Photos: Lake Charleston

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today we visited the Charleston Food Forest, Coles County Community Garden, and Lake Charleston. These are the lake pictures, thus meeting my fall goal for birdwatching / leafpeeping. (Begin with the food forest, community garden.)


Looking south, you can see part of the lake headed toward the spillway and some oak trees with a little red.




This big oak stands near the edge of the lake.




The round butterfly garden is almost done blooming.




These asters have set seed just fine, which is exasperating as they are not in a garden designated for sharing.




We have a new piece of public art! I love this butterfly.




Looking east from the parking lot, some of the trees have a little color, but nothing like usual.




Looking west from the path, I spotted a squirrel flet. It could belong to a fox squirrel or a gray squirrel. My guess would be gray as the area is more forest than lawn.




Here is a closeup. Squirrel flets (aka dreys or nests) are balls of leaves usually crammed into a crotch between two or more tree branches. They become more visible as deciduous trees drop their leaves.




Looking east, mudflats are visible.




Given the expanse of mud, I estimate the lake as a whole is 1-2 feet below normal. If you look closely, you can see rings in the water. There were fish feeding and even jumping, and I think turtles too. I have no idea why; it was 57°F and their digestion shuts down around 55°F to 50°F because they are coldblooded. The temperature is falling and supposed to get frigid tonight.




This area, which has almost dried up, is normally full of water.




Looking southwest, the gravel path curves to follow this part of the lake. We were on the causeway.




Here you can see more of the path hugging the lakeshore.




Looking northwest, you can see the far shore.




This pool in the rocks is almost like a tidepool.




A large bird flew overhead, too fast to get a decent picture or identify it. From the size and shape, I suspect it may be a pelican or a heron. Great blue herons are fairly common around here, and I've seen greens occasionally at the lake, but pelicans only when migrating.




Walking back, I caught a better view of the south shore and path.




I spotted several more squirrel flets in this tree.




As we came in, I noticed three children playing on the spillway. On the way out, I caught them on camera. This is Darwin Award territory: to get there, you have to walk past the sign listing people who have died doing that. >_<




Here is a closer view. They look maybe preteen age. In this image, they're on the south slope. When we first arrived, they were on the main spillway at the left edge of the picture. Poor survival instincts in action. I can't make this shit up.