In my travels around this part of Minnesota (still in the Grand Rapids area) I discovered a canoe launch off of State Highway 38 at Day Lake. When surveying the area I found a loon out on the water and went out early yesterday morning to try my luck. It was another cool, clear morning and when I arrived there was a mist floating on the lake especially in those areas that had not yet seen the morning sun. The launch area was completely shaded and swarming with thousands of very hungry mosquitoes so before getting out of the truck I broke out the 100% DEET to cover the exposed areas of skin (I really do hate using that stuff though it does keep them off). The good thing is they stick close to shore, once you are out on the water 40 or 50 feet they become rare.

While Pughole Lake has houses lining one shore, Day Lake had but one a few hundred feet from the launch, so is all but pristine. The lone loon was a short paddle from the launch area and turned out to be far more wary than the birds at Pughole (which sees far more human traffic). I did manage a few shots, this time using a 2x teleconverter so I wouldn’t have to paddle as close and, if fortunate enough to get tighter shoot a few head shots. This bird was really tough to get close to and I really don’t like pressing my luck too much because I really have a thing about not stressing my subjects.

So I made a few photos of the scenery while just paddling around enjoying the quiet solitude of this place which was only occasionally disturbed by a car or truck traveling the highway. In this image the highway is just beyond the trees though on a Friday morning at 7:30 there is little traffic. Moments after making this image I was paddling toward the northern end of the lake when I saw two heads bobbing from time to time moving to the eastern shore. I had to go that direction to figure out what I was seeing and finally realized it was a pair of River Otters. Apparently very camera shy, they disappeared with no shots taken but, now near the eastern shore, I just sat in the boat enjoying the all but quiet serenity which was disrupted only by birds singing in the woods lining the lake. (Once in a while, of course, I would be reminded that the “real world” was out there with the sound of rubber on pavement.)

A few of my afternoons have been spent on Forest Road 2351(also known as Orange Lake Road) with mixed success. I did locate a tree (Birch?) that had been thoroughly marked by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and, while stopped there, both a male and female came to visit. They would make the rounds to several trees nearby before flying off somewhere behind me, presumably to a nest deeper in the woods. These woods are filled with singing birds, including the ubiquitous Red-eyed Vireos, an apparently high concentration of Ovenbirds (they too seem to sing from all directions), and Black-capped Chickadees. One thing I learned while waiting for the sapsuckers to return is that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds call regularly on the tree that was drilled by the larger birds. There were two females coming to this tree and wonder if they are there for the sap or the insects trapped in it or, maybe, both? Something to research down the road.

The forest road is lined with wildflowers and swarms of dragonflies (and mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, and, of course, ticks are everywhere, too). I’ve been shooting the dragonflies when they would light and many of the wildflowers when the wind was not blowing. The one thing that seems strange to me is that the butterflies never seem to stop moving and when they do it is very brief before they move on, just getting the camera pointed at them and they flutter away. Very different from Florida where they stop to sip nectar for extended periods and can be relatively easy to shoot. I’ve seen several species and have yet to photograph even one. At least the dragonflies have been a little more cooperative and I have a few shots of some of them. When I land in a park with Internet access I can try to figure which species I have so far.

I will be in Grand Rapids for a couple of more days before I move back to the west with a couple of stops remaining in Minnesota before heading into North Dakota, land of National Wildlife Refuges - with 63 there are more in ND than any other state –by the end of the week. I don’t intend to visit them all and will be concentrating my efforts in the northern part of the state in an area known as the “Duck Factory”. One refuge in particular, J. Clark Salyer, boasts some 17 different species of nesting ducks.