Another Sunday In January At Baihe Reservoir

Pushed for time as usual, so this is just a brief collection of some of the many photos I took last weekend. All of these shots chosen below were taken with the 18mm kit lens with the exception of the eagle pictures which were all taken with the 300mm lens. First, another shot toward "Pillow Mountain" (枕頭山) with bamboo sticking out of the water in the foreground...

Approaching the entrance to the central channel connecting the western part of the reservoir on its' hidden north side with the eastern part of the reservoir...

Two small stone markers I spied in a cul-de-sac within the central channel; I couldn't make out the characters clearly due to the long grass...

Another fairly close shot (albeit this image is also cropped) of the crested serpent eagle I posted on Wednesday...

Another, smaller bird of prey, almost certainly a falcon...

And just across from him in a neighboring tree, another eagle (about two or three times as big)...

I took those pictures from a small corner of the channel which contained this hazard - a dead tree. Hazardous to me in my inflatable boat because the dead branches under the water could have punctured the boat if I wasn't careful. But obviously I was very careful...

Looking out from that corner toward the channel's first inflection point (left to right corresponds to east to west - the direction I was travelling in)...

All but one of the boats and fishing pontoons of this first "lake" inside the channel had been removed...

Approaching the second bottle neck...

Looking back on it having passed through...

Hugging the northern shoreline, heading straight west into the late afternoon sunshine...

Approaching the exit of the central channel out into the reservoir's large western spurs on the hidden north side - it's been a long time since I was last here...

Looking back - the central channel opening is to the left, and the aperture to the right proceeds towards the south side of the reservoir and the de-facto swamp which is what the general public can see from the dam...

And I then headed southwards having spotted another eagle perched in a tree, thinking I could use the cover of the trees to sneak up on him for a close up shot. I did actually manage this, but I only got one shot before he took off...

... and flew across to the other, eastern side at which point I paddled desperately to get as close as I could though I was restricted by the mud flats that extended northwards from the swamp area...

I headed back northwards to turn into the central channel again and make my way back up to the far eastern corner of the reservoir. A pylon just on the corner to the channel's entrance...

The central channel's western entrance...

Looking back as the sun began to set...

Approaching the central channel's eastern entrance...

Leaving the first (east-to-west) inflection point behind...

Well into dusk, I spotted these two stray dogs wandering along the reservoir's edge looking for dead fish to eat...

Just before the light failed...

It was an exhausting five hours or so on the water, but well worth it. Many lessons learned which I don't have time to describe now.