I Love It When A Plan B Comes Together

Whenever I head out for a day of photography I always have some sort of plan for how I am going to approach the day. This plan is never too elaborate and doesn’t take much time to put together. Usually, it’s nothing more than where I am going to go and my direction of travel once I get there based on light and wind. If possible I want the light at my back as this makes for easier views and better images and those of you who have followed me for a while know I almost always search in areas protected from the wind.  

My plan on this day was to revisit a lake in Algonquin Park I had paddled the previous week where I saw a cow moose and her two young calves. On my initial outing, I enjoyed nice views of this trio but failed to capture any images as I was too far away. The wind was forecast to be strong out of the northwest but thought if I hugged the shoreline I would be protected and end up at the far end of the lake right where I had seen these moose previously.

Arriving at the lake the wind was due north and the waves were crashing in on the beach at the launch area. Paddling for several kilometers into this headwind was going to be no fun so I knew I needed to come up with a plan B. 

One thing about Algonquin is there is no shortage of lakes, so I decided to go to a lake on the other side of the road. The wind there would be offshore and I could safely and easily make my way into a narrow, slow-flowing river that joined another small lake.  

After unloading my canoe and filling it with my gear and Molly, I began paddling for the river. The wind at my back helped push me along and this close to shore there were no waves. Entering the river there were few American Black Ducks on my left resting on a fallen tree. These ducks may not be the most colourful waterfowl but for reasons I’m still not sure they’re one of my favorites. After a few pictures, I continued down the river. 

As I made my way downriver, I could hear loud splashing in the water behind me. I looked over my should and saw two moose entering the water. Seeing a moose in the water from my canoe has always been a dream of mine so this experience was incredible. I quickly raised my camera and began taking photos as the moose proceeded to drink. I believe this was a cow moose with a young bull born last year as he was bigger than other calves I’ve seen but not as big as the cow. The two watched me as I watched them and they didn’t seem overly concerned about my presence but did keep a close eye on Molly. 

I captured a video of the two moose swimming across the river which you can watch on YouTube below. 

What happened next was truly amazing. The two moose swam across the river to the other side. Almost effortlessly they crossed but once on the far side began sinking in the mud. The mud was too soft to support their weight and they quickly sank to their knees. It was a little difficult to watch these amazing creatures struggling to get out of the water but it didn’t take them long to get their footing.   

I think the soft mud must have been too much of a challenge for these moose as not long after crossing the river they entered the water again and swam back across to where they came from. Watching this from about 40 yards in my canoe was an awesome experience and one I’ll never forget. I was impressed with how calm Molly was as she really didn’t care about the moose which is surprising as she is normally fascinated with creatures larger than her. She glanced over as the moose splashed but that was about it. She gets much more excited from the back seat of the car when we stop to see moose at the side of the road. When hiking if we come across deer she often gets so excited she lets out a loud bellow that sounds like a cross between Chewbacca from Star Wars and a bull Elk bugling. On this occasion, merely a brief head turn. 

Continuing further down river another moose came into view grazing in the tall vegetation. This moose was much more skittish and quickly hightailed it back into the forest. 

Exiting the river, I made my way into a protected bay on the next lake. Here, I had great views of a loon as it splashed around and preened. I find the loons in Algonquin very curious and they often swim over to my boat shortly after coming into view. I have had some incredible views over the past two seasons as many of these birds have come to within a boat length while I watch and photograph quietly. 

All the images in this post were taken with my new Tamron 100-400mm lens. I love this lens as it is incredibly lightweight (2.5 lbs) and I’m happy with the focus speed and image quality. The zoom range is perfect especially for larger subjects like moose and close subjects like the loons. I have found myself using this lens at 250mm or less on many occasions since coming north. 

As is the case whenever I am photographing birds and wildlife I like my shutter speed at least 1/1000 if possible. With slower moving subjects like moose and loons, I could get away with a slower shutter speed but given the fact I’m moving drifting in my canoe, a fast shutter speed is still warranted. On this day I had plenty of light so set my ISO at 400 and aperture to f/8 to give me a little more depth and detail which resulted in a shutter speed of 1/1600. On bright sunny days like this, it’s easy to blow out the highlights so after checking my histogram I adjusted my exposure compensation to -2/3 of a stop to retain detail particularly in the white feathers of the loon. 

Having a plan helps me get the most out of my time outdoors. As mentioned, my plan is nothing elaborate that takes weeks or days of planning. Often it’s thrown together the night before or the morning of an outing based on weather and wind direction and if the weather report happens to be off as was this case on this day it’s a good idea to have a plan B. With three moose and a loon seen on this adventure, there’s no doubt I’ll plan a trip back soon.

Good birding,
Paul