I arrived after lunch, an unusual time for me, to find the lake full of Canada geese. They seemed not interested in going anywhere and no signs of more arriving. There were a good number of people enjoying the trail (something I am not used to). One of the geese, in the second and third photo, was imitating a cormorant, running on the water, rather than flying. At 3pm, with the lake loud with geese honking, the geese all left within about 15 minutes leaving silence behind.
Some of the visitors were feeding the ducks at the usual "duck rocks" which was bringing in ring-billed gulls. I tried my best to video the gulls, but failed miserably. The lenses on both cameras were not wide-angle enough. I should have used my cell phone.
The mallards were looking splendid in the sunlight
There seemed to be reduced number of wood ducks, likely some have started the trip south. But those that were around posed nicely, except the female chose to pose on the mucky shoreline
I could hear the occasional "squeak" of the cardinals but they were hanging back in the bush. Finally a male came out to see if I had any seeds. They are very wary and keep a good 25 feet minimum away. This one started on the ground, then hopped up into some branches, he watched as I put some seeds down and then I backed off. But surprisingly he couldn't find the seeds. A black squirrel likely unnerved him and he lost his concentration.
His mate came out, but upon seeing he had found no seeds, headed back into the bush.
The robins seemed a bit more active today than normal. There is always a flock that winter over and I presume that any robins around now are not heading south. They seem to live on buckthorn berries and anything else they can find. A few years ago they were eating minnows that had swarmed into a small opening in the ice.
The turkeys seemed well spread out. A small group were in the first opening along the trails. Another group of five didn't mind passing me kneeling down on the path to get better photos, but one male retreated rather than pass me. Another group were over on the far side of the lake where the trail is a bit more narrow. None of that group wanted to pass by me, but once I got up, they weren't worried about my walking right through them.
There was one lone female that was crossing the bridge as I approached it, she started running to get off the bridge before I got on it, but slowed down when I squatted to get a lower perspective of her. Then she pretended to look for some seeds on the trail, in the meantime hoping I might drop some seed. (Or she was being wary of me). When I tripped and fell trying to get to some orange mushrooms, she came back and checked on me!!
Three headless turkeys....
I know this is a terrible photo, but I sort of like the way one photobombed but just in the right position
There were plenty of squirrels running around: grey, black, a few red and one chipmunk
One of the muskrats seems to have built his lodge partially around an old stump
Most of the leaves were off the trees and on the ground
I found one lone aster plant still in bloom. The golden rod are well in seed
A Queen Anne's Lace had folded up into it's "cocoon" stage, but still had a few coloured tendrils
A few fall colours
Despite the rains we've had, no mushrooms were to be seen. Some orange fungus caught my eye. The bracket fungus that had been destroyed last year, seem to have recovered
A well decayed stump and nearby log with stubby branches sticking out
