Could Not Believe What I Was Seeing

It was not scheduled to be nice today. When the noon news came on as I was eating my lunch, it because very clear that the temps were good and the possibility of some clearing from the cloud cover was  looking even better. By 1 o'clock, the car was  headed for the lake. My strength has been getting better. My diet has changed yet again and not only is the weight coming off, my heart health is my main purpose. The amount of walking has increased as my strength builds and that is nothing more than the old law of physics that when a body is in motion, it remains in motion. Or, something like that.

My approach to the lake has changed because of the bird watch. The clouds filled in again and a strong southwest wind was constant. A seagull caught my eye. He was hovering in mid air about three feet above the water. He would dive to the surface and come up with a fish. Then, he would drop the fish. Then, he would dive again and come back up with a fish. After doing this a couple of times, I locked in on my settings as the wind on the waves were giving the auto focus nightmares. My motor on the lens could be heard over the wind. Then, while the camera was up to my eye and focused on the seagull, all of a sudden this big blob of white and black filled the viewfinder and it was one of those deals where I actually jumped back a bit in surprise and shock. A pelican come splashing in where the seagull had been. From there, you can see a good image and a image that was still being focused on by the auto focus. It was really somewhat bizarre. As it turned out, it was only the second time that I have actually got a shot of this happening. Good, or bad, I now have two images of this "perfect timing" event.

The arrival and point of sudden shock!

The fish is in the beak!

Down the hatch and others followed.

The Best Fisherman At White Rock Lake

When ever I see a serious fisherman, my curious nature  is to ask if they are catching anything. Some will tell you," no". Some will say they got one or two while others will play their cards close to their chest. I understand that.

Yesterday, while starting my stroll looking for that "White Rock Unusual" it occurred to me that the best fisherman at White Rock was not a person. It wasn't even a bird or animal. It  was a tree! The tree that I am making a reference to at this point has more fishing gear, lures, bobs, hooks, leader line, spring clip clasp than some fishermen have in their tackle gear.

It became clear to me that the story wasn't in the fishermen catch, but the catch made time and time again by the tree that I stood looking into with the glimmers of sunlight striking every one of it's prized catches, sending the week-end fisherman home with less gear than they came to fish with today. 

There were some thirty lures not counting the lead sinkers, and other artificial bait lures.

Several of these hung at various levels in  the tree.

Monarch's Arrive in North Texas

To me, it was getting a bit late in the season for Monarch butterflies to arrive. They leave the Great Lakes and Canada in early June. By August , usually they are enjoying the wildflowers here, stocking up on strength to make it on to Mexico  for the winter. Until today, I had not seen any! Then, like a thunderstorm arriving, they were showing up here and there more frequently and have made it here for the 2015 migration.

While watching for monarchs I ran across two senior citizens that I stop to  chat with  for a while. One is an elderly Chinese man.  We communicate with hand signals. I speak no Chinese and he speak very limited English. The second usually is sitting on a bench overlooking the lake with his wife. But, today, I got pictures of my Chinese friend fishing--as he always does. I let him know that I am going to take a picture or two and he generally agrees.

I spent about two hours shooting goldenrod and butterflies and getting my annual shot of a falling leaf onto the docks,. It's usually is one of the first trees I have found each year that drops its leaves before Halloween. Over the years, I have several file shots of that dock. Each with that trees leaves on the dock. Strangely enough, the always land in about the same place.

Here's a couple shots from this afternoon. I changed the settings on my camera today and was testing out the settings. If you haven't  figured it out by now, I don't put the ones that technically are within range to post and list with my agent on line. Funny how that works. If I could watermark the good ones, I would, but of course, they can't be sold if they are watermarked. It's a catch 22 anyway you go. Quality control in the twenty-seven cent stock marked is tuff!

A friend at the lake.

The arrival of the monarchs

Hay fever but it's still pretty.

23 September 2015: edited for clarity and to add a comment.

Celebrating the First Day of Summer

Enjoying the hunt

Anchoring

Somethings and summer just go together like milk and oreos. Other things are just aligned with the forces of nature that draw sportsmen like metal to a magnet. Either way, when you mix both summer and fishing, you get something like this.

I called out to the gentlemen and ask if I could take a couple of pictures. He replied that I could.Then, I ask the second most important question: Are they biting? and he replied this time with: "NO" That doesn't take away from the sport at all. Everyone knows that fishing takes a lot of patience.

Just Gone Fishin', Maybe

Just Gone Fishin'

Time changes how we look at something.

We have all seen the signs, Just Gone Fishin'. I remember a friend of my dad that finally started dating after his wife had passed away from cancer. She worked in a hospital and everyone in town kidded her about dating with a sign on their cars that said the familiar saying. I was just 7 or 8 at the time but I still remember how funny it was then.

But what do you do when you find the fishing place and it looks like no one is home?  Just Gone Fishin' or just playing hookie!