Hello nature lovers. Yesterday I dove into nature. I haven't wrote in this community before but it seems perfect for my post today. I went to a lake that is nearby a river. At the river there a forest nature trail I walked in.
The day was not too hot but definitely not cool. The sky was clear and not even a hint of any breeze. The temperature was 89 F (32 C) and I was wearing shorts and t-shirt.
The very first thing I notice arriving at the lake is the floating vegetation. Beautiful Blooming Yellow Lotus Water Lily Pad Flowers take up quite a bit of the waters edge on some parts of this lake. They just bring peace and tranquility to me. If your a shore fisherman you will have to look for another area to throw a line.
Across the road from the floating vegetation is a small field with some trees in the distance. I stumble across some huge like dandelion type flowers. I'm not sure exactly what they are called by I will call them giant puffballs. These are not the same size ones you commonly see on your lawn, these are much larger. A young kid may be wowed by these and might muster a deep breath and blow them all down to just stems. For me I just let them sit in thier current state and let nature decide their fate.
Next I drive down the road a bit and pull over in a gravel parking area. I see a good size flock of geese with some ducks mixed in. They both respect each others space. They move to water edge to get a swim in. The geese enter first than the ducks line up. The ducks decide nah we don't need to go swimming, haha. After the geese return from thier short swim they gather together under some trees and forge at the ground. Some in the sun some in the shade.
The lake and the river have a connection. The lake was created in 1881 due to a river flood. The lake is oxbow of the river. The flooding was controlled and a body of water was left seperate from the river. Today the river is controlled by a levy. The lake today has been built up and turned into a state park. So you can say the lake is both natural and man made.
Even today some of the lakes fish population is from the original river population. The makeup of flathead catfish, fresh water drum, carp, and few others lure in the lake and are not stocked in the lake. Additional fish have been stocked in the lake to include: walleye, channel catfish, crappie,and wipers.
This place is great place to go to relax and rejuvenate. Bring food for a picnic, a book to read, fishing gear or bring a camera to capture things. This place is very peaceful and spacious enough to have a good time. There is a lot of waterfowl and depending on the time of year you can see the following extraordinary birds: pelicans, eagles,and seagulls. All year around you will see various kinds of duck, geese, owls, and other birds. The park also has a population of whitetail deer.
There is just something about a river that intrigues me. Seeing the water move and hearing it just sends so many signals to my senses. It's just the sure sense of the power of the flowing water. One that gives a lot of awes to me but at the same time I have to respect it dangers and powers.
Looking upstream, downstream, or simply across to the other bank kind of makes you want to get those areas. Often I get the feelings I wish I was on the other side of the river, haha. Seeing the bends, cut outs, chutes, erosion of land gives the picture that a river is a force of nature.
I fish a lot of bodies of water. Nothing quite beats the experience of fishing a river that has quite a bit of current. I usually fish the area where the slack waters meet the main channel. It is so appealing to me when the fishing line is out and you feel the vibrations through the line. I will constantly touch the line not only to ensure it's still in the proper placement but to get a feeling of the river's power. Unlike lakes a river is constantly changing below the surface. This is one of the reasons I like fishing them because it is challenging.
Seeing a big tall tree is a sight to see. If you have to bend your neck upwards to see it all it's a good sized tree. Trees are big part of nature and seeing them large and in charge means they have provided for a long time. This tree's placement was close to the trail entrance I walked.
The trail entrances looked like this will be rough walk brushing up against leaves and branches. This was not the case for the most part. Very few times did I brush up against things.
The trail offered trees of all sizes. Some alive and some dead. There was lots of grass and many different types weeds. It was nice going into it because it was very much shaded but some sunlight pierced the forest floor.
Walking in by myself my senses were a little more enlightened. I know what wildlife is in this area. I walked a little slower looking on the my sides, looking ahead, looking up, and occasionally looking behind. I really had the feeling I was being watched. Most things don't scare me but the thought in my mind was there was a mountain lion in there.
Other than those thoughts which kind of went a way after awhile the experience was good. The sound in there was incredible. There were many sounds of many different species of birds chirping. From owls, sparrows, robins, and even a wood pecker was going off. I scanned all over for them and couldn't find them. Only a few times I would see some flying and I had no time to capture any of them.
Walking the path was neat to see some of the bends and curves the trees had. This is due a very dense population of trees. While some were dead they still provide a purpose for nature. Broken branches and downed trees provide habit, additional shade sometimes, and give a unique sight seeing experience.
I always wonder when I come across a pile of brush and they look like a shelter of some sort. The pile had a good area underneath where something of pretty good size could lay. Was it nature created, wildlife created, man made, or thinking out side of the box was it a super natural phenomena? Chances are it's natural or wild life. I will say I did think of the Blair Witch project movie seeing this formation,haha.
There were many different path forks and I choose the same direction everytime. I did this because I didn't want to get lost. The next time I come here I'll choose the opposite forks. I'll also wear different clothes as well. I think jeans and wearing a hat would be best. Why? When I exited the trail I noticed I had few ticks on me. Where there are so many trees and tall grass there will be ticks. No worries I flicked just three of them off me.
I hope you liked my adventure with nature. Seen a few things and I'm happy with that. I know the next time I visit here it will be different and I will see other things. Nature has its own way changing and showing us different things all the time. Nothing quite levels me out like the amazing nature that is out there to explore. Take care, be safe, and get out and explore some nature!
All pictures are mine and we're all taken with my Motorola one 5G UW ace