Oh... DEER!

Paddling out to BBQ cove

A Kingfisher squaks at us for disturbing him (but he wasn't nearly as obnoxious as the cranky Great Blue Herons!)

   Joni and I went kayaking out at Hillsdale Lake yet again, and yet again we'd planned to stop at Hillsdale Bank BBQ to get takeout on the way there. Big burnt end sandwiches on incredible homemade wheat buns! SO GOOD. We arrived at the put-in and paddled over to the cove that we have deemed "BBQ Cove" to enjoy our dinner.

(photo coming)

   We were sitting in the middle of the cove, smacking our lips and talking, when all of a sudden we heard a noise that was too big to be a fish or a bird. We looked up to see twin fawns approaching the water... right in front of us! It had been over 100 degrees all day, and they were very thirsty. They drank for a long time.

   Suddenly their watchful, high-stepping mother came down silently to check on them, and to herd them off to safety.

   Such an amazing experience to see them so at ease in their natural environment!

Enjoying "dinner and a show"

   On top of this, it was just a beautiful night to be out, as the breeze cooled us off and the heat slowly subsided. There were very few boats on the water, and we were the only kayaks, so we had the place to ourselves... other than the wildlife. Perfect!