Cooley Lake CA

IT was a warm one today! almost 60* and windy-

Last nights rain showers and this morning's snow melt wet the ground and roads. Then entrance road was still iced over- patches of snow still cover the lower spots of the area- those same spots that hold the leaves that fell a few months ago. The river was high and the current road swiftly- the waters surface is smothered in small 'iceburgs'- large hunks of ice that have been carried from the once frozen surfaces of the back-eddies. The ice crashed and crunched close to the shore and againt the dikes- with itself and with the rocks. Where it accumulated, in the shallow areas and in slower water, the sheets and blocks of ice created all sorts of beautiful noises.

Many tiny sparrow-like birds darted and bounced among the brush on the first level of the bank. It was as if my mother and I were herding them up stream. One of the birds perched on a thin twig only a few metres in front of me- I took a small group of photos and then of a few passing mergansers. Two large eagles danced in fight across the river and down a little bit. They disappeared soon after I noticed them.

Thousands of snow geese flew high above us. There gigantice V's would not have gone unnoticed by anyone in the area- Their noise was intense!

Hundreds of canadas- groups and flocks of mixed sizes and species flew low across the river. Similar flocks of Mallards flew down-stream. They, when the geese were not heard, made their own symphany of qucks, wings and all sorts of vocals.

I shot at two geese today- I know that I hit one, but niether fell. I felt bad about injuring the bird, but I am confident with my shot, and no one can kill every bird. We cut through a crop field. The egdes had been dozed and the ground was bare. Along the egde- in the last of the wet snow I observed a trail left by some sort of large mammal- cat or dog. The prints were in a strait line, and youd have to work to tell which prints were made by the left or right side of the creature. " MOuntain Lion" I teased. My mother investigated the tracks and took my statement seriously for a few minutes before she was able to convince herself that it was impossible.

The tracks were about 3.5" in diameter- a little longer than they were wide. The pad was huge and I found no evidence of any claws. The only reason why I concidered that they were not those of a large cat was the stride- "There is only about 18" between tracks" my mother noticed. She told me that the stride was much too small to be a lion. I dont know- maybe it was!