Six Mile Lake - Some Nature Takes

Some micro-ecosystems are easily understood,  For others one week is not enough time to understand the systems at play on the Lake.

Take for instance this Dragonfly having lunch.  Easy to understand.


But now this poor Bluet.  Sad for it but easy to understand.  Incomprehensible was the attack launched on the larger fly by another Bluet.  The fly gave up the first Bluet!

Now isn't always a thrill to watch a Great Blue Heron fly, land, feed and fly away?  Early July this photo was taken.  The bushes that seem to be laying in the water don't seem to have much to offer or does it?

Turns out that the bushes hid the entrance to a Muskrat lodge.  Two weeks later this mom or dad was gathering all their kittens to save them from anymore becoming a victim of the Great Blue Heron.  Sorry no photos of the Heron's attack.

Again another easy to understand image.  The surprise here was that no other tern or gull challenged for any of the fish.

This Song sparrow came to this little cedar tree late afternoon all week.  The trick here was to get him to sit in the sunshine as the light was going down quickly in this area.

Out one morning for a boat ride this Loon looked at us and dove.  I put the boat in neutral as I expected he was trying to beat us through the narrows we were both approaching.  As expected he surfaced the other side of the narrows but wasn't too concerned about us slowly put-putting towards him.  Shortly after this shot (like 10 seconds later) he dropped down for a bite then surfaced with a fish in his mouth and he was pointed out towards a long stretch of water.  We continued on our way only to have him fly by minutes later.  Loons don't take to the air quickly.  They require long "runways".  In hindsight, I bet he was making his way to this runway upon our first meeting.

 Last week we had the fortune to watch mom and dad teach junior how to eat fish in the water.  They would catch a small fish and bring it to Junior.  However, just as Junior was going to bite the fish, mom or dad put the fish in the water in front of Junior who would then have to "catch" it for itself.
 

Hope you enjoyed the stories and the images.