Cahooque Creek is just a few miles from my back door step and makes a for a nice little paddle when the winds are up or the tides aren’t right for exploring the area’s estuarine environments. It’s not the best paddle location for wildlife photos but occassionally you get lucky. Recently I got lucky. On my last two visits I came across a Green Heron. These little herons aren’t seen in abundance in these parts so it was a treat to see and photograph one. In fact this is the first “Greenie” I’ve had the pleasure to photograph.

The Green Heron can be found throughout the eastern United States during the summer. It is a year round resident of Central America and the northern end of South America. This small heron is unique in that it is one of the few tool using birds. It drops bait onto the surface of the water then grabs small fish that are attracted. Baits and lures used by this cleaver bird include various insects, worms, twigs, and feathers. These birds breed in swampy thickets, foraging in marshes, along creeks and the edges of ponds and lakes.

As I mentioned in my last post I had a bit of trouble locating horses on the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve last week. I had a bit more success yesterday morning. I found a small group consisting of one stallion and three mares out on the shoals. They even entertained me by crossing from one shoal to another while I was wathcing and photographing! I found a larger group on Carrot Island not far from the boardwalk/observation deck, across from the Lenoxville boat ramp. This group was staying up in the shade of the cedar trees and digging holes down to a fresh water source. I suspect that with the recent heat and humidity a lot of the horses are staying in shade and close to drinkable water. You wouldn’t think something as large as a horse would be difficult to find, but honestly if one hadn’t whinnied while I was in ear-shot I think I might have walked right past them! It makes me wonder if I’d missed some the other morning.

I exchanged a couple of emails about their behavior with Jared Lloydd, a professional wildlife photographer and biologist that’s spent a lot of time photographing and observing Banker Horses. (See the links area for a link to his excellent website and for information on his horse photography workshops). Jared mentioned that the Shackleford Horses also dig for water when conditions dry up fresh water pools on the island. He noted, however, that the Banker Horses up by Corova have no need to do so as it’s a much wider island and tends to hold large pools of fresh water. Also, even if the pools were to dry up he mentioned the Currituck Sound has a low salinity level and the horses could drink from that if needed.

It was good to spot the horses and to get a chance to photograph them some more. When photographing the shoals group I was in my kayak, hand-holding a 500mm lens. That can be a bit of a challenge due to the rocking nature of being in a boat. A faster shutter speed is required to keep from blurring the images. In order to keep the shutter speed up, a higher “film speed” or iso is required (light sensitivity setting) which can result in a bit of “digital noise” in the image. When on the island I’m using a tripod with a gimbal mount to insure everything stays nice and steady. This allows the use of slower shutter speeds and also a “slower” iso setting. Simply put when using the tripod you have more workable options available, giving you greater artistic control over the resulting photos. Shooting form the boat you often have to make some compromises and settle for fewer optsion to insure a usuable image. However you gain the advantage of often being able to approach closere without alarming your subjects using the boat. Below are a few photos from the morning’s session.

If you haven’t noticed my kayak has become one of my favorite tools for taking photographs of birds. There’s really only one reason for this recently discovered love affair; the kayak gets you to where the birds are. Not only does it get you to the birds, the birds are more tolerant of a water approach than they are of a land approach. Shooing shore birds from a kayak also has another advantage, you’re pretty much guaranteed a shot taken on the birds eye-level. You can look through my recent image postings and see lots of examples of this wonderful, low perspective.

The kayak can also be used to get you where the action is. That action might be birds in flight, birds diving into the water to snag a meal, or birds perched and/or nesting above the water. It’s not just for photographing wading shore birds. This morning I made a trip over to Rachel Carson Estuarine Reseve. I started out with plans to visit my favorite spots but planned a bit of a twist. My goal was to get a few images of birds in flight if possible. I also wanted to spend a little time concentrating on the Ospreys I’d observed around the reserve.

I luanched from the Lenoxville boat ramp just before 8:30 AM. This put me on the water near the end of high-slack tide. The water was absolutely glass smooth with no noticeable breeze to be found. I headed east to start out by visiting the Osprey nesting platform. The pair has been busy and the nest is starting to take shape. I then worked on along the sound-side edge of the reserve, stopping here and there to snap a few shots of shore birds. I then noticed some terns fishing the shallows and moved into position with the hope of getting some shots of them in flight. After working the terns for a while I continued on, photographing some more shore birds, then headed back towards the ramp. On my way back I noticed one of the Osprey perched in a dead tree, so stopped to take a few more shots of this majestic raptor.

