Early Morning At Pink Lake
August 27th, 2016
Pink Lake is one of the most beautiful spots in the Gatineau. But it's a popular spot and sound carries around the lakeshore, so the resident wildlife tend to keep their distance from the trail. Unless you get there so early in the morning that no one else has arrived yet...
North American Beaver
Broad-Winged Hawks are phantoms of the forest--elusive deep-woods raptors. They are seldom found during the breeding season. Folks say that they're not actually rare, just shy, but if I hear their call once in a year's worth of birding, I count myself lucky. It's a call you can't mistake, a strange piercing whistle that seems more mechanical than avian. Which is how I knew who this was the moment he opened his mouth.
More thrilling still was when his call was answered by two more nearby! This youngster's whistle had a slight rasp to it; theirs were sharp and pure. A whole family group of Broad-Winged Hawks. He called back and forth with them as long as I stood there, as if seeking reassurance about the strange intruder.
1680x1050 wallpaper
A small, young-looking Northern Green Frog. I was sore for days from the position I had to contort myself into to get an unobstructed vantage on this guy. He was more well-hidden than it looks!
Common Heal-all
A brief view of a Black-Throated Green Warbler, probably a young one. Family groups of these warblers were scattered around the trails, picking insects out of conifers and dodging my camera.
It looks like I photographed this loosestrife against a cloudy sky, doesn't it? That's actually mist over Pink Lake.
1680x1050 wallpaper
August 27th, 2016
Pink Lake is one of the most beautiful spots in the Gatineau. But it's a popular spot and sound carries around the lakeshore, so the resident wildlife tend to keep their distance from the trail. Unless you get there so early in the morning that no one else has arrived yet...
North American Beaver
Broad-Winged Hawks are phantoms of the forest--elusive deep-woods raptors. They are seldom found during the breeding season. Folks say that they're not actually rare, just shy, but if I hear their call once in a year's worth of birding, I count myself lucky. It's a call you can't mistake, a strange piercing whistle that seems more mechanical than avian. Which is how I knew who this was the moment he opened his mouth.
More thrilling still was when his call was answered by two more nearby! This youngster's whistle had a slight rasp to it; theirs were sharp and pure. A whole family group of Broad-Winged Hawks. He called back and forth with them as long as I stood there, as if seeking reassurance about the strange intruder.
1680x1050 wallpaper
A small, young-looking Northern Green Frog. I was sore for days from the position I had to contort myself into to get an unobstructed vantage on this guy. He was more well-hidden than it looks!
Common Heal-all
A brief view of a Black-Throated Green Warbler, probably a young one. Family groups of these warblers were scattered around the trails, picking insects out of conifers and dodging my camera.
It looks like I photographed this loosestrife against a cloudy sky, doesn't it? That's actually mist over Pink Lake.
1680x1050 wallpaper
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mustangsallie
August 27th, 2016 at 10:07 pm
Interesting variety on this trip. Nice shots. Exactly how early in the day was this?
Suzanne
August 28th, 2016 at 2:36 am
Got there shortly before sunrise.