by Gary Lee
Most of you may have noticed that it’s getting dry in the Adirondacks. When the hardwood leaves start falling off the trees the ground water is getting very low and this will certainly effect the fall colors.
If you look at the shorelines of any lake you can see the reds coming out on the maples.
I was out on Limekiln Lake at daylight this morning and there were more leaves floating on the surface of the lake than plucked loon, duck and gull feathers.
Be careful of any outdoor fires and make sure they are dead out before you leave.
Temperatures have been hotter this past week than they have been all summer which made for a great last weekend of outdoor fun before school starts.
I was out on Fourth Lake a few mornings looking for the mystery loon that I reported on last week.
I missed it in the Eagle Bay area every day only to have someone call and say it had been there. Just yesterday I went out again but didn’t see the bird.
When I came home I heard it was at the Inlet Beach.
I went back down and there were all kinds of boats going in and out of the channel.
I searched both shorelines with binocs and saw nothing but people enjoying the water.
Just as I was leaving I looked up the channel and there was the bird coming down the channel towards me.
It had to dive under a party barge and popped right up in front of me.
I had the camera ready and took several shots as it preened, did a wing flap and dove for fish several times.
The pictures show line coming out the right side of its beak, so I’m sure it’s the bird that caught in some fishing line and was released earlier in the year.
My pictures and pictures by others show that the bird molted its feathers and is growing new ones so at this time it can’t fly.
I’m sure it isn’t a red throated loon because it’s too big. I’m still torn between an immature common loon or an immature yellow billed loon.
I’ve seen several immature common loons but only once have I seen an adult yellow billed—at the outlet of Hinckley Reservoir.
Never have I seen an immature yellow billed loon. If it’s a common loon it’s the weirdest colored one I’ve ever seen.
The Old Forge Garden Club will be selling potted wild flowering plants and seeds from at the Farmers’ Market on Friday, September 11 from 1 to 5 p.m. or until they are all gone, whichever comes first.
Members of the club have some of the best flowering plants in the area and many are resistant to foraging deer.
Come and buy a few plants to beautify your yard for next year and years to come.
The fawns are losing their spots and many of the adults have lost their summer red coats and already replaced it with their winter brown coat.
I’m sure they didn’t need it this week so they may be taking a wade in the lake to cool off.
Area moose will be starting to rut soon so the bulls will be on the move. You may see one swimming across a lake just to get to the other side.
They will be crossing roads also so be on the lookout for bigger brown, almost black animals in the highway.
When you first see one you may think it’s a horse but there aren’t many wild horses running lose in the Adirondacks.
I will be leading a Moose hike to Rockdam in the Moose River Area on Saturday, September 26 as part of Indian Lakes Moose Festival.
The brooktrout fishing has been a little slow but if it cools down they should be on the bite again.
Many sportsmen have small fish finders attached to their boats and canoes. They tell me they are marking fish but they won’t bite.
Just last week there was a big bug hatch and I’m sure the trout were having a smorgasbord.
When I was driving by a body of water last night there were so many bugs in the air that it looked like it was snowing.
If you had that bug imitation on your line you would have been catching fish.
Moving plants and trees in the fall… but that’s another story. See ya.