I’m up with the sun this morning, hoping to find those mergansers.  As I’m brushing my teeth, I looked out the window and there they were, on the beach, not 200 feet from the boat.  Unfortuantely, by the time I got suited up and on the water, they were almost out of sight.  Oh, well.

In my search for the mergansers, I spotted this eagle eating something way up in a tree.  

It looked like he’d caught himself a gigantic king salmon.  

But, it looked awfully stringy.

When I zoomed in a little closer, I discovered it wasn’t a salmon at all he was eating.  This hungry eagle was eating the tree!  Boy, you know salmon are scarce, when eagles resort to eating trees. Or, maybe he was just constipated and needed some fiber.

On a little islet near the boat, I spotted what I thought were berries.  On closer inspection, I discovered the berries were actually rosehips.

I love how old dead trees become decorative planters for ferns, lichen and grasses.

I paddled clear out to the entrance to Kakushdish, hoping to find those mergansers.  On the way, I came upon this pair of sandhill cranes feeding in the tall grass.  

At the creek, near the entrance, I spotted some honkers.

And, right next to the honkers, was the flock of mergansers I’ve been hunting! I couldn’t believe my good fortune.

At the mouth of the creek, at the head of Kakushdish, I discovered that the First Nations people are building a couple of cabins, right in front of the old cabin.

This eagle was perched in a nearby tree, supervising construction.

He seemed to have some suggestions about what they could do with their cabins.