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Great numbers of coots & ducks are living quietly on the lake & there are young Ruddies & half grown coots & I think immature red heads. The tule borders offer good breeding grounds for ducks, coots, rails, marsh wrens & redwing blackbirds, all of which are common.

The water in the small lake near our camp is up to my neck just out of the tules & I dont know how much deeper out in the middle. The bottom is covered with wild celery which the coots & redheads are constantly feeding on, diving for it or picking it from the floating mats on the surface that have been brought up. Their stomachs contain little else.  The red heads are delicious but the coots, tho fat, are still flavored more with coot than celery. They are fairly good but still rank.

The water is very cold - my last swim, Oct. 3, for a red head out as far as I could kill it with the shot gun was in water close to 32°, after hard frosts.