While I captured plenty of nice, low shots of shore birds on this trip, I also managed some nice flight and high perched images. I thought I’d share some of these for a change of pace. Here’s an Osprey in flight, coming in for a landing… an Osprey perched… and a Forster’s Tern in flight. Hope you enjoy them.

Sunday’s weather forecast was calling for an absolutely perfect day. Even though I early afternoon commitments that I couldn’t get out of there was no way I wasn’t going to get the kayak into the water. I arrived at the Lennoxville Road boat ramp around 9:30 AM. I wasn’t the only kayaker with the idea of enjoying some of this beautiful day on the water. There were two more folks getting ready to launch their boats with a third kayaker already in the water waiting on them. We exchanged pleasantries, they headed west on Taylor’s Creek. I headed east.

My float plan was to travel west along the inside edge of the reserve, navigate around the east end of the island then explore the sound side shore while paddling west. The weather was absolutely wonderful… blue skies and golden sunshine. The water was mirror-like calm with the only ripples being those caused by the forward motion of my kayak. Within a couple minutes I spied a couple of herons on the shore and carefully paddled towards them for a closer look. One was beautiful Little Blue Heron. The other a Tri-color Heron. Quite a treat indeed. I paddled slightly past them before moving in closer to shore, then allowed the current to move me nearer them for some photographs.

As I rounded the end of the island, paddling through the North River Channel, I looked up to see an Osprey pearched high atop a tree and eying my progress. The high sun angle bathed this large raptor in very harsh light, light that was not at all desireable for photography. Additionally, the angle from my boat. so close to the surface of the water, to his high perch was extreme and wouldn’t make for a very interesting shot. As such I just continued along my way with the hope of crossing paths with him again under more favorable conditions.

Paddling along the Southeast end of Carrot Island and moving towards Horse Island the shore line, if you can call it that, was largely marshland. As I paddled ahead I began to get a bit discouraged despite of the warm sun and fresh sea air. I just wasn’t encountering any kind of wildlife. As pleasant as paddling is, especially on such a fine spring day, it’s seeing wildlife that pleases me most. After a while a lagoon opened up and I could see Banker Horses feeding along the water’s edge. I navigated my kayak in closer for a look and to make some photographs. Now if you walk up towards a horse, even a very domesticated horse, the animal will tend to look up at you to see what you’re up to. These are feral horses, wild and free. You’d expect them to be even more suspecious. Yet my approach from the water caused them no alarm. Not a single horse raised it’s head to look at me! While its very cool how approachable animals are when paddling a kayak, a photo of one of the horses without it’s head down would’ve been pretty nice too.

Leaving the lagoon I continued paddling west along the the reserve. I really was hoping to find some American Oyster Catchers. But I was starting to wonder if I was going to find any. As thoughts of doubt ran through my mind I noticed a fairly large dark bird flying straight towards me. As it passed on my port side I immediately recognized it as an Oyster Catcher. My thoughts of doubt changed to excitement and anticipation. “I must be getting close!”

Ahead I noticed a small island with a large number of birds on it. On the shore beyond the little island of oyster shells I could see several Great Egrets and, beyond them a few Banker Horses. Moving closer I was astounded by the variety of birds sharing that one little patch of dry gound. Brown birds, black birds, white birds… feathered creatures large and small, there was certainly quite a gathering there. Among them several American Oyster Catchers. I paddled a bit up current and allowed my kayak to drift up against the island. The birds were surprisingly calm about my close proximity.

After getting my fill of photos of the birds on the little island I paddled over to get a few shots for the Great Egrets. Then I noticed a flock of Red-breasted Mergansers swimming nearby and paddled in their direction. Ducks tend to be quite nervous of people and rightly so. After all, they’re known for tasting good! These guys were certainly a bit nervous about my presence but as long as I allowed the wind and current to move me towards them, rather than paddling, I was able to get reasonbly close. In my mind this is a fairly exotic looking duck and I was pleased to be able to add a few images of the species to my collection.

Since it was nearly high tide and time was quickly sliding by I decided to see if I could cut through the shallow channel across the island rather than retracing my steps back the way I’d come. As it worked out it was no problem paddling through the channel to Taylor’s creek. However, I don’t think there’s anyway it could be done at low-tide. The short-cut reduced my return to the boat ramp by almost and hour from what I’d originally planned, leaving me a bit of extra time to get ready for my afternoon commitment.

I’m awe struck by the variety of birds I saw in this short, two-hour paddle. While I didn’t photograph every species of bird I saw I observed the following: Little Blue Heron, Tri-color Heron, Grackle, Osprey, American Oyster Catcher, Marbled Godwit, Dunlin, Willet, Lesser Tern, Black-bellied Plover, Great Egret, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, and White Ibis. Truth be told I probably forgot a few! The abundance of birds to be seen along the Crystal Coast in the spring is simply astounding. Well worth the effort of exploring the area by kayak.

