On virtually all of my kayak outings, I have been accompanied by some flycatchers. I’m not positive on the ID of these wonderful insect loving birds, but I believe they are Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe) – if one of my birder friends can help with ID, please let me know. They are a lot of fun to watch as the perch above the water, then fly out over the water, catching insects on the fly. Here are a couple of images:

And this next image shows the flycatcher, sitting in one of the recently featured Buttonbush shrubs, chewing on an insect he swooped down over the water and caught:

These little guys are a blast to sit and watch as they go about collecting insects, though a bit skittish. I have found that if I just let the kayak gently float into their hunting territory, I can usually get much closer to them.

Yesterday’s kayak outing was fantastic! It all started with the drive out to the launch area … we had a “cold” front move through on Sunday and this resulted not only in a grand sunset on Sunday, but the sunrise on Monday was also quite spectacular! In fact, I had to stop 4-5 times on the drive out to the Consevation area, to get some images (unfortunately, had to use my point/shoot camera since I didn’t have a tripod or wide angle lens for my Canon body with me). We had a nice layer of fog in the low-lying areas, with the sky a bright orange/red/magenta, so the landscape was quite remarkable (if images come out, I will post some on another day).

Got to the Conservation area, unloaded the kayak and paddled around the area. With the American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea) plants getting quite large now (some stems are 2-3 feet high), I had a “smart” idea … back the kayak into a stand of American Lotus, where I would be more difficult to be seen, and wait for critters to appear. Good in theory, but not too smart practically … remember yesterday’s post “Be Sure to Look in the Trees”? I was sitting there, relaxing and enjoying the cool morning temps and waiting for something to happen. Then IT happened … ever get a feeling you’re being watched? Well, I got that feeling and turned to look at the other side of the kayak. As I did, a 2-foot Diamondback Water Snake thrashed about and headed away from me … seems he had slithered in on top of the lily pads and was about ready to “hitchhike” a ride with me in the kayak! Boy did that wake me up!!! I immediately moved out of the Lotus grove and decided my camo clothing and kayak were darned good enough for hiding from critters!

No sooner had I moved out of the Lotus plants, I heard loud splashing in the water ahead of me, at the edge of the bank. Straight ahead was a tree that had fallen over and was lying partially in the water; the tree was still alive and fully leaved, but just not upright. As I approached the tree, up popped this little guy from the top of the downed tree:

The above image was taken with my 100-400mm lens + 1.4x TC combination. I wanted to grab an “Environmental” shot, showing the raccoon in his environment. After a few clicks of the shutter, I then zoomed in with my lens to a telephoto mode to capture some closeups of him:

While I was watching/photographing this Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor), I was still hearing splashing so I eased the kayak around the edge of the tree and there were 2 small raccoon kits playing/foraging at the water’s edge! Then mom, who had been at the top of the tree, appeared at the base of the tree … then a third kit showed up, then a fourth! Ended up with 5 kits following mom around! Can you find the five in the following image (it was difficult to get all 5 in one photo with the telephoto lens!)?

When not playing, the five kits were following Mom around, feeling at the water’s edge with their front paws for a snack:

I had been wishing for a raccoon family to appear. About this time last year, there were a couple of families that routinely visited this area. After photographing the raccoons for a while (they weren’t at all bothered by my presence), I left them to their task and paddled around to see what else I could find. The American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea) are really beginning to bloom right now, so I spent some quality time photographing these beauties, including some macro images. I’ll post some of my favorite Lotus images in a few days. All in all, a heckuva day on the water!

While kayaking last week, I encountered quite a few Diamondback Water Snakes (Nerodia rhombifera rhombifera) swimming about. These snakes are not venomous, but will bite viciously to defend themselves. They grow to 30″-48″ in length and are most commonly found along river sloughs, oxbow lakes and swamps. Their name is derived from the light areas along the snake’s back, which may be shaped like diamonds; from the side, it has vertical dark bands that run from the belly area to the back.

As I sit in the kayak, it is not uncommon to have one swim towards the kayak to check me out. However, if I move (and I do before one reaches me!) they will usually “tuck tail and run”. The other day, I saw one swimming in my direction as I sat just off one of the location’s various islands. As it got closer, it veered off around me and headed to the island. Watching it, I saw it began to climb one of the small shrub-like trees on the island and before long it was nestled in a branch fork of the tree:

And here is another Diamondback, lying on the edge of one of the various small islands, preparing to swim out into the water:

So, if you venture out in a canoe or kayak … be sure to look up in the trees before floating beneath them!

