Lake Katherine Reflections and a Raptor

Yesterday morning I had a quiet walk around Lake Katherine in Palos Heights.

The still water reflected the trees and the clouds.

It was a cold morning and the mute swans seemed to be sleeping with occasional grooming.

Mute swan

Mute swan

There were not many people out, but two women were laughing and taking picutres on the bridge at the pond surrounded by cypress trees in autumn colors.

Water is high in the pond this year.

I see that invasive phragmites are taking root in the pond.

When I first arrived at the lake it was birdy and I was trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to take pictures of white-breasted nuthatches, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, goldfinches, and some unknow sparrows.

Then I noticed a red-tailed hawk land in a nearby tree.

After a while it flew over to another tree.  Can you see it?

I got a closer look at this predator.  I wondered if he had already had his breakfast or was hunting.

Here is a view of the back feathers.  I understand that red-tailed hawks don’t get red tails until they are two years old.  The tail did not appear to be red.

One more shot of the red-tailed hawk.  can you see the yellow at the base of the beak?

Other than the swans there were only mallards in the lake.  There was plenty of quacking.  The geese must have already flown away for the day before I arrived.

Duck getting breakfast.

Parts of the lake were still frozen.  The temperatures have been swinging above and below the freezing point these past weeks.

Fungi on a log were covered with a pretty frost.

Books:  I am currently reading Troubled Water: What’s Wrong with What We Drink, by Seth Siegel.  Lots of food for thought and a pretty interesting read.  Do you drink water from the tap?  A lot of us don’t trust it.  The book it not out to get villains, but says there are a lot of bystanders.  It is a complicated issue, but a serious one.  I am just on the fourth chapter but I understand more about why no one is taking action to solve the problem, which is getting worse each year. (I think it might involve taxes and getting re-elected.)  I am looking forward to what suggestions and solutions I will find in the book.