A Weekend at the Lake

We spent last weekend at the Rising family camp on Lake Champlain- we feel very lucky to have this relaxing spot to come to that is only 40 minutes away by car, and we know that Aiden will grow to love it as he gets older. There is a lot of family history at the camp (it turned 100 years old last year!) and my mom and her brothers and sister have been coming to this spot on the lake since they were very young.

Timber begs for a stick

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Looking across the lake to the NY side

Aiden's new swing! Thank you Gerritt!

The weekend was beautiful - sunny and warm, though not warm enough yet to swim since the lake is still numbingly cold (apparently unless you are a black labrador). We woke up early Saturday morning and drove the short distance to Dead Creek (sounds like a horrible place but it is one of the best birding locations in Vermont, and actually very alive with wildlife at 7 in the morning). The highlight was an immature bald eagle perched on a dead snag over the marsh. The state is running a captive eagle breeding program and has released young eagles in the area for several years in a row. We're assuming the eagle we saw must be one of the releases. Vermont is the only state in the contiguous US that does not have a breeding pair of Bald Eagles. I learned that statistic last year and still find it really hard to believe. There seems to be good habitat for eagles in Vermont, and I can think of plenty of other states where breeding eagles seem less likely...Kansas? Nebraska? Who knows? I'm not an eagle.

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The marsh at Dead Creek

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Song Sparrow, Dead Creek

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Andy checking out the creek

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Dead Creek

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Barn Swallows at the Addison 4 Corners General Store

Great Grandma Dean made the trip to the lake house too, and enjoyed sitting out in the sun and watching the lake go by. When she fell asleep, not even the circa 1940s, diesel fume coughing Lawn Boy mower woke her up!

Dad had to leave a small unmowed square around Grandma's chair

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4 Generations, plus a dog...its debatable whether Grandma is awake yet!