"I thank you God for this most amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,
and for the blue dream of sky
and for everything which is natural,
which is infinite,
which is yes."
e e cummings
This is Bray Lake, a private lake near BSL,
and on this particular day, a day which seems to be
tailor-made for the
cummings poem above,
we are on a search for some eagles and their nest
that's been previously spotted by DNR Dave.
Eagles eat a lot of small animals
including turtles and other little varmints.
Here we are under the tree that we
think has the nest in it.
We're trying to find turtle shells and animal bones.
Della The Dog is off to the left, her head just above the ferns.
Della did ultra-helpful things like
her trade mark Tigger jump right on top of
perfectly formed turtle shells.
Unfortunately, this little guy
often winds-up like this ....
An empty turtle shell among the leaves ....
no time to reset the light meter due to
Della's aggressive interest in all things turtle.
Pat the Turtle Expert
shows off 2 untrampled shells.
Lookee yonder, I say.
I spy an eagle aerie.
But no, it was just a dead branch
caught in another branch.
Della with one of her many non-turtle finds.
We begin scanning the shoreline of the lake
in hopes of spotting the eagle or eagles
flying about or roosting somewhere.
The sunlight and colors were just amazing on this
late summer day.
Bingo! There he is near the top of a pine tree.
A little zoomage for a better look.
Such a gorgeous day, but someone will actually
have to get in a boat to see the nest
since there's too much foliage blocking the view.
We pick Dave and Liesy.
They set out in the canoe
as stealthy as Indians ....
(Indians with photographic equipment.)
"Give me of your bark, O Birch Tree!
Of your yellow bark, O Birch Tree!
Growing by the rushing river,
Tall and stately in the valley!
I, a light canoe will build me,
That shall float upon the river,
Like a yellow leaf in Autumn,
Like a yellow water lily!"
Hey!
And there it is!
Kind of like a giant beaver dam in a tree!
