fire.