We walked down to Henry's Lake again today. It was sunny and relatively warm after several days of cool, windy weather. That was a relief. We still had to cross barriers of snow along the road. Again, no cars had been to the launch area because of the snow, so it is was quiet at the lake.


Much ice had disappeared since our visit about a week earlier. Most of the western end of Henry's Lake was ice free. As we approached the lake, I spotted a large White Pelican taking off, presumably surprised by our visit. I didn't see any others. Later this month, this end of the lake will be full of these giant fishermen. They are graceful and in my opinion very beautiful birds. I look forward to their arrival (more than the fishermen do.) More on these guys in later blogs.

Immediately evident on the lake were the Lesser Scaup swimming close to the launch. They often spend time in the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, but occasionally you'll see this interesting bird here. They like to dive to the bottom and find interesting things to eat. They having been declining in large numbers over the last 30 years and scientists are trying to find out why.

The Henry's Lake mountains were particularly beautiful this afternoon with the deep blue color of Henry's Lake and the deep blue sky framing it. Snow still clung to the cliffs and shore and was at least 10 feet into the lake. Reggie enjoyed playing in the snow next to the water, but I warned him against being too close to the edge as I didn't want him to fall into water that I might have to negotiate to help him out (risking my falling in too.. the water is really cold now.)


My attention was turned to a few ducks out about 100 feet. They appeared to be the Western Grebe. This is a beautiful duck with bright red eyes and a long white neck. Further down the lakeshore to the west were large numbers of Canada Geese covorting in the water.


A big surprise confronted me as Reggie and I walked along the cliffs above the shore. I looked down and at a place where the snow had parted from the shoreline, there was a large number of large trout swimming around within feet of the shore. I'd estimate there were from 80 to 100 trout from 14 to 18" in length. I stood and watched for several minutes. Fish were doing fish things, biting each others tail and chasing one another, grazing, and jumping. I wondered what a fisherman would have felt in this pre-season time? (Wondering where his stick of dynamite was?) The fishermen will have to wait until May 23 for the opening of the fishing season here. I suspect most of these were the large hybrid trout (a cross between the female cutthroat and the male rainbow trout.) These are most common in Henry's Lake. Some of these guys get to be 18 lbs. It's rare to see so many in such a small area.

I was looking for new flowers as I walked along the cliffs. The Sagebrush buttercup and the Wyoming kittentails were everywhere. I did find tufts of Spreading Phlox (Phlox longifolia) growing along the cliffs of the lake. They are in bunches of beautiful five petaled flowers with center posts of yellow stamens. These are found as white and also blue flowers. There was also a very small yellow blooming spreading mat flower that I haven't yet identified. That was the extent of the flowers so far.

Walking back from the lake we had a nice view of Sawtelle Peak looming over the RedRock RV Park. A nice end to a great day here.