Boat Launch To The Picnic Area: ‘Low Tide’

After finding that the lake level was lowered, it was time to go back along the shore between the boat launch at Section B to Picnic Area #1 and see what the shoreline looked like at ‘low tide.’

The route...

Looking west from the pedestrian bridge at the boat launch.

Looking east from the pedestrian bridge. The boat launch and dock are in the foreground at the left. A little challenging to launch a boat now…

The UGA rowing dock is also high above water now

Looking back towards the pedestrian bridge. The rowing dock is in the far right at the center of the photo

At the west end of Picnic Area #2. The pontoon boat is at the center of the photo

From the shoreline of Picnic Area #2 looking towards the dock and beach in the distance

A close-up of the dock at the beach from Picnic Area #2

At the dock by the beach looking to the south
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Related posts:
- Marburg Creek Reservoir: Fort Yargo State Park
- Fort Yargo State Park: Tropical Storm Ida – At The Boat Dock
- Fort Yargo State Park: Tropical Storm Ida – The Rowing Dock
- A Walk In The Wood

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

This photo has won First Prize in the 2009 Photography Contest at Fort Yargo State Park that was sponsored by the Friends of Fort Yargo and The Barrow County News.

This was another of my ‘row and drift’ photos taken on a November morning. The heron was warming itself high above the ground on the trunk of a tree that had fallen but hung up against another tree trunk (at the north end of Segment 12). I had seen this bird in this spot previously and noticed it again in time to glide to a stop opposite it and on the opposite side of this narrow neck on the lake. The wind was blowing gently from the east. I drifted across the lake for about 15 minutes, taking photos repeatedly until the heron decided I was too close and flew off. This was one photo in this series.
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Related posts:
- Marburg Creek Reservoir: Fort Yargo State Park
- Loose with a Camera…

Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

We live in the country. It’s not out in the really wild country but it’s clearly outside the surbuban area surrounding Atlanta. We enjoy the wildlife. Periodically, however, we seem to suffer from possum (Opossum, Didelphis virginiana) overload. It’s been like that for the last month or so.

We don’t want to kill them but we need to thin their numbers around the house a little. So we use a live trap baited with peanut butter to catch them and relocate them to a wild area where they have plenty of woods to roam in. The count is now up to four; a couple of big ones and a couple of smaller ones.

Last night we caught a young possum with a glossy black coat, a white face …

Bright eyes…

And a cute nose…
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Related posts:
- Snow: Something To Show For It

Campground - Dam Loop: Back to the Campground

This final part of our walk retraced the path we had used on the way in but the views were different.

When we got back to the dam the Ring-billed Gulls were still gathered on the ice near the dam. We sat on the top of the dam watching them for some time. The ice in the foreground at the lake shore was still a couple of inches thick.

The exposed beach is quite wide on this section of the lake.

The trail – almost back to the campground.

The dock at the north end of the campground.

A closer view. This view is quite impressive.

The yurts, again - but from a different angle.

And a closer view – with a reflection on the calm waters in the late afternoon.
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Related posts:
- Marburg Creek Reservoir: Fort Yargo State Park
- Campground - Dam Loop: To The Dam
- Campground - Dam Loop: Dam To The Half-way Point
- Campground - Dam Loop: Half-way Point Back To The Dam
- Zen: A Spiral Of Gulls
- Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis)

Campground - Dam Loop: Half-way Point Back To The Dam

The trail follows the shoreline until it has to ‘detour’ around a small canyon that ends in an inlet on the lake. It climbs the hill through the woods and then forks. The trail to the left is a ‘shortcut’ back to the dam. We took the trail to the right.

The trail emerges into a grassy area. Even though the temperature was in the low 60s F, there was still snow on the path.
The trail then entered woods again. These were younger woods and it felt like walking through a bower.

The trail widened. Although still wooded, this trail was open to the sky.

This Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) was healthy but didn’t look too happy after the recent freezing spell.

Another evidence of Elephant’s Foot, probably Elephantopus tomentosus

As we arrived back at the dam, another cyclist was heading up the trail we had just come down.
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Related posts:
- Marburg Creek Reservoir: Fort Yargo State Park
- Campground - Dam Loop: To The Dam
- Campground - Dam Loop: Dam To The Half-way Point

Campground - Dam Loop: Dam To The Half-way Point

At the west end of the dam, we followed the trail north and then west and southwest along the shoreline.

Almost immediately on the right is a tree with the largest gall I have ever seen. It must have started when the tree was small and has grown with it.

The trail follows the shoreline offering vistas of the lake.

The trail turns west and winds gently along the lakeshore. It's a pretty trail and fun to walk.

The dock by the beach and Picnic Area #1 is high and dry.

A closer view of the dock.

Fish attractors at the east end of Picnic Area #2 have been exposed.
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Related posts:
- Marburg Creek Reservoir: Fort Yargo State Park
- Campground - Dam Loop: To The Dam

Campground - Dam Loop: To The Dam

I wanted to explore some more trails around the lake. We decided to walk from the parking lot by the Walk-in Campground where the yurts are located, south, across the dam, loop through the woods and back.

As we drove down towards the lake, it was apparent that something was ‘wrong.’ On the other side of the lake, I could see a brown band at the shoreline. It didn’t make any sense since the lake level was at full pool a week or so previously. It took a minute to convince myself that the lake level was actually low. And just when I was getting enthusiastic about getting out and rowing again.

The route.

The trail follows the east shore of the lake south to the dam (Segment 6).

The low lake level left some tree stumps exposed. This one was particularly photogenic. Modern art.

At the end of the woods, looking south towards the east end of the dam.

A field opens off to the east. One of the cattail beds is on the right.

The cattails have gone to seed.

Water was being released from the lake as we walked across the dam. The measure on the side of the overflow tower indicated that the water level had been lowered five to six feet. One of the flocks of Ring-billed Gulls congregates in the background.

It was a pleasantly warm afternoon in the sun. The weather had brought out a number of cyclists; this one was riding up the hill below the dam.
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Related posts:
- Marburg Creek Reservoir: Fort Yargo State Park
- Zen: A Spiral Of Gulls
- Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis)