Eels Lake VI and VII - Two Works in Progress

Today we decided to take the pontoon boat out again and go the Eels Lake which has an excellent boat launch.

With all the problems we have had with the supposedly "overhauled" motor, Ron put the electric motor onto the boat just in case we ended up stranded with the motor deciding not to work in the middle of the lake.

The motor started after two tries and Ron let it idle while we set up the canopy and moved things around on the deck, but as soon as he tried to engage the motor it quit and from there it wouldn't even try to start.

It didn't surprise me that we would end up using the other motor; so I helped Ron get it set up and we were finally ready to go out.

Eels Lake VI

We went the opposite direction than we usually go and found an inlet which Ron thought would have fish and I had some nice scenery to sketch.

About half an hour later we slowly headed back toward the dock. When we were in sight of the dock we saw that there were a number of boats lined up, so we when back through the first inlet with Ron finding a place to fish.















Eels Lake VI

While we were waiting Ron caught two nice bass which just goes to show that you don't have to go far from the dock to catch fish.

I will post each of these sketches at a later date as more work on them is completed.

Eels Lake I - A Work in Progress

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to have a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) come to my fat feeder at the front of the house. She tried to get onto the feeder so she could get to the suet a couple of times before landing on the ground and looking up and studying the feeder.

It didn't take her long to figure out how she would have to land on the feeder to gain access to the food.

These mainly black birds are one of the largest forest birds in North America and I usually see one a couple of times a month.

The name Pileated comes from the Latin word pileatus which means "capped" and refers to the bird's prominent red crest. This one is a female, as the male has a red line from the bill to the throat patch running through the lower black stripe on the cheek.

As they do not migrate, a Pileated woodpecker pair will stay together on their territory all year round. They will defend their territory in all seasons, but tolerate others during the winter.















While walking through the fields and in the forest on the property I have often seen signs that they are in the area. This is because Pileated Woodpeckers digging into dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, of carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae, they leave a unique, large and roughly rectangular hole in the wood.

I hear them drumming to proclaim their territory and they will often use hollow trees to make the loudest sound possible.

In April, the male excavates a hole for their large nest in the cavity of a dead tree, to attract a female for mating and raising their young. Once the young are raised, the nest is abandoned and they do not use it again.

When abandoned, these holes provide good homes in future years for many other birds and a wide variety of other animals.















After she left, I thought I would like to work on this drawing that I started while we were canoeing on Eels Lake a couple of years ago (see post on 30 September 2019).

I started working on the rocks in the water in the foreground, indicating the outline and adding some of the shadows.

I put in a few water ripples to give me a base for the island.

Next, I put the bark texture on the lower part of the main pine tree.

From there I started on a small pine that was just in front of the larger pine.

I put the ground lines in first. This was followed by the trunk and then gradually adding branches and needles.

I will post this drawing at a later date once more work on it has been completed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork. I hope you will return often.

Eels Lake IV

Today we went to Eels Lake with the pontoon boat, which was a great improvement over last year when we took the canoe.

We went up a different channel and found a quiet spot where Ron could fish and I had plenty of things to draw.

I had barely started my drawing before Ron caught a perch, which made him happy as last year he didn't catch anything when we were here last year.

After I removed the fish from the hook and carefully released it back into the lake I returned to my drawing.















It wasn't long before he caught another perch (but not the same one) and I returned it back into the lake.

Once more I returned to my drawing and this time, I managed to get a lot more work on it completed before he caught a large mouthed bass and we went through the same routine again.

I did a little more work on my drawing before Ron decided he wanted to explore the lake and see what other fishing spots he could find.

It was an enjoyable afternoon and I took many photographs of the islands, shoreline and some of  the boats out on the lake. Giving myself a lot of reference materials for future paintings.

Eels Lake I-III

Since Ron didn't have to go in to work today and the weather was nice, we decided that we would take the canoe and head up toward Bancroft so I could take some photographs of the autumn colours which are a lot further along than they are here.

I thought that we would stop and go in to either Loon Call Lake or Wolf Lake, but Ron wanted to try a lake that we hadn't been to before so we ended up at Eel's Lake.

When we arrived, we could see that the water levels were down at least 2-1/2 - 3ft (.76 - .91m), which allowed many rocks, stumps and logs showing which would normally be submerged.

Eels Lake I

As usual we headed up the lake until we were as far as we wanted to go for the trip and turned the canoe around and I would work on drawings and take reference photographs while Ron went fishing.

I did a drawing of a large pine tree on an island which was at our turning point.















Eels Lake II

As we continued on our way back be went in between a chain of islands and the shore, both of which had cottages and boat docks.

My second drawing was of an island with a large number of pine, cedar and maple trees, which at a later date I may do a large painting in either watercolour or acrylic.














Eels Lake III

As we returned to the boat launch Rob decided he wanted to try one last time to catch a fish and we went into the shallow inlet on the far side of the dock.

Unfortunately for Ron, this trip the only thing he managed to catch was a couple of the sunken logs in the inlet. All in all it was an enjoyable day out on the lake.