Out and about at the lake

Since we live near the Canada border I thought it appropriate to share what has been going on as we have been "oot and aboot" at the lake.  We are both now home from Hawaii and have spent the last week at the lake.  It started out beautiful, and then the heat kicked in.  Whew!  The neighbor called us to look out the window at the full moon coming up over the lake.

It was beautiful!

Of course, what is Eagle Lake without some eagles?  This pair uses the same evergreen tree as a perch overlooking the lake.

We made a kayak trip finally and spotted this guy after the loons in the neighborhood shouted their warning cries.

He didn't seem intimidated by us in the kayak, but kept an "eagle eye" on us as we got close.

We had a couple of beautiful sunrises too.

I can never out guess when the sky will make for a gorgeous sunrise.

But this one wasn't bad.

Our week ended with a quick trip to Minneapolis and the Apple store.  We took time out to look at the rose garden on Lyndale.

A rose by any other name is still a rose.

What I wish my back yard looked like

It is mid-August and the time of year when Bergeson Nursery near Fertile Minnesota has its open house.  Though the open house was a week earlier, the flowers were just as spectacular.  Several acres are dedicated to a great variety of plants that grow in the area and they were beautiful in spite of the dry weather we are having.

Folks that can grow plants that look like this are not normal.  Or maybe I am not normal because my plants never look this good.

My theory is that they sell us the plants that they know won't do much and keep the big bloomers for their garden plot.

One of these days I am going to find out what their secret is.  There must be a special fertilizer or soil that they use that they don't sell to the regular buyer.

I think all the nursery growers have the secret but do you think they are going to share it with us?  Of course not.  Then we wouldn't keep buying their stuff trying to make it look like theirs.

It just isn't right to have a hedge of petunias and roses that look like this.

I suppose that the frogs who live in this pond must be extra large too from drinking the special potion that they use on their plants.  I didn't see any but they must be there.

My theory is confirmed when I saw this little louse on the rose.  Look how big he is!!

The sign near this rose said: "If you can did a hole in the ground, you can raise a star like this."  Yeah, right.  More propaganda.

What can I say?  It just isn't fair.

We have visited this place for years and each year it is beautiful.  Only once did the owner share what he feeds the plants,.... but then I forgot what it was.

Eventually, these beautiful plants will succumb to the northern winter and I will feel like we are once again on an even playing field.

Then next Spring the culverts will run with rushing water like they are supposed to, not blooming flowers.

As if to add insult to injury, one of the last displays is of potted plants all blooming at the same time though they are very different varieties.  Did I say this just isn't right?

Anyway, I think I will sit down on the bench and as my grandson said once: "And think about the world," and I might add; "and how it is good that someone can grow plants like this to enjoy."  And it was all free!

Plain Jane, Mad Mamma, and a Pesky Pest

For several days in a row this bird would come and feed on the grass under the bird feeder when no other birds were around.  I sort of felt sorry for her (she is a female) cuz she was all by herself, made no noise, and didn't seem to have a mate.  Then it dawned on me that she must be feeling inadequate because of what she looked like compared to her mate.

Here is her mate... Mr. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak in all his splendor (taken earlier this Spring).  No wonder she was intimidated.  I am sure glad that God made the females better looking than the males in our world. 

I heard the gentle "hoot" of the loons the other day.  They have four distinct calls and the gentle "hoot' is usually between a family unit, so I grabbed my camera and walked down the steps toward the lake.  There was Mama and one juvenile swimming sweetly by.  There had been two babies which I posted in an earlier blog, but between snapping turtles and Bald Eagles, the usual hatch of two seldom make it to adulthood.

Suddenly Mama turned and struck this intimidating pose along with sounding out her distress call.

An unwelcome intruder had invaded Mama's space and she made it known that she didn't like it.  At first it looked like the intruder was going to leave.

But then, he (the intruder must have been a guy cuz a lady loon would know better than the get the hackles up on another lady loon with a baby) decided to stand his ground (or lake).

What followed can best be described in these snaps.  What you don't get, of course, is the loud noises and splashing sounds.

Finally, the intruder got the hint and you can see him hollering over his shoulder, "Enough, already!"

Soon Mama and Jr. were together again and Mama managed to give me a wave as if to say, "I guess I showed him!"

This pesky pest, a Cooper's Hawk, is back in the park.  He feeds on birds and because there are so many feeders in the RV Park, this must be like a Cooper's Hawk Smorgasbord.  I took this on a cloudy day with him on the top of an evergreen tree.  I am not sure who is watching whom.

Here he is again and another one is in the top left hand corner and all you can see is a bit of brown.  It is not legal to shoot them but it is tempting.  Perhaps you recall my distaste for them at our home only to end up with me rescuing a Sharp Shinned Hawk (who looks almost identical) in the back yard with a broken wing earlier this Spring.