I’d planned on going paddling Thursday morning but the weather forecast changed during the day Wednesday and it seemed I’d need to go that afternoon if I was going to get a kayak outing in at all. I put in at the boat ramp off Lennoxville Road, Beaufort, North Carolina with the goal of paddling along the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve in search of birds and Banks Ponies. I paddled across Taylor’s Creek and headed east along the edge of the island reserve. In my mind I was going to round the tip of the island and explore along the sound side a ways. However, as I started around the end I encountered a healthy bit of wind creating a side-to swell. Being fairly novice to kayaking and not feeling overly comfortable in that situation, I decided to turn back and just stick to exploring the Taylor’s Creek side.

Heading west I noticed something white in some trees on the Beaufort side of the creek. Straining my eyes to see a little clearer I realized it was an egret. While I couldn’t tell if it was a Snowy or a Great Egret I knew I wanted to paddle over to see if I could get a shot or two. As I approached I noticed a second bird in the same tree… a Black Crowned Night Heron! These are a bit unusual to encounter so I was a bit excited about the find. I positioned my boat up-current and allowed it to drift towards the birds as I snapped a few pictures. This seemed like the quietest way to approach them. After I drifted past I paddled back across the creek to explore along the island.

I came across a flock of White Ibis feeding along the shoreline. They really paid me no attention as I grounded my boat on the sand to provide a bit more stable shooting platform. The biggest issue I had was that there was a slight rise between me and most of the birds. I guess that’s one of those rare cases of being too low to get the shot I wanted.

Further down the island I decided to beach the boat to do a bit of exploring along a boardwalk that had been put in on the island. It lead back to on observation platform overlooking a mudflats area. It was around low tide, late in the afternoon. There was a plethora of birds on the flats… Willets, Ibis, Egrets, a pair of Common Mergansers, Terns… quite a sight to see. As I turned to head back to my boat I noticed a huge raccoon walking out of the brush along one of the horse paths on the island. I moved against the LH hand rail, where the overhaning branches of a Wax Myrtle would provide me with some cover, and started working forward to try and get a shot of the ‘coon. After a shot or two I noticed his attention diverted to my left… a blind spot from where I was. Next thing I knew a fox came barreling out of that area, straight at the raccoon. I’m not sure if the fox only rammed the ‘coon, or bit it, but there was definately a confrontation. About then they both recognized my presence and headed into the brush. I didn’t get a shot of the attack, but did get a shot of the fox heading for cover and the raccoon looking at me, seeming in shock, before running for cover. It’s always interesting to see these bits of drama in nature.

The Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve consists of a series of small islands and marshes located between historic Beaufort and Shackleford Banks. The area is separated from Beaufort by Taylor’s Creek, with Back Sound lying between the reserve and Shackleford Banks. The main site includes Town Marsh, Bird Shoals, Carrot Island and Horse Island. Combined the main site is approximately three miles in length and less than a mile in width. Off the east end of Carrot Island, across North River Channel, the reserve includes the Middle Marshes. The marshes are about two miles wide and, like the main site, less than a mile wide. The reserve is home to more than 200 species of birds, wild horses, as well as fox, raccoon, rabbit and river otter. Access is via boat. Local water taxis can provide transportation if needed. It is certainly an amazing resource for viewing wildlife.

With the wonderful weather we’ve been blessed with I decided it was time to break out the kayak and give it a paddle. My float plan was fairly simple, I’d put in at the wildlife access along Chatham Street/Old Hwy. 70 near Newport (Google Earth: Newport River Park, NC) about mid-way through the rising tide. My thinking was, being the Newport river is a tidal stream, the incoming tide might somewhat off-set the river’s flow and make upstream paddling a bit easier. I’d paddle upstream until the river got too small/shallow, it got too late or I got too tired, then turn around and ride the flow back to the launch point.

The river is fairly wide and slow up to and slightly beyond the Highway 70 bridge. A bit beyond the bridge, after passing a few houses built along the banks, it narrows appreciatively and the flow increases. That trend continues… the further upstream you go, narrower river, swifter current. I’d say I got a pretty decent workout from the trip. It’s hard to say exactly how far I paddled upstream. I tried to track and measure the trip using Google Earth but the river becomes so narrow and the trees so thick that tracking the river on the satalite imagery becomes impossible! My best guesstimate is I paddled somewhere between 3 and 3.5 miles from the launch before turning back

The Newport River is quite serpintine in nature. It winds and twists through thick forest. I discovered that when traveling up river, against a healthy current, that turning sharp corners was a little bit of a challenge. As I was making a turn the water flow would be hitting the boat somewhat broad-side, fighting against the turn. Not an impossible feat obviously. Probably magnified by a lack of experience and physical conditioning on my part.

