The Eagle Has Landed

I was awakened by the sound of bot motors from the boat launch at about 8 a.m. One of the downsides of being too close to a boat launch. It was too cold to get up yet, so I stayed in my sleeping bag until about 9 a.m.

When I felt it was warm enough, I got out of the tent and took the dog for a walk before breakfast.  There was no wind for the first time in days and the lake was relatively calm and smooth. The sun shone through the trees and I was enjoying this beautiful morning.

Out on the lake there was a group of five loons. They seemed to be enjoying the beautiful morning too. 

Along the shore line I found the cutest little tracks of some sort of animal. I don't know what made them. 

Perhaps a muskrat?  

By the time I got back from walking the dog, Penny was awake and we had breakfast before packing up to go. Today was our last day at Ivanhoe Lake Park. 

Sometimes when we take down our tents, especially if it has been cold, we find little critters hiding out under the tent. We didn't find anything taking shelter there this time. However, we did find a little toad hopping around near by. 

​And a Song Sparrow watched us intently as we packed up. 

We finished packing up by 12:15  but we wanted to get one last hike in before we left. So, we drove over to the Saw Lake trail head and parked the car near the lake. 

There is a nice little boat launch here, with some canoes to rent if you wanted to go for a canoe ride. But we didn't have time for that. 

We headed over tot he Saw Lake Trail map to get some more information about the trail. 

When we got closer we realized that a blue Darner dragonfly was sitting right in the middle of the sign. 

It didn't stop us from reading that the trail was 2.8 km long and roughly an hour to hike.

We were going to hike the first loop, but then we came across some hikers who were on their way out who told us that part of the first loop was closed. So, instead we decided to just walk as far as we felt like it and then turn around and come back. 

We followed the shore line which, I suppose, is doing the trail backwards. But there really isn't a wrong way to do it.  

In some places the water looked had a beautiful green colour to it. 

​We could tell by the markings in the old logs and trees that there were plenty of woodpeckers in the area. 

There was almost no one else on the trail but us It was so quiet and peaceful.

We came to a section where light green hairy moss was growing above our heads in the tree branches. 

It was like the forest was covered in a summer version of Christmas tree tinsel. 

A little pine tree was sprouting out from an old trunk in the remains of a fallen tree. It was a tribute to how resilient nature can be. 

Up in the tree tops we spotted what was making all those holes in the trees. It was a yellow-bellied sapsucker. 

Also up in the tree tops was a little red squirrel watching our every move. It yelled as for awhile, warning everyone in the forest that we were there. Squirrels are one of the forests built in alarm systems. 

Of course the minute we got anywhere near him, he darted up to the tree tops and out of sight in no time flat. 

We spent only about an hour on the trail and all too soon it was time to leave the park. We bundled ourselves into the car and settled in for the long drive. We were talking about all the things we had enjoyed about our trip. 

We were just about out of the park when all of a sudden a huge bird swooped down in front of us as we were driving. It was flying down the road in front of us with our car following behind.  At first I thought it was a turkey vulture. But then, I realized it wasn't. It was a Bald Eagle! 

It flew in front of us for a fair distance before finally flying off to the left side of the road and into a tree. We slowed down and came to a stop beside where it landed in hopes of getting a better look than just it's tail feathers we had been seeing.  Sure enough, we got to get a pretty good look. It seemed to be a juvenile. Not quite fully grown, but almost. 

It had something in its talons and it began to eat whatever it had caught. It was exciting to see one so close and in its natural habitat. 

We sat and watched the eagle for a little bit before finally heading out . It was a wonderful last goodbye to the park. It may have been unseasonably cold for much of the trip, but we had some unforgettable experiences and adventures and that made it all worth it. I would definitely come back here again some time.