Wildlife by a Lake Shore

     In the afternoon of April 24, 2016, I stopped by the shore of a human-made lake near the road I was on in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to see what wildlife was visible.  There was plenty.
     The first creatures I saw were more than 20 tiger swallowtail butterflies on the mud of the lake shore.  They had pupated in cocoons in the dead leaf litter on the floor of a nearby woodland through the past winter and recently emerged.  Now they seek nectar from flowers, minerals and salts in mud and animal droppings, which they were doing when I saw them, and mates.  Those several tiger swallowtails were also entertaining to me while fluttering and bobbing into the wind as they shuttled from place to place on the mud flats.  
     Several painted turtles of all ages and sizes were picturesquely sunning themselves on tree stumps, and logs fallen into shallow water near the edge of the impoundment.  Several kinds of water turtles, being cold-blooded, do this to warm themselves so they have the energy to hunt food and mates the rest of the day.
     While along the impoundment shore, I heard male American toads trilling musically in the distance, their voices trailing beautifully across the water and mud as a remnant of the ancient age of amphibians.  Though I couldn't see the toads, I figured they were in a puddle of shallow water near the lake, a place where their black tadpoles could hatch without being eaten by fish.  From past experiences with spawning toads, I could picture these male toads sitting in inch-deep water, their throats bulging out as they trilled for females to join them in the water to spawn thousands of eggs that will hatch in a week or two, depending on the water temperature.   
     A few big carp plowed through the shallows to feed on algae and invertebrates in the mud.  I could see their scaly backs protruding above the water as they pushed this way and that.  Occasionally a carp jumped partly out of the water with a splash, presumably after low-flying insects.
     Several tree swallows skimmed in erratic flight low over the water in hot pursuit of flying insects.  They are easily identified by their metallic-blue backs and pure white under parts.  They will soon nest in tree cavities and bird boxes near the impoundment.   
     About 20 migrant American coots repeatedly dove under water from the surface to eat algae and other water vegetation in the shallows.  Down and up, down and up, swallowing the plants when on the surface, then diving again for more.  The coots were unmistakable to identify because of their habits, shapes, gray feathering all over and gleaming, white beaks.
     I was happy to notice a few broods of recently-hatched Canada geese goslings, each one with both of their protective parents.  The goslings were small and cute, each one clad in gray and yellow fuzz as they grazed on vegetation of the lake shore.
     And I saw a pair of wood ducks swimming in the shallows along the shore of the water closest to a deciduous woods.  The hen probably has been laying an egg a day in a tree hollow somewhere in that woodland.  She will start setting on her clutch of 12 or more eggs after the last one is laid so all the ducklings will hatch on the same day and leave their nursery together the next day.  Staying together and with their mother is the ducklings best strategy for survival.
     It was an interesting hour and a half I spent along that lake shore.  Anyone can do the same as I did simply by having patience and quietly waiting for critters to come by wherever you happen to be.