Birds on Ice

American Lotus summer bloom,
Cowan Lake

Days that warm to the forties and nights that dip to the twenties have left a thin layer of ice on the surface of Cowan Lake. The magnificent Lotus that reached and swayed above our heads last summer as we drifted past in our canoe, covering the water from shore to shore in this sheltered cove with broad, green rounds, now stand as brown stubble, fallen. Their recognizable faces peering at us through the sheerest of layers.

American Lotus leaf beneath ice

A large flock of small brown birds lands and wanders through the wasted brown tops which pierce the icy surface. With fine bills and buff-colored breasts, heavily streaked, they step and bob-- searching between the stems.
And skate easily along.
American Pipits, hidden well in this quiet, brown edge.

Where small boats dotted the open water with cheerful sails outstretched under the warm breezes of summer, a ring of gulls now stands—the ice extending from the edge, creating a new shoreline from which to watch and wait.

Sailboats on Cowan Lake,
summer 2008

Even the herons, with their long and lanky forms, stand easily upon it, snatching fish that carelessly slip out from under its protection.

In the chill of winter--
the waters, still,
the birds, busy.

Great Blue Heron fishing from ice,
Cowan Lake, January 2009

First Ice,
winter 2009

American Lotus blossom,
Nelumbo lutea