DAY 2, TOUR GUIDE.

This is day 2 of my friends visit from Pennsylvania.  She, Janet, is a nature and animal lover and I thought it would be nice to hitch up the Gheenoe and take her to the Holston River to see otters, beavers and bald eagles.  

Janet called that colorful spot in the sky a "sun dog."  Actually, there's another one off to the right of this one.  In reality they're the ends of a rainbow that never touched the earth. I never heard of sun dog before but she's pretty sharp on such things.

All the ducks on the lake were jumpy and would flush before we could get close.

We idled along at 10 miles per hour searching the undercut banks with binoculars.  I shot some pictures when I was moved to do so by some pretty scene.

It seemed that the Fall colors were really trying to show through the greens, but some hidden force was holding them back.

We drove through the beaver country and couldn't find even one.  Even the warblers and black crowned night herons were absent from the shorelines.

 Notice the white goose swimming with the flock. 

If you look closely at the last shot in this string, you will note that this white bird has a buff brown colored head and neck.  Very odd indeed.  Wonder what his story is.

 We searched and searched and couldn't turn up a beaver.  I decided to run down the lake to see the bald eagles.  They were reliable to view all the time.

The eagles weren't there either.  We waited and waited and they didn't show.  The afternoon was wearing on and it was time to get off the water and start the long drive back.

I was apologetic about not seeing all the wildlife I usually see.  Janet is all common sense and savvy about the ways of wildlife and continuously raved about the beauty of the river.  It's not all about seeing critters - it's about the experience and the unloading of useless, stressful conditions and replacing them with the natural beauty that surrounds us.  It's been a great day - a great, great day with an old friend whose companionship I treasure!