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Tag Archives: Lost Lake

Splash!

Ok, I admit it. I like my dogs. And I like to photograph my dogs. Especially when they are having fun. These dogs love to play in the water. Sam, the brown one, just loves to swim. It takes all the weight off of her old sore joints and she is once again mobile and she remembers her glory days of youth and good health. For her sake, I wish we lived on a lake. Luna loves to swim after something we’ve thrown. Tennis balls are her favorite. In hot weather she can do this longer than we can throw the ball.

 

 

 

 

What Luna lacks in grace and style she makes up for with enthusiasm.

 

Look at those ears! No wonder she gets water in them.

 

I love how the water comes off of her in sheets.

 

Sam displays calm determination.

 

 

 

I got it, ok? I got the job done. I’m a working dog.

 

Just swimming for fun on a hot afternoon.

 

 

Look – I can get the job done too.

 

 

Common Loons of Lost Lake

Common Loons are a favorite bird of mine and around here they are not so ‘common’. One of the charms of Lost Lake is the fact that the loons not only spend the summer there but there is a nesting pair. This year they hatched two, or maybe three, depending on who you ask, chicks. One was killed by a Bald Eagle who has also made meals out of the Canada Goose goslings. The remaining loon chick is maybe half grown now and too big for an eagle to catch. The parents and the young bird spend their days moving around the surface of the lake, fishing, preening and resting. Occasionally they make the unique loon sounds that echo off nearby mountain sides. It’s truly a haunting and beautiful sound. I have read that loons make four distinct calls and they all are used to communicate among themselves and declare territory. My favorite is the long drawn-out wail, similar to a wolf howl.

 

The young bird. It lacks the distinctive plumage of the adults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parent searching for fish

 

The young bird is learning from the parents.

 

 

 

Everyone needs a good stretch once in a while.

 

 

Summertime Camping

Ken and I packed the dogs and the trailer and headed up to Lost Lake this week. It was a great escape from the heat and computers and cell phones and a chance to listen to the loons and play in the water and sit around the campfire. Ken fished. I paddled my boat. The dogs swam. We slept in. It was nice.

 

Nice brook trout

 

Common Loons nest on Lost Lake (watch for more loon photos in an upcoming post)

 

Lots of dragonflies

 

Still a few wildflowers blooming

 

an aster

 

Morning light

 

camp coffee

 

This old dock has seen better days

 

Many, many squirrels to drive Luna crazy

 

We always eat well while camping

 

Brook trout cooked en papillote

 

Typical scene in the Okanogan Highlands near Molsen

 

Ken found this leech in Sidley Lake. I’ve never seen one before. He thinks they are native.

 

The leech with a friendly dragonfly

 

Sam in Sidley Lake. This old dog does better in the water than on land.

 

Luna’s ‘wet’ look

 

We visited the old ghost town at Molsen. This is an old printing press.

 

Water lillies and cattails at Lost Lake

 

Lost Lake is one of my favorite places.

Just a Few Bird Photos

Last week we identified 114 bird species. It seems like a lot but we missed an awful lot of so-called ‘common’ birds – all the owls, all the grouse, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and the list goes on. And we saw no real rarities. It was pretty fun birding with lots of birds singing and we worked on learning and re-learning the bird songs and calls. It’s a challenge from year to year to keep them in my head. Some stick with me; for instance Rock Wren and Willow Flycatcher. Others – well let’s just say, it’s going to take many years for me to learn the few warblers we have in our region and remember them.

I managed to get a few photographs of birds. I didn’t really try too much bird photography. It is time consuming and we were really focusing on seeing and hearing a good variety of birds.

 

Hooded Merganser female at Lost Lake

 

 

 American Coot adult and chick

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted Sandpiper chick along Maryanne Creek Road

 

 

Spotted Sandpiper adult

 

 

 

Morning at Lost Lake

Lost Lake is really one of my favorite places to camp. It is a stunningly beautiful, quiet lake nestled in the Okanogan Highlands, surrounded by deep dark forest and at the far end rich wetlands. Common (not so common, really, in our state) Loons nest at Lost Lake each year. They struggle to raise their young while Bald Eagles search for easy meals of the tiny chicks. The loons’ call echoes off nearby cliffs, almost a lament at times.