I made almost a week long trip to the Adirondack Mountains in New York. I am not kayaking as far as I did last year. Luckily I do not have to go far to see loons on the lakes I visited. All the pictures below are from one lake. These were over two days. Some were in the evening and others during the morning.
Slow down and enjoy nature. Sometimes you do not have to go as far as you think.
I saw an egret coexisting for a short while with a heron on a tree. Is this a little blue heron or a tricoloured heron?
These are not the best shots because of the direction of the light and cloud cover. I could not go elsewhere. It was facing land and I was in a kayak.
Still looks smaller than the egret.
In the above picture the heron appears to have a white underbelly. It looks like maybe a bit of a stripe down from its neck to its chest, but not the best angle to see. The eye seems reddish with yellow around it. The feathers around the head appear to be mostly grey with more purplish tones in the back of the head. The sun poked out from the clouds and we have a better view of its colours.
I am guessing this means this is a tricoloured heron. Correct me if I am wrong. What do you think? Either way it is the first time I have seen a tricoloured or a little blue.
Sometimes you lucky out with sunlight, and sometimes you don’t. One this morning after the fog lifted you could witness some great colours on the water. These are just two of many I got that morning.
What is on or near the shore affects what colours you see reflected on the water’s surface. It could be boats, boat covers, kayaks, SUPs, etc. Also if the sun happens to be behind your back or at an angle can affect how you see the colours.
Articles on our near shore can add to the photo in ways you may not have originally expected. Get out and enjoy the summer between the rain. If your weather is like New York, we have downpours almost everyday.
There are a lot of great egrets at Assateague. You can many times see them just as you cross over the bridge onto the island. From the island side if you look on both sides of the road at the marsh areas you usually see a few on each side after the bridge.
These were all taken on the bay side of the island from a kayak.
I mostly saw egrets standing on trees, or standing next to the water in the grasses. They pose great for pictures!
Not all bad light days make for bad shots. The morning I took these this past clouds were covering the sun and the lighting conditions were not optimal. I got some good feeding shots regardless and shots of the parents with fish.
These pictures were all taken at a distance with zoom lens.
A cloudy day does not always ruin your chance at getting good photos. Go out and enjoy nature even when it is not sunny.
I have had loons swim under my kayak before. This time a mother loon called to her mate. The mate came swimming back to watch the baby loon. The mother promptly went under water and popped up above water on the other side of my kayak. In its mouth was a big fish.
She then went under the water and I could locate her by the light coloured fish she had in her mouth going under my kayak. She then popped up on the side she was originally on, but close to my kayak. I thought for sure she was going to share it with her mate. Nope! I can’t believe she ate the whole thing herself!
Was she showing up her mate by catching a big one so fast? Was she showing off to me? Nature is better than TV. Loons are pretty cool birds. As always keep your distance. If they approach you, let it be on their terms.
The kids were all away getting ice cream. My friend’s brother went body surfing before sunset. The waves were big all the days I was at Assateague this year. It seemed to make for good conditions.
Body surfing is just another activity you can do at Assateague Island.
There are lots of opportunities to see wildlife at Assateague Island in Maryland. Besides getting up close views of pelicans at sunrise via paddle board you can also go out on a kayak or paddle board for trips through the marshy areas on the bay. One of the many birds you can see is a green heron.
Green Herons like to hang out at the water’s edge to bring in fish or catch dragonflies. They are small in comparison to great blue herons.
This heron seemed to be quite successful at catching fish.
This one proudly paraded around in the grass with a little fish it caught. There are many things to see at Assateague while on the water. When you go to Assateague don’t ignore the bayside, you may miss out on a lot.
There are a lot of different kinds of wildlife to see at Assateague Island and the surrounding area. No telling where this American Bald Eagle’s nest is. It could be on the mainland or somewhere on the island. I only saw the eagle one day when I was there, so like the Adirondack eagles it probably travels a lot within the bay area.
These pictures were all taken from a kayak. It is hard to be steady when on a kayak. You can’t use a tripod.
This is an adult eagle. They get the white feathers totally in around their head by the time they are five. After they are born and fledge they mostly have brown feathers as juveniles.
When I saw it look down I was hoping it would swoop down and catch a fish. Not to be this day. I would like to see an eagle catch a fish.
After a while it flew away to another dead tree in another part of the bay. After three trips to Assateague, this was my first time seeing an eagle there. I felt lucky.
One thing you can do every morning at Assateague Island is go to the ocean side beach and watch the sunrise. Sometimes the horses beat you there.
My last day there, the boys said they wanted to get up and paddle board at sunrise. I did not believe them as they have been staying up late ghost crabbing until midnight etc.
Sure enough one of the boys and his dad made their way to the beach after I did and went out paddle boarding. There was cloud cover near the horizon, so the sun did not actually appear until a little after sunrise. The sky was purplish.
At this time of the morning I usually see pelicans flying low over the crests of the waves going south and returning north. The above paddle boarder had the experience of a group of pelicans flying right in front of him on his way out.
The boy and his father went pretty far out but had trouble travelling north. The currents out there were going in two directions.
The other boys made it out to watch the two brave the ocean during sunrise. Usually several people are on the beach each morning at the state park for the rising of the sun. Just another way to enjoy Assateague Island!
