Join Me on My Birding Boat, Part 1

A few years ago, one of my good friends talked me into going kayaking with him at a nearby conservation area, for some nature photography. Well, I wasn't too sure about that ... who, in their right mind, would take a camera/telephoto lens worth approx. $4,000 out in a 1-man kayak, over water! But after much persistence from my friend, I gave in and off we went.

To make a long story short, I had the most fun! And walked away with some nice images of White Pelicans that I otherwise would not have been able to capture.  In fishing language, I was hooked!  A few months later, I purchased my own 1-man kayak and now I live for capturing nature images from my own kayak, especially in the spring and fall, when the great bird migrations are going on.  So join me on my "birding boat", aka "Rubber Ducky", for a few of the many images I have captured so far this season. Part 1 features some of the warblers that I often encounter along Missouri's streams and creeks.

Prothonotary Warblers are some of the most common birds I find in spring:

 

I was even able to capture this Prothonotary Warbler, acting as pest control by snatching a mosquito out of the air:

 ... and this one finding a morsel caught in a spiderweb:

Another common warbler I see is the Yellow-rumped Warbler:

... and the Yellow Warbler:

 

Another common warbler found while kayaking, although I've only seen a couple this year, is the Common Yellowthroat:

And last year, I even saw my first Wilson's Warbler:

In my next post, I will share some non-Warbler bird images that I've captured from the kayak.

This post was made by Jim Braswell of Show-Me Nature Photography