Besides all the family, who have now mostly gone their separate ways, there are plenty of other photo opportunities. The animals here provide some photographic challenges. Like this little guy:

The chipmunk above and left, darts around so quickly, I had to use sport mode to capture a decent shot (and delete about thirty useless shots–gotta love digital cameras).

This heron hangs around periodically, mostly when I do NOT have my camera, but I managed to snap one decent shot (and only had to delete six or seven).

This duck is much easier. She’s constantly swimming around the dock and practically posing for close-ups. Note how clear and beautiful the water is here.

And I managed to sneak up on this little merganser family:

No such luck so far with getting close enough to the loons for a good photo.  They’re out on the bay most evenings and you can hear their haunting cry late into the night and sometimes at dawn, but I’d need a longer lens and a tripod (or a really quiet boat). Still, as I’ve learned from this tree . . .

. . . NEVER give up!

Seriously. Never.