6:44 p.m. - 2007-08-10
Creatures of the Boundary Waters
Hello everyone!
I hope you are all well and enjoying the sunny day!
Critter news:
An alligator gets a new, fancy home!
New critters found near Lake Tanganyika.
One of my favorite, favorite activities is observing the night sky. Especially in a silent, wooded setting. R and I experienced a wonderful meteor shower a few years ago, while lying on a rock on the Lake Superior shoreline. Last week we saw the brightest meteor ever above our campsite in the Boundary Waters. This weekend is the height of the meteor shower!
This week has been exciting because my lovely friend KSH is in town from Albuquerque. We had a marathon visit involving a lake walk, food, Izzy's ice cream and a new-found realization that we are both obsessed with Ryan Adams! Yes.
Our Boundary Waters trip was wonderful, but I still haven't quite caught up in the sleep department. As you can imagine with such a trip into the Northwoods, I set very high creature goals beforehand. We were not disappointed.
Our noble steed, the Road Toad:
I have not been in a canoe for a long time.
Immediately we saw loons, which were on the Critter List. But also were eagles:
R took this photo from our canoe. He didn't help paddle at all.
D and R located a choice camping spot for all six of us. Here I am wandering around with my mouth open, as usual.
Another view:
We were attacked by insects; mosquitoes and flies. R was prepared.
He so crazy.
As we paddled into Quetico, the Canadian part of the nature preserve, we passed an aerie, which appeared to be occupied by ospreys. But now we think they were juvenile bald eagles, with white sprinkled in among their feathers.
It's hard to tell. The birds made that cool raptor cry, though!
We made new friends at our campsite as well. This naughty red squirrel alternately jumped around and "barked" at us.
Another squirrel pic. Can you see the Cuteness juxtaposed with Evil?
R announced that a frog greeted him as he and D approached the island for the first time:
Another approached our candle* in the dark of night. I think he wanted Mr. S's s'more!
*Because of the dry weather, no campfires were allowed.
I gotta say, the coolest creature of the weekend was not Ye Olde Frogge, not the naughty squirrel, not the cute mouse that came out at night, but a crustacean! Crayfish were rampant.
Oh, no! How did this piece of salami fall into the water!?
The crawdads were hilarious and obviously merit a Creature Feature of their own!
If you haven't been, I highly recommend heading on up to the Boundary Waters!
XOXOXOXOXO
Wendell
(Crab!)
