“So how was today?” Ted asked after we returned from Omega Park and were sipping some wine.
“Amazing!”
“Do you think tomorrow could top it?”
“Not sure, but I like to keep myself open to possibilities,” I smiled. I had just spent the day shooting bears, wolves, deer and more: c’mon, how does one top that?
I had no idea what he had planned other than a friend of his had a boat on a lake that had loons with chicks and he knew that I had been hoping to photograph some loons. I have seen nesting loons, but had never seen chicks before and apparently in this area, nesting was over and loon chicks were already paddling around with parents. I was very excited to be able to shoot them at all, so the chicks were icing to the possible photographic opportunities and I had yet to shoot loons with a digital camera.
Then Ted got a phone call. Bad news. Seems that the chicks hadn’t been seen in days and when George, his friend, had gone out to scout, he still couldn’t see them with the parents. A theory developed that perhaps predators had gotten to them. There would still be loons, though, and there was another loon family further down the lake that we would try for. I was still excited to be able to shoot loons at all.
We set out for George and his lake. Like Ted, his house sits on waterfront, though his lake is much, much larger. Folks here take their boating seriously and many have boat houses! This was the first time I ever stepped in one and, as I discovered over the stay in Perth, there are many designs. George drives his boat into the house, onto straps, then hoists the boat up, out of the water, protecting it from rough waves and from things that might stick to the hull, such as zebra mussels. The boat was lowered, we got on board, then headed out to where the local loons hung out. A possibility was that if the chicks really had been lost that it might be early enough in the season that the loons would try again for a family that summer and George knew where they preferred to nest. We scouted the shoreline of the likely little island, but nothing. Then … near the island, there was an adult loon on the water and, bobbing not too far away, were two little balls of light grey fluff: the chicks! They weren’t lost, just had been keeping a low profile.
Here is the entire loon family. They are beginning to be touched by some incredible magic light, but turned away just before they were fully lit up. Notice those yellow things above the loons — dragonflies! I didn’t notice these until I started looking at my shots later. George did an amazing job of sticking with them then letting them go when it was time – if you ever have an opportunity to go out with a guide, take it. It allows you to concentrate on your photography and maximizes your photo ops with minimal stress to the subjects and the photographer.
A parent feeds its chicks.
George is extremely knowledgeable about wildlife, photography and boating – pretty nifty qualities for photographers sitting in a boat with him. When shooting wildlife, it’s important not to stress subjects, particularly when they are nesting or with young. Using energy to escape a perceived threat means that they might be more vulnerable to real threats. George knew where the best lighting was and how to gently herd the family into it. He then switched to a silent electric motor and pulled us closer, but in such a way that the loons didn’t seem to mind. They fished, dove, parents fed the young as if we weren’t there and when they started to wander out of the best light, we let them go.
Sticking around to observe behaviour opens up new photo ops, as well as allowing you to more intimately know your subject. We had been watching these little critters swimming with their parents and on their own for some time during the day. Here, we see one emerging from a dive. It seems to be the adventurous one. We saw its sibling make a few attempts, seemingly unsuccessful at keeping more than its head submerged, before, finally, near the end of our day’s shooting, finally being able to kick its little tail feathers under the water to follow its family in a group dive.
Audio: Loons.
Then! Well, apparently George has been getting very friendly with the local osprey population over the years. He knows their habits, has given them names and has trained them to respond to his distant waves. The mystery of the bags of fish he had brought on the boat was solved when Blueberry turned so that he could see his human pal and George waved. We then had an osprey circling overhead, George threw in a fish, Blueberry plummeted from the sky, hit the water, grabbed the fish and took it back to his family. Just wow.
Blueberry sees the fish and is lining up for an approach.
Feathers ruffle as the osprey picks up speed for his plummet to the water.
Final approach.
UPDATE: Osprey call.
We headed back in and Ted took us on a boating expedition in the Rideau Lake, where we saw more loon families, beautiful shoreline and the wild exotic life of those who live in waterfront mansions and weekend by finding coves and tying up their yachts so that they can party. It was Canada Day weekend and there were a lot of Canadian flags proudly waving from property and boats. That is a post in itself.
I was shooting with a 70-300mm zoom lens. It became tricky because, poor me, the osprey was landing so close to the boat that at 300, great for when he was in the sky, things were too tight when he hit the water — his wings would get cropped out! Fortunately George and the ospreys provided me with a few retakes before the birds were sated and figured they had worked hard enough at hunting for the day.
After dinner, we headed back to George’s for a repeat of the morning. It was a simply amazing weekend. If you’re ever heading out Perth ways, Ted is an amazing host. And, also an amazing photographer, he will pull over if he drives by a great photo op – unlike a certain unnamed party who is teaching me to be very fast on the draw as we cruise long highways between Ontario and Nova Scotia.
I was shooting at f8 to increase the chances of the bird being in focus. For this shot, I kind of wished I had gone for f5.6 to improve the look of the background, but these birds are incredibly fast when diving and if I had the light available, I wanted to increase the chance that the bird would remain within my range of focus.
Two ospreys in perfect sync? Not quite. Silent Sam trespassed into Blueberry’s territory. Blueberry is reminding Silent Sam, who took the not too subtle hint.
Another ‘osprey in flight’ shot.
A Northern map turtle: These critters are very shy and it’s difficult to get very close to them. As we travelled around the lake we would often see them basking on anything that stuck out of the water. This one has figured that we have gotten close enough and is preparing to launch itself into the safety of the water, which gives us a fine view of those paddles it uses as back feet.
What a day to spend on the water!
At the end of an amazing day, it’s back to shore.