Boat Launch - McArthur Island

A beautiful sky
motivated me before
I had my coffee

~carliewired

I was up at 5:15 to check the eastern sky for some colour. There was just a tinge at first, but it expanded slowly. I brewed my coffee, pushed the recycle bin out to the street, watered my front door planter, then returned to my deck to catch the radiant light of sunrise. Wow! It made my day even before I had my coffee in hand.

At 6:30 I was off to McArthur Island to check on the slough by the boat launch. There are so many locations in the city where road construction is underway, that I must choose my route carefully, even at this early time of day. The street to the north entrance of the park is torn up and blocked this morning. I kept to the east side of the park. 

I parked by the Xeriscape Garden to walk to the boat launch. A young fellow had driven his jeep right down to the bottom of the boat ramp. He stood there throwing rocks into the slough but left quickly when I showed up with my camera. I had to wait for the wildlife to return as he'd disturbed them all. I stood on the small dock and watched everything around me. The beaver arrived first. It coasted along with just its head/nose above the water. It's like watching an invisible duck. There's a V in the water but not much to be seen. 

A flock of seven Canada geese circled the area twice making a huge amount of noise. They came down onto the slough each making a big splash and skidding to a stop. They collected themselves to glide effortlessly to the boat ramp and step up onto the shoreline. One rather imposing goose stood guard while the rest conducted their morning ablutions. 

I walked back up to the Rivers Trail in search of marmots. I found only three. I wonder what's happened to the colony. Usually they are scampering about everywhere. Not today. The ones that I located were looking out over the river. One allowed me a portrait. 

I was home before 8. There are some office jobs that need doing today. Otherwise I'm home and trying to stay cool. 

We can expect a mainly sunny day with a high of 33 C.