Lake Pictures Part 2: The Path Out

[ysabetwordsmith]

We turned westward along the path that follows the lake shore.


Two turkey vultures soar above the trees.




This is a closer view of the vultures.  An easy way to distinguish large soaring birds is to look for the head.  Vultures look headless until quite close.  Then you can see their tiny, bald, red heads.  Hawks and eagles have visible heads from far away.




Looking north over the lake, trees show off their fall colors.  The orange ones are likely maples.  The darker, purplish reds may be oaks.  The browns are oaks and sycamores.




A sycamore tree holds a squirrel flet.  Sycamores have bark that peels off in big flakes to reveal white underneath, and the pale spotted trunks thus stand out in a forest.




A closeup reveals the squirrel flet as a large ball of leaves. It can also be called a drey, nest, or various other names.  Last month a squirrel flet blew down in my yard.




These maple leaves show shades of pink and green.  Maples are among the most colorful of fall trees and can turn almost any color.




A broad path curves away up the slope.




A sycamore tree leans out over the lake. That little dark dash in the water is a sunken log.




Here is a closeup of the sycamore top.  Large jagged leaves turn burnt orange or brown in fall.




These maple leaves are a pale peach color.




This sunken log is empty today, but waterbirds and turtles like to perch on it sometimes.  Basking logs are valuable for wildlife.




Bright yellow leaves hang over the path.




A row of tree roots hang exposed above the path. The soil near the lake is sandier and erodes more easily than typical for this part of central Illinois.




Sumac trees turn red in fall.  Sometimes they bear big heads of tiny burgundy seeds that birds love.  The seeds are edible and used as a tangy spice (as in sumac pickled onions) or for making a beverage similar to lemonade.




Close up, the leaves catch the afternoon light like stained glass.




A patch of sunken brush provides habitat for fish and perches for waterbirds.




You have to be careful of fishing here ...




... or else the brush will eat your tackle. This yellow bobber got hung on the sunken brush.  It is one of the two most popular types of bobber, an oval float in the center with a long stick through it.  When a fish bites, the top of the stick twitches.  My grandfather favored this style.




Leaves floating on water catch the light. You can also see faint lines of dust and algae on the surface. The water is murky today.




These enormous oak leaves are bigger than my hand. From the pointy tips, they belong to some type of red oak.