On the trip upstream I did see a bit of wildlife. On several occassions large turtles abandoned their sun bathing to scurry into the water as I neared. I observed several Piliated Woodpeckers along the way, as well as smaller woodpeckers and Northern Flicker. I came across several pairs of Wood Duck and had one hen allow me to pass by quite closely without it flying. I also saw a number of hawks, an owl and a couple of Great Blue Herons. The problem being moving upstream and constantly fighting my way around turns and past/through log jams, it wasn’t practical to pull my camera out of its dry-bag to try to attempt a photo on the trip up.

The down-stream trip was, of course, much easier. Turning the kayak around bends in the river was nearly effortless and for a large part of the trip back there was little need to even paddle. Now I clould get away with having the camera out and possibly getting a shot of something interesting. Unfortunately I must have scared everything away on the way up as I saw very little on the quiter trip down. I was stuck with snapping a few scenery shots just to get a little practice taking pictures from a kayak.

Overall it was an enjoyable few hours and I’m sure I’ll repeat the trip sometime. Looking at a topographic map I’m wondering if the water is deep and wide enough where the Newport River crosses Nine-foot Road to get away with putting in there and floating way down to the launching ramp at Newport. I’d need to get a second paddler with a second vehicle involved in that adventure, but it could be quite fun. It’d defineately be more condusive to photography. Maybe I’ll give it a go some time. I’m also looking forward to exploring downstream from the launch. In that direction the river gradually widens until it empties into Bogue Sound between Beaufort and Morehead City.

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The weather has simply been terrible lately. Combine that with a fairly full schedule and I’m finding myself suffering from a major case of cabin fever. It’s been so wet here lately that even setting-up in the backyard to photogrpah birds around the feeder is a challenge. It would take very little activity to turn my yard into a mud bog! But at least there’s plenty of time to dream and to plan the adventures that will come with Spring.

One thing I’m looking forward to when warmer weather arrives is doing a bit of kayaking. There are some very wonderful natural areas around the Crystal Coast, but many of them are only accessible by water. The kayak will allow me to explore some areas that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. One advantage of a kayak, or so I’m told by those that use them for wildlife photography, is that birds and animals aren’t as skittish of kayakers as they are hikers. Most of the things that threaten them in the wild come from the land, not the water. Another advantage is that a kayak sits you closer to the surface of the water… that gives you a lower angle of view in your photos. And, of course, it’s a fairly quiet way of approaching wildlife, unlike a skiff with its outboard motor. It should be fun.

In selecting a kayak with photography in mind I probably made a pest of myself on a few of the nature forums. I asked a lot of questions of folks with experience… possibly to the point of being annoying. But it is so easy to spend money poorly when setting-out in a new direction and I really wanted to make a sound decision. From my research I decided that I wanted a “recreational” rated boat, as it would likely be a bit more stable. (For some reason camera gear and baths don’t mix well!) This style of boat also tends to have a larger cockpit making it easier to shoot from. I also learned that there is some advantage to length. The longer boats tend to move through the water faster, easier, straighter and require a bit less effort to paddle. While I started out looking at 10 foot boats I ended up with a 12 footer. I settled on a Prodigy 12.0 by Perception. The three boats I was most interested in were the Prodigy, the Pamlico or Pungo by Wilderness Systems, and the Dirigo by Old Town. I suspect any of the three would have met my requirements.

Since this is a new endeavor for me I wanted to keep things as economic as possible. Anytime embarking on some new outdoor activity there’s a real possibility of finding it’s not what one thought it would be! As such I shopped around for a used boat. Many times kayaking outfitters will sell off their rental boats during the off-season. These kinds of purchases can save one a bit of money. I ended up buying a rental program boat from Paddle Creek, Wake Forest, NC. I found them to be very friendly and helpful throughout the process.

So here I sit, daydreaming of adventures to come. As warm weather arrives I hope to provide some reports, and imagery of course, from places like the White Oak River, Newport River, Back Sound, Shakleford Banks, Rachael Carson Estuarine perserve and other wet and wild places around the Crystal Coast. Since I really don’t have an image taken from a kayak yet, but it wouldn’t feel right to make a post without a photo, how about a nice symbol of Spring? Taken recently along the Neusiok Trail near the Pine Cliff recreation area, an Eastern Bluebird… certainly a creature of the spring in my mind.