I'll Keep Trying

May 20 and I'm back at Yellowwood. I start down the east side as usual but a couple in a little boat pass me and settle down in my way. I could go around but they would just do it again, so I cross over.

Bluegill are active in the shadows.

And a pumpkinseed. This guy hit hard and my reaction set launched him into the air.

Note to self: it's the time of year to check the cup before drinking.

The shoreline trees have been busy with the flitting of migrating warblers. Today I finally get a shot of one. My point and shoot can't do it justice, but I can see enough to make a sure call: Prothonotary, warbler of swamps and marshland.

I fish down the west side finding the haunts and hideouts of bluegill.

I see a little white mayfly but can't discern a hatch. Last year there were bass lined up along the dam snacking on them. As if to confirm the memory I pull in a little bass.

That's the only bass this time, but there are bluegill here too, working in the dark.

Fireflies spangle the dam with lights. They've been active for several weeks. Tonight I try for a shot but as soon as I click the shutter they all turn off at once. As soon as I put the camera down they come back, thousands of lights rippling up and down the shoreline. I manage to capture a few including a reflection in the water. That seems like a victory of sorts.

It may be that capturing fireflies on a digital memory card is as anticlimactic as sticking a few in a mason jar was when I was a kid. But I bet the survival rate is higher. As with the bluegill and bass, I'll keep trying.