Basha Kill By Kayak 7/1/12

The recently fledged Bald Eagle, Basha Kill WMA

 

 I read John Haas’ blog, The Bashakill Birder on a regular basis. Recently John has posted about the great birding he has been doing from his kayak. He has been seeing some of the birds that are little more interesting to me: American Bitterns, Least Bitterns, Common Gallinules and high numbers of Great Blue Herons and Wood Ducks. Inspired by this, I made it out to the Basha Kill early this morning to do some birding by kayak. It was a beautiful morning and it was very refreshing to be out in the marsh all alone. While I did not have success with some of the harder to find birds, I did get to see many Wood Ducks (almost at every turn!) and Great Blue Herons too. I was able to get out much closer to the Osprey’s nest where I watched the two adults going after a Great Blue Heron that decided to land in a tree a little too close to the nest. I also got some amazing looks at all three Bald Eagles. I was a little disappointed that I was unable to see (or even hear!) any Common Gallinules or Bitterns, but this is just something I will work towards. It was a great day of birding and I did alright with the camera. Here are some photos from the day:

 

This adult Bald Eagle was keeping a close eye on its young one.
Wood Ducks were everywhere, many of them were ducklings.
One of the many Wood Ducks I flushed as I kayaked the channel.
This Mallard put on a show for me, dipping under the water several times and then flapping her wings like mad.
Adult Bald Eagle, Basha Kill WMA

 

3 thoughts on “Basha Kill By Kayak 7/1/12”

  1. The GBH sitting at the top of that dead tree is awesome! Glad you had a fun, productive morning.

  2. Matt,
    Congratulations on a great blog! Your photos are great. Don’t feet too bad about not getting some of those birds this weekend. Since the hot spell, they have hardly shown themselves. The best time for Least Bitterns is May and June, though I did hear one today. You will soon see many Common Gallinules by kayak. The young will be moving about and you should get some good pics. I will watch your blog and see how you make out. Best of luck, John

    1. Thanks so much John, that means a lot coming from you. I have really enjoyed doing it. Thanks for the tips, I really want to see a Common Gallinule soon! See you out there, Matt

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