Mission: Success

Trumpeter Swan, Magness Lake, Arkansas

We (Gardening Daughter, Granddaughter, Great-Granddaughter, and I) enjoyed our afternoon trip to Magness Lake, near Heber Springs, Arkansas.  The lake, about 60 miles northeast of our home, is the late November to early March home for a flock (170-200) of Trumpeter Swans.  Neither daughter nor I had seen these birds before, and the experience was well worth the trip.

Magness Lake is located on the E & W Wildlife Refuge.  The area from which visitors can observe the swans is separated from the lake by a heavy wire fence which, fortunately, has openings in it large enough to accommodate the extended lens of a camera.  All my photos were shot either through the fence or by standing on tip-toe to clear the fence.

We arrived at the lake around 3:15 and found it populated by a relatively small number of swans, myriad Ring-Necked Ducks, and one Graylag Goose. The photo below reminds me of a flotilla of aircraft carriers surrounded by tug boats!

 Trumpeter Swans and Ring-Necked Ducks

gathering at the edge of the lake to eat shelled corn thrown by visitors

It's hard to judge the size of the swans in a photograph, but for comparison purposes, the Ring-Necked Ducks are 17" long.  The swans are huge!  And noisy! I wish I could have captured the sounds they were making.

The bulk of the flock leaves the lake early in the morning to graze on distant fields and does not return until just before dark.  Unfortunately, we could not stay at the lake to see them.  Perhaps I can make the trip again sans young children and stay until the returning swans fly in. It must be a wonderful sight to see.

Sorry -- fuzzy foto

I got only one photo of a Trumpter in flight, and that one was on the far side of the lake, taking off with a great "whump, whump, whump" of wings beating against the water.  Even at a distance, though, it was easy to see that its wing-span was amazing  -- from what I've read about them, the wing-span is around eight feet.

I took a lot of photos, but I found upon examination that I am more successful in capturing a flower (which doesn't move around) than I was at capturing wild life.  I need more experience! 

 At center is a Greylag Goose, which also enjoys the free corn-handouts. The goose is about 34" long

Bottoms-Up! Juvenile Trumpeter Swan (note dark feathers) diving for corn thrown by Granddaughter

I judge this beautiful swan to be an adolescent - mostly white, as are adults,

with some remaining grey-brown feathers on head and  neck.

Serene

Young  Royalty

We were treated to a nice light show on the way home. I do love to see Crepuscular Rays.

Tomorrow is also a day.

Sky Watch - Delicate Sunset - Post 103

Sunset November 3, 2008 - Hwy. 5 North, White County, Arkansas

On the way back home from a jaunt earlier this week, the beautiful colors of the sunset caught my eye. The sun had been a blazing ball of brilliant peachy-red, and colored the unclouded sky with the most amazing colors. I think it must have been dust particles that picked up the glorious tints. Within 2 minutes of taking the photo above, all the color was gone. I did no 'doctoring' on this photo; it's as it came straight from the camera, with tiny bit of cropping to eliminate a powerline pole.

Sky Watch was created by Dot and is now brought to you by our friends Klaus, Sandy, Fishing Guy, Ivar, and Wren, and the newest team member, Louise, from Albuquerque. Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursdays to see sky photos from around the world. You'll be glad you did.

A Fall Excursion - Post 101

Lake Barnett, White County, Arkansas

I had a wonderful time this afternoon! I threw caution (about gasoline consumption) to the winds and hit the road. My trip was only a relatively short jaunt away from my regular stomping grounds, but something I haven't done for quite some time. My friend Barbara, always game for an mini-adventure, accompanied me. She rode shotgun; I was on a photographic mission.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm enrolled in a Basic Photography course at a local camera shop. We have homework every week for which we are to use something we've learned in the most recent class. This week (the class meets Thursday evening) we are to submit a photograph of 'Nature;' no buildings or people included. Since I've not had my chosen photograph critiqued as yet, that one is not included here. I'm still on the short end of the learning curve and have a great deal to learn, but I had fun taking the photos I'm sharing here.
 This afternoon, we wandered down several roads that I've never before driven over, all within about 50 miles northeast of my home. Following is a small selection of the photos I took this afternoon.

A gnarled tree.

Not much color, but an interesting shape, I thought.

Immediately across the road from the gnarled tree was a meadow

backed by a colorful hillside. Still a lot of green, but getting there!

Geese swimming on Lake Barnett.

Fall colors reflected on the water

at the far end of the lake.

(The photo at the beginning of this post was taken at the nearest lake access point. The lake itself covers about three miles. More information about this little jewel can be found by clicking the link under the first photo.)

Dried grasses and colorful plants, dappled with light.

I captured a beautiful sunset, too, but I'm saving that photo for this week's Sky Watch.

I came home with lifted spirits after viewing some hitherto unseen, and very beautiful, parts of my home state, well worth the quarter-tank of gas I burned.

I hope your day was lovely, too.

Caught in the Web of Words - Part 2 of ?? - Post 37

In early September, 1950, I had just enrolled as an 11th grade student at Albuquerque High School when, sort of out-of-the-blue, my parents sold our Albuquerque property, and we moved lock-stock-and-barrel to a small farm some 800 miles away near the town of Clinton, located in north central Arkansas. The reasons behind the move, the move itself, and our adaptation to country life are other stories for other times.

My father enrolled us in our various schools almost as soon as we could get our clothes unpacked. My 8th grade sister and the two younger siblings were enrolled in the Elementary School, which served grades 1 - 8; I was the lone high school student.

The school I attended was the Clinton State Vocational Training School, one of several vocational training schools in the state. No, they were not Reform Schools, although I've sometime been accused of needing to attend one! The state legislature created this type of school in 1927, " in which shall be taught the literary branches usual in high schools to the extent and in such form as shall be applicable (to) the training of students therein vocationally; and in which shall be taught the domestic arts; and training shall be given the manual arts, the commercial vocational arts and vocational agriculture, trades and industries peculiarly appropriate to the development and resources of the state of and district. The underlying intent of such training shall be to develop the student along lines appropriate to local conditions." (from History of the Clinton School District.)

The educational emphasis, I soon discovered, was definitely placed on agriculture, "shop" (wood and metal working and a bit of automotive mechanics,) and home economics (sewing, cooking and preserving food). And, lest I forget, Athletics! The school had a crackerjack basketball team, and a passable football team. It was also a "consolidated" school, meaning that students from all over the county were enrolled, not just Clinton residents. Even at that, the high school probably had fewer than 150 students, all told.

Even at the age of 16, I had higher educational aspirations, and I was somewhat taken aback by the lack of courses I thought I should be taking, and more than a bit miffed at being *required* to take two years of Home Economics, which I considered a complete waste of time.

I was rescued from this slough of teenaged despond by my encounter with Mrs. V., both principal of the school and the instructor in English and Speech, who became not only my teacher, but my mentor.

And you thought I never *was* going to get back to the subject!


To be continued. Part Three: In which Mrs. V. teaches me to love words!

PLEASE NOTE: The spider web photo is not mine. I got it from a Wikipedia article on Spider Webs. The photographer is Michael Hartl, and the photo is in the public domain.