Memorial Day Sunrise on the Water
Memorial Day weekend in our family tends to be the weekend we get a lot of Spring time chores taken care of. Planting the garden, getting out a watering system, miscellaneous yard work, etc. This year, I was able to get the kayak out for the first time since I put it away in the fall.
It’s always a fun adventure getting on the water for the first time each year. I have to find all the goodies, unpack the kayak, get cross bars on the car, and get ready to go. But, somehow it was a breeze this year and Sunday night I packed it all up for the 4:45 a.m. start in the morning.
I was also a little nervous about bringing my new (to me) 500mm lens out with me for the firs time. One really has to have certain level of confidence in your paddling skills to try that for the first time.
Mist on the water.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/4 • 1/2000s • ISO 720
I got to Busse Woods (in the suburbs of Chicago) right before the sun was rising and the water was covered in a beautiful blue-cast mist. In the Chicago area, the sun will burn off the mist right at sunrise so the reward to getting up so crazy early is to be able to capture this magical moment.
First frame of the day. The mist was a deep blue color before sunrise.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/4 • 1/1000s • ISO 1100
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Busse Woods is a large county preserve with a manmade lake that contains several pools and multiple islands. I decided to venture over to the north-east pool first before the sun came up because I had been hoping to find a few blue herons that had been spotted in the area. On my paddle over I spotted several cormorants and some ducks.
A cormorant perched waitng for his friend to join him.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/4 • 1/1000s • ISO 720
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A very fast flyway over a glass-smooth lake surface.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/4 • 1/500s • ISO 900
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/4 • 1/1000s • ISO 1100
Needless to say, these images happened way too quickly and I wasn’t really dialed in for the best shot at the best settings. I could tell I had lost a lot of practice from last year at picking proper settings, anticipating the action and tracking birds in flight. It is amazing just how rusty you can get at photography from a kayak over the winter. It really is a very weird and specialized skill.
The sun was just starting to crest over the nearby trees so I paddled over to another pool right by the rookery island and found a flight of geese just landing.
A goose is a goose but I love the way they land.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/4 • 1/1000s • ISO 280
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At this point, I looked over to find a kayak angler about 100 feet away from me on the shoreline and decided it might be a good idea to give him space, so I paddled south toward a set of small islands and a dam. As I came around the far side of the island slowly, I started to paddle as quietly as I could in case there was wildlife on the other side. And, lucky enough, as I turned the corner I saw a trio of swans on the shore, and oddly enough they seemed to be very annoyed with a group of pelicans in the water behind them. I’m sure there was a nest nearby they were protecting.
Swan trying to scare off a pelican.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/5 • 1/2000s • ISO 280
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I love the backlight on the pelicans below. American pelicans are one of my favorite birds to photograph and I love just observing them. I had been trying to find pelicans in the Chicago area for several years after I heard they migrate through the area every year. Earlier this spring I had finally found them at the Des Plaines confluence where the Des Plaines river meets the Kankakee river near Channahon, Illinois. So, it was an unexpected surprise to find them here as well as it should be way past their migration through this area. Maybe these decided just to stay! Hopefully we will have a squadron of pelicans here all summer!
I circled around the group giving them ample space so I could get the sun behind me. The sun had already lost its early golden hour hue but was still low in the sky and lit these big birds up beautifully. What more could I ask for as I just sat with them for about 30 minutes as they paddled all around me.
I finally decided it was time to head back to the ramp and call it a day. On the way back I stumbled across an an egret feeding off in the distance. There was another boat fishing along the bank getting closer and closer to the egret and eventually it flushed the egret and it flew right by me.
To me, egrets are one of the hardest birds to photograph in flight, largely because they are fast and very white and usually are flying against a dark backdrop - at least in Illinois. However, everything lined up right this time and I was happy to paddle away with this shot.
This shutter speed is quite slow but I lucked out and got a few good frames as the egret flew past me.
Nikon Z6iii • 500mm • f/5 • 1/1600s • ISO 220
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I was almost back at the ramp and this goose flew past. This provides a nice contrast to the egret. As you can see, their colors often match well with the background, they fly quite a bit slower and their feathers have a lot more contrast - so for me, they are so much easier to photograph.
And that was it - what a wonderful way to spend the first part of Memorial Day. I’m grateful for the sacrifice of our fallen heroes and for freedoms we share in this country that allow us to enjoy nature and wildlife even if it is in the middle of suburban Chicago.
Happy paddling!