High water and choppy seas

It was a gray and overcast day in the park today. The water level in the lake is higher than I've ever seen it. Interesting, since the Parks Dept. claimed to have lowered the water level NOT to refill it before testing the water quality but to prepare for upcoming rains. Rains are upcoming this weekend, so why is the water so high now? Hmmm. Remember, all the water is artificially pumped in.

Anyway, the water was quite choppy and the wind was blowing. Vaguely reminiscent of Ireland in January. Still, there was a lot to see as we made our rounds. I managed to get very close to a red-winged blackbird hanging out in the phragmites. He obviously loves the spot, since he was chasing two other birds away from it as I approached.

We took our alternate-day picture of the phragmite growth after the fires. They're up to Ber's chest height. Ber is 6'1", by the way.

The plywood that Cayuga and entourage were using has made its rounds. It was seen all the way at the other end of the lake, and now it's been near Peninsula Meadow for a few days. Today, because of the aforementioned high water and choppy seas, it was right by the edge, so we took it out. Very waterlogged and extremely heavy. Hopefully the trash collectors will take it away. If not, it should dry out and weigh less, and we'll move it next to a dumpster that we have spotted. Hope it doesn't find it' way back in!...Of course, big pieces of wood seem to always be finding their way into the lake. Today it was a wooden box that worked like a real dock. Ber and JJ could both stand on and walk around! We suspect it might have escaped from the construction going on at the other end of the lake, but it was way too heavy to pull out.

The only swans we saw today were the nesting pair. She was busy picking branches and twigs from around her nest to build up the sides a bit, and Papa was being all protective and manly, watching out for possibly invading geese and ducks. They were all gathered on the shoreline, just watching.

I love how quickly the whole park is turning green. No longer are there just a few sp0lashes of green and pink and white - it's rapidly becoming lush and green and beautiful. Some of the shapes of the trees are quite amazing.