Towards the end of this past summer, I had the idea of getting into kayaking, particularly for birds and bird photography. Being a lifelong cambridg (?ion/ian/an?) living right next to the Grand River I decided it was about time to explore the river head on. The result .... I present to you the Pelican Trailblazer ....
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| Preliminary Setup of the Pelican Trailblazer 100 NXT |
There were a number of routes I covered, but I put an emphasis in the following stretch of river travelling south from Moyer's Landing in Preston to Riverbluff's Park in Galt.
In short, I didn't fulfill my initial hopes and dreams of Western Sandpiper's, Whimbrel's and other wonderful assortments of rare shorebirds. However I've had some great opportunities to improve my photography skills as well as develop a deeper appreciation for photographing birds in their natural element.
Without further rambling, here are some of the results from my Grand River adventures spanning from August - November.
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| Ring-billed Gull stretching |
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| Great Egrets heading to roost for the night |
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| Double-crested Cormorants against Moonrise |
Along the Grand, Yellowlegs, Killdeers and Spotted Sandpipers formed the bulk of shorebird's, but these Pectoral Sandpiper's mixed in with some Lesser Yellowlegs were an exciting addition to the kayak list.
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| Pectoral Sandpipers amongst Lesser Yellowlegs |
It seemed that no day was like the other, where a slight change in conditions can drastically change the mood of a photo, providing some experimentation of settings when taking pics.
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| Bald Eagle in Flight |
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| American Black Duck |
I was pretty pleased with the results produced, having recently upgraded my camera body to the Canon 7D Mark II. One of the benefits of kayaking was being able to get unusually close to generally timid birds.
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| A very late Great Egret (Nov. 10) |
There's this inner feeling of relaxation and ease when on the water, that is quite difficult to explain in words. To say the least, I am already looking forward to explore some new locations next season!
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