As soon as the sun came out this morning after the heavy rain of the past couple of days, I hunted the elusive turtles. I figured that they would be sunning themselves on the rocks along the shores of Tantra Lake. They were.

Twice I walked around the lake. Since it’s a small lake, it didn’t give me a whole lot of exercise. But it was fun to get out and to have to stay as alert as I could for the photo opportunities there.

In general my timing was excellent. But in my attempts to photograph the turtles I wasn’t fast enough.

I saw two big turtles — with a shell at least a foot long — sunning themselves on rocks at the north shore of the lake and one on the grass at the west. But each of them saw me first and raced for the water before I could get a good shot.

The best I could do today was a shot of this turtle through the branches of a tree. At least you can get an idea of what I am looking for:

A Big Tantra Turtle

Still, by stealth I was able to get closer to a big green frog than ever before:

This Frog Stayed on Its Rock for Both My Trips Around the Lake

Likewise, I was able to get closer to one of my favorite birds. This Great Blue Heron comes here to fish from time to time:

A Great Blue Heron on the Platform in Tantra Lake

Except for a group of 11 Mallards that never came out of the shade for me, this was the only bird in resistance at our lake today. The big flocks of Canada Geese that are usually here seem to have returned to the Arctic. They will certainly be back soon.
I was anxious to see what difference the new polarizing filter for my camera made. While I didn’t see dramatic results in peering through the water, the sky looked more normal, as in this photo of the bridge leading to my apartment. Mine is on the second (of the three floors) just to the left of the weeping willow:

The Bridge to Home