I had an interesting encounter the other day while kayaking. I was floating among the American Lotus, when a Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)  swam out of a dense growth of Lotus and headed straight towards the kayak:

As he got closer to the kayak, I could see he had chewed down an American Lotus stalk and was carrying it back to his nest:

The above photo was taken as the muskrat was about to reach the kayak. In fact, you might notice that the muskrat’s face is not really sharply in focus; he had just reached my camera/lens’s “minimum focus distance” and I was unable to maintain a tack-sharp image of him. Just after I shot this frame, he ducked under the water and swam under the kayak, emerging about 10 feet on the other side of me. He then swam off to my left, heading to his nest with the Lotus stalk still clenched in his mouth:

There are many muskrats at this location and I have often seen some swimming back and forth in this area. Many times, muskrats will build “huts” that sit out in the middle of the water. Although this location has a lot of huts around, I have noticed that a lot of the muskrats here have built their nests into the banks at the water’s edge. These nesting sites have underwater entrances (usually more than one) and it is usually easy to figure out just where they’re located by watching the muskrats swim towards the bank, then dive down when they are just a few feet from the bank, to enter their homes. I can just imagine that this little guy was taking his American Lotus stalk back to the nest … after the wife ordered Carry-Out!

A few evenings ago, while strolling around our acreage, I checked our Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) trail nestboxes and found that the bluebird pair that had fledged 4-5 bluebirds just a few short weeks earlier, had started their second brood with 4 beautiful, blue eggs! Thursday evening, my nestbox check found that one of the eggs had hatched. Friday morning, I checked on the box again and found that there were still 3 eggs in the box with the youngster. I quickly snapped this image of the scene:

Interesting pose! Then it hit me … “Look, Junior is helping Mom by keeping brothers & sisters warm!”. Doesn’t look too comfortable, does it? I was beginning to wonder if Junior was okay, or not. Then it moved slightly, so I assumed it was alright and made a mental note to check it later in the day. Yesterday evening I trekked back out to the nesting box and gently opened it up. Junior was in a completely different position, so it looked like everything was ok, but still snuggled against brothers & sisters: 

Then, as I was closing up the box, Junior raised his head and announced he was hungry:  

I quietly closed up the box and headed back to the house, feeling good that everything is going well for Junior and siblings. But I’ll be checking it later today for progress of hatching.

Yesterday morning’s kayak outing was a really fabulous time out. Although I didn’t get to photograph Belted Kingfishers fishing, there were plenty of other critters stirring about. And the weather was absolutely outstanding … temp started in mid 60′s, clear skies, low humidity … a great morning to be on the water!

The adventure began shortly after I pulled into the small parking lot where I launch the kayak. Since it was a while before sunrise would occur, I decided to sit in the truck until more light was on the pathway to the launch area; there are a lot of water snakes at this area and I certainly don’t want to step on one while carrying the kayak … my luck, I’d drop the kayak on my foot and break some toes! Anyway, while I was sitting in the truck, I noticed something behind me, scampering across the road. Since there was just enough light to see (we were in “Civil Twilight”, the ~30 mins before actual sunrise time), I thought “What the heck, if the images don’t come out, I just hit ‘Trash’!”. So I placed the ISO of my camera to 6400 and off I went.

I ran across the road and looked for my little buddy. At first, I didn’t see a thing … then, what’s that?

I could see a tail sticking out of the tall grass. Ah, it’s a cute little kitty. Then the kitty decided to come out of the tall grass, towards me:

Oops! On the other hand, walk the other way, kitty! But “kitty” perked up and stared right at me:

Well that was enough for me … time to grab the kayak and head for the water <skunks don’t swim, do they?>

I was pleasantly surprised that the images came out pretty well. After all, I was hand-holding the camera with a 100-400mm lens and a 1.4x teleconvertor … and it was ~20 minutes before sunrise! But the great sensors of today’s cameras are really a blessing for those early morning encounters!

