Tuesdays at the Lake

Your Boulevardier hauled his kayak to Lake Chabot in the chill of Tuesday morning and went for a paddle. After the rainstorms of previous days, he was interested in how the lake might have been affected.

The answer turned out to be: it was affected very little. The managers of the lake had apparently let quite a bit of water out in preparation for the storms, so the lake remained a good eight feet down. This was most apparent at the fishing docks, which were largely beached.

But the lake itself was serene and beautiful. The mist boiled off the water like ethereal flames, especially where the sun was bright. Light gusts and eddies of the breeze, and even some tiny whirlwinds, were clearly visible in the mist. As paddling commenced, knuckles ached from the cold. For a time the kayak seemed to be the only boat on the lake. Your Boulevardier paddled hard to the rookery tree at the far northeast end of the lake; the tree remains uninhabited.

A few cormorants were fishing, as well as a large raptor with dark brown shoulders, a blond/beige chest, and a blunt head (almost like an owl). The bird circled the lake very high, then tucked its wings and dove after a fish; it did not plunge into the water like a pelican would, but seemed to pull out of its dive at the last minute before splashing down. One couldn't see if he caught anything due to the distance between us. Your Boulevardier is not a birder but would like to know what sort of bird this was.