FOG, EAGLES AND A GREAT MORNING ON THE LAKE

This was a great day!  There's no other way to describe it.  I was up at 3:30 AM, had coffee and just had to get to the lake.  Left the house at 5:30 AM.  The truck needed gas and that would take time.  Hopefully the sun would be coming up by the time I got to the boat ramp.  The fog became very thick as I neared the Walter's Bridge boat ramp.  My road speed was ten miles per hour as I couldn't see past the hood of the truck.  Wow, where'd this come from all of a sudden.  I pulled into the parking lot and couldn't see across it.  It felt good, and safe, to finally park the rig and just kick back in the seat and listen to the radio.  The fog was still heavy two hours later.  This is nuts, I thought to myself.  I loaded the boat with all the things I use out there and prepared it to launch.  I gave things another half hour.  No change.  I hit the water.

The old bridge looked mysterious in the fog.  I could deal with this.  I headed to the far shoreline where I needed to follow it downstream. 

The fog thickened as I moved down the lake.  I couldn't see anything or judge direction or distance.  This is where the good ole lake GPS comes into play.  Oh ya - we're modern here.

The GPS unit contains and displays a map of whatever lake I'm on.  As you can see above - Walters Bridge is directly behind me.  The boat ramp is to the left of the route 25 marker.  The pointer is my boat.  The dark blue lines are called contour lines and indicate the depths as indicated.  

In the illustration above, the boat is moving down the right shoreline in about 35 feet of water.  The catch here is that the 35 feet of water is an indication of depth when the lake is at full pool (full of water.)  The lake is being drawn down and that water is now about ten feet deep.  Gotta be careful.

The two jerks in the boat above never saw me.  They have no lights on their boat and were running very fast.  Idiots!  They have no idea whats floating on the water.  These dorks are are a menace to everyone on the lake.

You'll notice above that I'm crossing the lake and heading toward a cove I call Heron Cove.  All this maneuvering is blind.  I can't see past the bow of the boat.  The main problems navigating like this are floating objects and stationary boats on the water without their lights on, and the variation of water depth from the indicated full pool data.

Once in a while I could see momentarily.  Then, as fast as things appear, they disappeared in a wall of white.  But, eventually the surroundings slowly came into view.  

They reminded me of ship wrecked sailors waiting patiently for rescue.  The only thing about these sailors is that they can fly.  I don't know how they can see through this murk but, they seem to do alright.

I was getting tired of driving through the fog.  It makes me tense.  I've driven through lake fog for hours on end in the past.  It's not fun but it's interesting.  The shoreline appears surreal as it slowly comes into view through the fog.  

The fog was slowly lifting the further down the lake I went..

Whoa!  Where'd that come from?  I gotta watch that GPS screen more closely.  Whew!

The fog was lifting nicely.  I was starting to make out birds, lake features and floating logs.  I love this!

The need for food is constant with wildlife.  The gulls are on and above the water relentlessly looking for sustenance in all weather types.  They swim, dive and fly without any concern for the weather.

I saw four large birds flying into a cove.  Their wing beats and body shapes indicated they were eagles.  As they turned and flew along the shoreline I could see they were immature bald eagles.  Four of them together!  That's amazing!  I've not seen this many immature's in one place previous to this sighting.  I couldn't get them all in the lens at the same time.  They split and went different directions as the boat approached them.  I shot them as best I could.

The shots are long and far but the colors on the birds definitely prove them to be immature bald eagles.  One young eagle landed in some tall trees.  I coasted down the shoreline and he waited for me.  He is a spectacular bird.  He will someday, as an adult,  join his peers to be a member of the elite group of kings who rule the sky's of Tennessee.

The shots are all similar.   Anytime I have a chance to photograph an eagle - I take it, similar photos or not.  He is a handsome fellow.

  And, he was gone in a heartbeat.  Good luck to him.

That whole episode was pure luck.  One minute I'm trying to find my way through the fog and the next I'm photographing eagles.
I really didn't expect to run into any fishermen out here in this fog.  But now that the fog has lifted - possibly a few will come to the lake.

Below a ring billed gull searches for shad and minnows.

 

The fog was totally gone by 10 AM and the freshness of the lake was apparent.  I can't believe I'm really on the mud hole, Douglas Lake.  It's actually kind of pretty.

 The day was a nice one full of photographic surprises.  I really enjoyed being on the water.  It was really cold out here early this morning but, I have the proper equipment to stay safe and warm.  Hope you enjoyed this posting.  

I've got to get back over to Chilhowee Lake and Scona Lodge soon and Indian Boundary needs a visit also.  I'll take you along.  See ya.

AN INTERESTING DAY ON BEECH CREEK

Even the parking lot is picturesque.  It's located far out in the country on a very narrow road.  Love this place!