Anyway, got the kayak out and launched, and began paddling to my favorite spot near a beaver lodge. I did see a Belted Kingfisher yesterday, but it did not stop to fish. No real matter, as many things were stirring in the beautiful morning air! But I’ll save that for another post. But yesterday truly was a Scentsational outing!

This morning I’m heading back out in the kayak, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that soon I will get some more photo opps with the Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon). I have seen a few this year, but the fish fry have just been too small for their taste. During my last kayak outing, however, I saw quite a few fry … and they are definitely getting bigger. The Belted Kingfishers are so much fun to watch and be with. I especially enjoy their fishing behaviors, including diving into the water. Such a joy!  Here are a couple of images from last summer.

This first image is a female Belted Kingfisher … the females have the reddish-brown belly band, while the male is missing this striking color … with a fresh catch:

Often, the Belted Kingfisher seems to only want to partake of his catch when it is “well-done”. To get the catch to this condition, he/she will often repeatedly beat the fish, headfirst, into the limb the bird is perched on, as this female is doing:

So, I’ve got my fingers crossed that today will be the day I can again watch and photograph these unique feeding behaviors!

Funny how we photographers often travel to other places to photograph interesting sights or wildlife, and overlook some very interesting things in our own back yard … in my case, my front yard! If you’ve been following my posts for a while, you are aware that I do a lot of kayaking at a couple of local Missouri State Conservation areas. These are not long distance, both places are less than 15 miles from my rural home. My main focus on these kayaking trips are the local wildlife: beavers, birds, raccoons, wildflowers, and whatever macro subjects I can find along the way.

Just 2 nights ago, after a fun-filled morning in the kayak, I decided to take a walk around our 10 acres to see what was going on. As I walked out the front door and off our large, covered porch, I ran across a pair of Widow Skimmers (Libelulla luctosa) resting in one of our gardens. The pair was very nice looking, no visible wing pieces missing, nice color, perfect photo ops! So I went back inside, grabbed my camera with macro lens, and headed back out. Here are a couple of my favorite images:

Widow Skimmer male

Widow Skimmer female

The Widow Skimmer lives throughout Missouri, as well as most other states and even a few Canadian provinces and south into Mexico. Widow Skimmers tend to perch vertically, about halfway up plant stems. Newly emerged adults tend to fly towards fields and woodland edges, where they spend about 2 weeks feeding and maturing before returning to the water. Males have a white band across the middle of their wings that gets more noticeable as they mature.

Hope you enjoyed the wildlife from my front yard!

With fish fry now in the local Conservation area, there will soon be Belted Kingfishers and Green Herons fishing the area I kayak. So far, I have seen both species, but they are not actively fishing. I believe that when the fish are a bit bigger, the birds will be there on a steady basis. Photographing the Green Heron fishing is so much fun for me. And I’m totally amazed how well-balanced this bird is, often leaning out way beyond the body. This post contains a series of images of a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) taken at this same location during one of last summers’ kayak outings.

In this first image, the heron takes aim on a small fish and is patiently waiting for it to come just a bit close to the surface:

In the next image, the Green Heron lunges for the fish, with blazing speed, extending way beyond his clenched feet:

In this next image, the Green Heron is returning to his perch, with small fish in his beak. As you can see, the size of the fish is quite small, maybe 2-inches max:

Having downed the caught fish, the Green Heron now sets his sight on more, incoming fish. Like the saying goes, “Can’t eat just one!”:

I think you will agree that the Green Heron has tremendous balance. Like the Green Heron, I’m patiently waiting, with camera drawn, for the fishing to begin!

When returning to the kayak take-out area Saturday morning, I heard a rustling noise above me as I glided to the shore. Looking up, I noticed a squirrel in a mulberry tree, feasting on the ripe berries. I slowed the kayak and slowly maneuvered under the tree so I could get a better look, and a few images. In this first image, the squirrel is hanging upside-down as he pulls off the ripe berries and stuffs them into his mouth:

As I moved the kayak around to get a better look, he climbed on top of the limb and sat eating the berries while I clicked a couple of pictures of him:

As I shot away, he moved about and decided to “hide” from me. I love this next shot … as he attempts to hide, not only is he still visible (you can see his eye peering between the leaves), but look at his “love handle” as his stomach wraps around the limb! It was quite hard to make this shot as I was laughing so much. Good thing I have IS (Image Stabilization) built into my lens!