Loons from a Kayak! - 29 Aug 2017

We woke to dense fog on the lake this morning. The rising sun was a glowing orb so I ran outside and took some photographs of the sailboat, the fog, and sunrise with the silhouette of a Common Loon in the foreground. Unfortunately, in my attempt to transfer files to the computer I managed to delete everything on the Sony a6300, so I lost the last 2 days of digiscoped videos and photos. Grrr…

The only thing to do was to grab a kayak and go look for loons on the water. I picked out a Perception Impulse 10' kayak, and paddled out onto White Sand Lake with the Nikon D500 and 300/2.8 VRII in tow. I was able to find the juvenile loon in front of the cabin and managed to get some wonderful portraits with the sun at my back. My presence did not disturb it in the least, in fact, at one point it dove and resurfaced right in front of me, and all I could do was quietly float and watch it swim and dive next to the kayak. 

Kayaking this year was an improvement over last year. I used a detachable paddle so that I could maneuver the kayak through the narrow channel between Sand and Lost Lakes. Fall warblers were moving through, so I managed to see Palm, Nashville, Pine, Yellow-rumped and Mourning Warblers. Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches were calling from all over the place, as well as the occasional Gray Catbird. Juvenile Chipping Sparrows were also foraging in the low portions of the pines. 

After lunch I took a short nap with Asia, and we took a walk outside to explore. I spotted a pair of adult Common Loons swimming by the cabin, so I ran in and grabbed the camera and headed for the kayak, again. As I paddled out to where the loons were I spotted 4 Bald Eagles along the far shore squabbling and wrestling. So, do I go left for loons or right for eagles? I chose the loons.

Once I was able to get on the side of the loons with the sun at my back I was able to quietly drift and take photos as they swam 50-100’ away. They didn't seem particularly concerned with my presence as they dove and reappeared in the same locations, ate fish, and even groomed. I caught this sequence as one adult stretched to shake out its wings. I love the spray of water...

Photographing from the kayak was tricky, and scary. I had to make sure I was evenly balanced so as not to tip the tippy-canoe, and trying to focus while the kayak drifted, and the birds swam, was challenging, but the D500 does a wonderful job of locking on. Once they drifted away I turned to look for eagles.

I found 3 Bald Eagles perched on dead birch snags along the shoreline so I paddled over to the far side of the lake and spent some time photographing the adult birds while battling waves from passing pontoon boats and fisherman. Thank God for 10 fps as it was difficult to keep the birds in focus and center-frame.

I would paddle back near the inlet to Little Sand Lake and find a single Hooded Merganser floating in the shallows. I managed a few photos of it before it tired of my presence (they were much more skittish).

A Great Blue Heron was grooming along the shoreline and paid me no attention. So much for Sentinal-of-the-Marsh...

I paddled back in time for dinner at the Minocqua Brewery and back to the cabin in time to watch the sun go down. Happy Tuesday!

(46.0047,-89.8437) Dillman’s Bay Resort, Vilas, Wisconsin, US
Aug 29, 2017 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Kayaking
13 species

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  1
Common Loon (Gavia immer)  3
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  4
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  1
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  1
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  2
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)  1
Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia)  1
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)  1
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S161099884

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)