This Beech Creek is prime canoe water. After arriving here this morning I wished I had brought the canoe. The water is fantastic.

The shot above is of Beech Creek heading down stream toward the Holston River.  Note that the water grasses are browning and dying back toward the shoreline.  There is a small breeze blowing that is rippling the water a bit.  It came and went all day.  The wind today would be of no concern for canoeing.

The Fall colors are almost gone now - that is, the bright florescent colors are almost gone.  However, they have been replaced with a beautiful rust color combined with a green tint.  The entire surroundings are gorgeous.  This little stream is worthy of  being in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park - its that sweet.

If I was Mitt Romney I'd buy this stream and have it moved over to the park.  I was here for one reason only and that was to find otters.  I searched the entire morning up and down both river banks.  I used the binoculars to peer into huge holes in the cliffs at the waterline and focused much attention to old dead falls laying in the water but could not find even one otter.  They definitely are here.  I'm just looking for them at the wrong time of day.  I'll probably be gone when they come out of their dens in late afternoon.

A flock of teal ducks rocketed from cover at the shoreline and flew downstream.  They are very touchy.  They saw me coming from a great distance and evacuated.  The primary birds left on the river since the migration process began are blue and green winged teal, mallards, coots, grebes and great blue herons.  Most all of the wading birds have flown to winter havens else ware.

Even the mallards are jumpy and will not tolerate my intrusion into their space.  They are the most common duck on the water up here.  That's fine because they are colorful and gorgeous in flight.  I haven't seen even one wood duck today.  Wood ducks are a bit mysterious in their winter activities an I haven't figured them totally out yet.  Wood Ducks are my favorite duck.

Big Creek was just across the water and I thought I might slip over there to see if a beaver was out.  The shot below was taken at the mouth of Big Creek where it meets the Holston River.  Fabulous canoe water!

That is water usually found in a canoeist's dreams.  It flows back into the hills for about a mile and a half and ends where a little stream tumbles down into the main creek.  Its a very pretty paddle.  There are two beaver lodges on the right side of this creek.

Oh, they're in there alright.  Notice how the water grasses are absent where an open waterway leads directly to the lodge.

There is a second lodge directly up stream from this one.  It doesn't appear to be used though.  Wonder why.  Maybe there is a main entrance on the opposite side of it.

Doesn't this turtle, excuse me, turtles know that winter's here and they need to get in the mud?  I guess they know more about it than I do.  They're probably soaking up the last rays of warm sun before burrowing into the soil.

I came out of Beech Creek and headed down stream to see if the bald eagles were about.  I couldn't see them immediately but, soon observed a soaring bald eagle very, very high in the sky carrying a huge stick.  I watched him through binoculars and didn't take a picture as it would have been an effort in futility due to the distance.  He flew over the tall mountain wall next to the lake and disappeared.  I turned the boat back up stream and he returned over the mountain top and plunged into some enormous trees at the top of the mountain.  I struggled to find where he was building his nest.  Then I saw him standing on a limb buried deep inside the foliage of a very huge tree.  The view lasted only five seconds as the boat moved past the open window that permitted my view of him.  He has selected a good out of view spot for his nest.  I'll be able to observe him when the leaves come off all the trees.  It's too far a shot to get any good pictures though.  Good for him.  He'll stay safe way up there.

Still no otters.  I decided to move across the river and beach the boat.  I'd find a log to sit on and watch the river for movement.  I sat down and decided to call a friend in Pennsylvania whom I haven't talked to in a while.. He no sooner answered when large populations of birds of various flavor settled in around me.  There were birds no larger than an inch and a half all over the pace.  Tiny rust colored birds were dodging into tiny crevasses on stumps and logs, flitting here and there.  I wanted so badly to take some shots.  These birds were on top me and this 500 mm lens would make some impressive shots.  I told my friend to give me a second while I photograph a downy woodpecker.

I hurried to end the call and when I closed the phone, and almost dropped it in the water, the birds disappeared.  Gone!  Amazing!  I understand what happened.  They were moving through the woods in flocks foraging and constantly moving.  They grabbed what food was available and moved on.  Interesting.  I think I will apply myself to photographing small birds this winter.  That should prove to be exciting and entertaining.  I should be able to get super pictures using my new bird blind.  Can't wait.  I lost my patience waiting for otters and gathered up the gear and started for the boat.  I no sooner got to the boat when a beaver smacked the water with his tail right behind the boat motor.  No luck!  I became careless and moved without caution.  When will I learn?

The rest of the day was non eventful and the trip back to the truck was beautiful.  I feel a canoe trip coming up here fairly soon.  Until then - thank you for your readership.