Canoe and Butterflies

click on photos to enlarge

I saw a kingfisher dive into the water back in a little cove off to the right of the canoe so I headed over that way.  A couple wooden posts were embedded into the ground for a boat tie off and I used one of them to secure the canoe.  If I wait here long enough I may get a picture of the rascal while he fishes.

  I thought the day would be a total waste as rain moved in last night and stayed until noon today.  The canoe was still atop the truck from last evening so I thought I might sneak out on the water for a couple hours.

 The wind is picking up now as I write this and is a harbinger for things to come this evening.  I only have two days off this week so camping was not an option.  Next week, however, I have four days off and Calderwood Lake is the plan.  I will take the motor boat and two dogs;  Douglas and Shade.  I would take Happy also but she just can't shut her mouth.  There's no wildlife photography with her along.

 I did give Douglas a try in the canoe last evening.  The boat was empty so I didn't know what to expect. (canoe's are not as stable when empty of weight.)

 Douglas surprised me.  He sat down in the canoe and was a perfect companion.  I fully expected him to upset us at some point and stayed very close to the shoreline.  

 He did really well.  Canoes are sensitive to movement and especially sudden, rapid shifts in weight placement but, they are not the unstable craft that people believe them to be..  Actually canoe's aren't unstable; people are, and at times, dogs can be a concern.  It's all in fun.

 Douglas is a great companion.  I don't know;  I may just take him and the canoe on the camp trip next week.

The breeze has picked up and I will soon have to start paddling toward the truck.   It's a long way back.  But for now I'll enjoy what quiet I have and relax here in the grass for awhile.  I'll probably find the chigger family.  There is an abnormal quantity of butterflies flitting all about me.  I mean they are present by the hundreds.  Wonder what that's all about.  They are everywhere.  I can't even write without them landing on my tablet.  And my hat;  my hat has at least ten on it.  I wish they would stay on there so I could get a picture of them.  No one would believe it.

 I have no idea what species this butterfly is.  I have the National Audubon Society insect guide book and it's useless.  Same for birds.

 There are lots of these in the mix.

 He's a handsome guy;  I'll say that for him, whatever species he is.

 I can't believe the numbers of butterflies I'm seeing.  Below is a very pretty butterfly who's kind outnumber all the others.

 Ah Ha!  The above is a Spring Azure.  I knew I'd get one figured out.

 There are thousands of these.   They are flying in clusters.  I wish I had the 135mm lens for my big camera with me.  The 500mm lens is useless in this situation.  The Canon Elph should do fine.

 I never expected to run into anything like this.  Butterfly attack.  It reminds me of the dragon fly attack I survived on Indian Boundary Lake last year.  Whew!  that was a close one.

 There is something about paddling a canoe that resurrects some dormant part of the soul that has been sleeping for all ones life.  I guess the problem is defining what the word "something" refers to.  I am usually never at a loss for words but, to describe the sensation of moving over calm water under ones own power, silently, creating no adverse affects on anything natural makes an exact definition difficult to arrive at.  Maybe there is not one but, many definitions of that "something about paddling."

 I love the silence of it and the skill required to make the craft move where I want it to.  The animal world does not scream off in terror at my passing.  They often times stare in wonderment.  I can think more clearly and prioritize things.  And;  I can write in the atmosphere provided by the canoe.  Moving quietly along a shoreline in a canoe also focuses ones attention on other subject matter that is accepted as normal in daily life.  Noise!  I've said it before and will again here.  The absence of noise is deafening!   The operation of a canoe creates a calm, somber, quiet mood and anything outside "THE" experience is noise.  Loud truck and motorcycle mufflers, humans throwing things in the water and talking and yelling, and the proverbial boom box.  Great Scott!   What is it about humans and noise.  Wonder why humans can't visit a wilderness area and leave their noisey, loud music home.  Just once;  try to visit the forest and lake without bringing Bubba Farthals new hit, "Screemin For Beer" blasting through the evening stillness in an attempt to awaken the dead who have rested in peace in the cemetery four miles away at the edge of the forest.  Oh well;  takes all kinds.

 I can't get  over all these butterflies.  I'm impressed

 The two photo's above and those below were taken with the 500mm lens.  I didn't expect the quality to be nearly as good as it is.
Look at the little camouflage butterfly below.  It's hard to tell the front from the back.  It's even hard to identify it as a butterfly.  That's his defense mechanism.  

Look at the diversity!  They're everywhere.

 I guess Calderwood Lake has ruined it for me on the valley lakes.  That mountain lake is primitive, quiet and hard to get to with large boats.  Love it!
I've stayed here too long.  It's raining.  Catch you later.