After a week of only being able to walk with a crutch, I was looking for a relatively flat place to walk near Paul’s house and remembered that Waughop Lake used to be a good place to see overwintering birds. However, when we got there, it was clear that the lake has changed considerably since visiting it a year ago. First of all, it has shrunk considerably. All the lilies that used to line the lake have died out because the water has receded. The ducks I’m used to seeing have been replaced by Canada Geese, and I didn’t see a single Grebe.
In fact, the only unusual bird I saw was this Scrub-Jay, which is a relative newcomer to the Pacific Northwest.
As disappointing as the birding was, this view of Mr. Rainier in its winter coat was well the effort of climbing the hill above the lake.
Sorry to hear your knee has been bothering you. Beautiful pictures as always. But sad about the lake that is receding. Climate change? I think our pond in the Adirondacks is being overrun by some kind of pond grass. The edges seem to be closing in. I need to get rid of them. Another much larger pond down the road has all but disappeared. It was a beaver pond and the beaver house is still in the middle but the edges are creeping closer and closer to it. I don’t know if the dam broke and there aren’t any actual beavers there anymore or what happened. They did logging up above that pond a couple of years back and I wonder if that affected the flow of water. 🙁