Spent a few hours kayaking around Memory Lake. This is the lake that Jim and I fished more than any other in The Valley. I fished yesterday, but caught no fish.















Paul

Here are some pictures of a common loon (Gavia immer) adult feeding a juvenile. The juvenile never once dove or caught its own fish. The adult probably caught 10 or 15 'minnows' in about 5 minutes.























Paul

Absolutely beautiful. Looks like a lot of alligator heads in the first two pictures. :D Maybe I just need another cup of Folgers & honey. ......Looks like fall is falling there too. Never see loons around here. Saw a black cormorant a few years ago. It was out of it's element somehow. Memory Lake is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. ......Paul H

You are the second person to comment on the 'alligators', Paul!

I told the other person; "Not to worry. They're all small ones."

The Valley has probably 30 to 50 of these small, glacial lakes, ranging anywhere from a 100 or so acres to a couple that are a 1000 or so acres. They all have fish, many of them now stocked by ADF&G.

Memory lake is one Jim and I used to fish regularly because it has (had) northern pike (Esox lucius), in it, and Jim was a fanatic about fishing for pike. I hadn't fished it since Jim died, so I don't know how the fishing is now. The day these pictures were taken, it was too early to be fishing seriously. Often, one needs to wait for dusk for the best fishing in lakes.

Jim and I had to quit fishing this lake for a couple of years because of these loons. Once - and I MEAN ONCE!, Jim tossed a rainbow trout he had caught and gill-hooked (meaning it was going to die anyway) to a nearby loon. Bad mistake. From that point on, whenever the loons on the lake saw the Little Green Boat, they'd come 'running'. As soon as they got around the boat, the fish left! On occasion when we'd have a fish on the line, they'd be swimming after it! In a few instances, they would catch it before we could get it to the landing net! We had to quit fishing that lake for at least two years to break that habit.

Paul

Odd how wild varmints learn so quickly. That's about like the old red tail hawk here. He would be sitting in a tree 400 yards back in the field listening for me to shoot the pellet rifle. He would come in like a sidwinder rocket to see if I killed him a starling. He loved to hear any gun fire in the direction of my house. He had no fear of a shotgun blast even if he was sitting in the big ash tree 60 yards behind the house. .......I would love to see Memory Lake in person but at my age & physical condition it'll not happen.  .....Paul H

Great pics Paul. Nice spot.

Magnificent. No words can describe.