One of the Great Blue Heron Flying Toward the Dam
by Springwolf ©

Living On The Water

Living on a lake means we have a diverse variety of animal visitors. Of course we have the usual Ducks, Herons, Cranes, Opossums, Raccoons, Wild Cats, there’s even a Bobcat or two around here. We’ve seen them in the early hours of the morning when the fog is flowing off the lake, over the dam road and down into what we call the dam valley. Our community lake is man-made, as most lakes in Virginia are.

We have Deer of course, a few nesting pairs of Bald Eagles, Red tail and Red shoulder hawks of course. We’ve seen a large Barn Owl once. Heard other owls at night when the neighborhood gets quiet. Bats, who we actually really like because they eat the bugs that make it hard in the depths of summer to sit outside and enjoy the evening by the water.

As with most places, we’ve got the typical song birds, hummingbirds and finches. Cardinals and Bluejays who like eating the cat food we put out for the wild cats that come to visit. What they don’t devour, the opossums and raccoons finish off.

We’ve recently been visited by some Osprey who decided to make this their summer home. It’s truly awesome watching them dive for fish. They make one heck of a splash and always seem to come up with a good catch. Continue reading →