Early Morning Birding On Chautauqua Lake

A Noble Blue Heron

7:24

7:35

7:46

It's just after 7:00, the sky still dark, and I have been up for an hour.  We did get some rain late yesterday but not much, less than a quarter of an inch.  We did have wind, however, gusting up to 50 or 60 mph or so it seemed, knocking down some small branches in our front yard as well as the cairn that had been standing for a couple of years.  It's 53º and may not get much warmer as the day continues.  I had a good birding morning, catching photos of mallards, coots, a wood duck, and blue heron.  When I started my paddle, it was overcast, then the sun came out and when I finished it was cloudy again.

Only Boat On The Lake

The Beauty Of A Kayak Morning

A Blue Heron

Mallards

Mallards, Reeds, Home

A Female Wood Duck

Yesterday morning, was not much fun as I had an early morning dentist appointment, to get a temporary filling that needed to be made permanent.  It took literally 15 minutes at the most and I was out of there, stopping for coffee in Jamestown at a new coffee shop,  Harvest Time Cafe,
unfortunately, empty except for me.  I then did some shopping at Wegmans since I had not been there in four or five days, a record.  Mondays are a good day because its usually not a busy day, as most of the shoppers are waiting for Senior Tuesday. 

When I got home, Evie was still relaxing with a coffee, enjoying the morning despite the gray skies and wind.  I decided to chop some leaves in our neighbor's yard since they are gone for the year.  So I gassed up a couple of mowers (Evie was going to be mowing later) and cut the lawn, mulching up the leaves.  It felt good to be outside doing something productive which lasted about five hours before the lawn was once again covered with leaves. 

Lunch was easy, the last of the leftover eggplant moussaka and for some reason, I watched Hilary be interviewed on the Graham Norton show, a British talk host.  She was amazingly good, articulate, honest, clear-headed, and knowledgeable.  What a contrast to our current President.  I then got back to my book, took a brief nap and was awakened by Evie, dodging twigs, as she mowed our lawn in the heavy winds. 

Leaves Falleth, Yesterday Morning

And like me, the lawn's wide sweep lasting a few hours before it was filled once again with leaves.  Around 3:30, we took both cars over to the Subaru dealer where I dropped my Outback off to get it checked over before our three-week journey south to Florida and then west to Texas.  On the way back, we stopped at Peterson's Farm Market and picked up a basket of concord grapes for Evie and some tomatoes. 

Rain Finally

More Leaves Falling at 5:30 PM

We then had time to relax in our living room, with a couple of glasses of wine, some hummus, and pita chips and watched it rain for an hour or so as Evie picked out tunes from Apple Music, Nine Inch Nails being our favorite for the night.  We had brats and sauerkraut for dinner, easy and tasty and watched our typical Monday night programs, Vice News and the various news shows. 

Taking Out The Boat Lifts