Yates Mill

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We were honored to have Dennis and Phyllis Hoffman drop by for a visit on their way home from visiting family in Virginia.  We had a few hours of daylight to do an activity, and Yates Mill seemed like the perfect destination.  Dennis loves to take dragonfly pictures, and there are a lot of dragonflies around the mill pond.  Of course Dennis and Phyllis were familiar with my shots of the mill and knew they would enjoy the scenery and history of the mill as well.

I took this shot of Dennis and his lens in the parking lot.  Earlier in the summer the coneflowers were beautiful in this garden.  Now, there is milkweed and their bugs as well as morning glories.

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The most exciting moment of our visit was seeing a great blue heron (GBH) on the mill pond forebay and dam.  He was pretty tame for a GBH.  I stood as close as 6' to him at one point.  He even flew right over top of Johnny's shoulder.  Dennis got a magnificent shot of him in flight and wings out.  I got this head close-up.  Although I've seen GHB's at the mill near the boardwalk I had never seen a heron at the mill itself before.

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We missed the 2PM tour, so we didn't go inside the mill yesterday, but at the end of the tour they turned on the water wheel, and Dennis and I were able to get some lovely pics of the spillover.  If you plan to visit the mill, you should definitely try to time to visit to coincide with a tour so that you can experience the wheel turning.

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I am going to let Dennis talk about all the dragonfly species he and I shot there yesterday.  I am sure we took shots of at least 10 different dragonflies.  I'll share my favorite of the day below.  The muddy water down near the mill pond serves as the backdrop.

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I couldn't resist this cute baby turtle either.  We saw fish and water bugs in the water under the mill too.  No wonder the GBH hangs out there!

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In this shot, Dennis is standing in the corner of the overlook deck where I took my daily photo.  He suggested that spot over another one that I usually use, and the results were good.  Johnny is looking at Phyllis through the view finder, and Donnie is resting in the shade.  It was QUITE hot yesterday after a mild summer.

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To my delight, on the back marshy boardwalk, there was a swarm of hummingbirds.  I am sure I saw at least 10 buzzing about at one time.  I worked to make this one presentable.  I want to go back this week and try my  hand at some more shots.

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In our way back to the car, Johnny wanted to play.  I always enjoy taking people shots as they walk on the boardwalk.

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The highlight of Johnny's visit was Maggie.  He has missed Blaze so much, and Maggie was happy to sit beside Johnny and read with him last night.  Maggie is 7 and a border collie/corgie mix of some sort.  She was a happy and polite house guest.

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Unfortunately, Phyllis and Dennis are on their way back to Texas now.  We sure hope they can visit again some day.  Johnny tried to leave with Maggie, and Phyllis gave him that Grandma hug on the way out.  'Til next time.

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