September has arrived with the slightly warmer mornings than the previous few months plus the sun rising earlier. Simultaneously the ACT Government extended the COVID lockdown exercise time out to two hours. With all that in mind I decided that it was time to take the camera in the kayak again on to Canberra’s iconic Lake Burley Griffin. Because of the longer time for exercise I could now go for a longer paddle and still have enough time, and light, to take photographs. What amazed me on the first paddle was only when I took the first few photographs of the beautiful, darkly coloured Australasian Darter did I realise how much I had missed kayak photography. I think it was the combined elements of the peaceful water, drifting towards wild birds and just capturing the beauty of the moment. I was so thankful to be out again on Lake Burley Griffin with my camera and, particularly on my first trip, the weather was lovely. I don’t have many shots below from my two trips but I hope that the pictures show some of the beauty that I saw and I hope that you enjoy them.
Lake Burley Griffin is the aritifial lake in the middle of Canberra that was created when the government dammed the Molonglo River in the 1960s. While the lake had been part of the original design of Canberra the cost of the project scared successive governments until around 50 years after Canberra’s founding. Now, I suspect most Canberrans could not imagine the city without the lake. Indeed for the a lot of Canberrans the lake forms the centre of Canberra with people from one side of the lake reluctant to cross to the other half of the city extending from the opposite side. The lake is a centre for so much recreation as well as wildlife, and that is one of the aspects that I enjoy about the lake.
This blog post covers just two trips on the lake in the month of September, during which Canberra was still in COVID lockdown. The first trip was just what I needed, hardly any wind, blue sky, virtually no other craft on the water and some beautiful birds. The second trip, about two weeks later saw more wind but more lovely birds.
Facing Scrivener Dam from the water side
(Apple iPhone 8 [ISO 20, 3.99mm, f/1.8 and 1/210 SEC])
Black Mountain seen from Yarramundi Reach
(Apple iPhone 8 [ISO 20, 3.99mm, f/1.8 and 1/500 SEC])
On the first trip the first bird that I photographed was a lovely male Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae) in his black plumage. It was this simple joy of photographing a gorgeous bird that brought back to me how much I value and enjoy this activity. This bird was a fantastic fist subject for my first shots in a while. He was perched quietly in a small dead tree that was half in the still water located on the northern tip of Weston Park facing Black Mountain. He was a bit nervous about my attention, weaving his slender neck from side to side like he was about to flee at any moment. I didn't get too close once I saw he was nervous because I figured that he would dive into the water, which is what these birds normally do. I knew that the water was cold so I didn’t want the bird expending more energy just so I could photograph it. Again, I was thrilled to photograph this male because these birds are one of my favourite subjects. Their plumage looks so simple until you get a chance to see the beautiful textures in it, especially on the wings. The lake was probably a very good habitat for the darter with calm waters and many fish.
Australasian Darter on a dead tree
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 241mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Paddling back along the calm waters towards the exit point I saw two Australian Pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus) resting on a wire fence surrounding an enclosed swim area. As an aside, I am not sure why there was such a substantial fence to protect this swim area, it was not like there were any sharks in a fresh water lake, several thousand kilometres and several hundred metres above the sea behind many dams and weirs. I ended up thinking the fence may have been more for helping young children who may be in the enclosure and need the security of knowing that there is something solid to cling to if they suddenly feel out of their depth. The two pelicans probably also enjoyed having something solid to rest on while they preened themselves. The pelicans were starting to return to the lake which probably meant that they were able to find enough food as they approached the breeding season. I am not aware of any breeding sites around Canberra so it may be that the lake was just s stopover on a route to somewhere else for the actual breeding.
Two Australian Pelicans on a swimming enclosure fence
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 160, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
There are always Silver Gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) around the lake but their numbers have been increasing due to the breeding season. They were starting to nest, especially on Spinnaker Island, which was not far from where I launched my kayak. The birds tended to fly from the island to this little beach on the lake. The slope of this beach seemed to be gentler than the slopes around the island , that while shallow, dropped quickly from the edge of the island to a water depth more than the legs of the gulls. By coming to this shore they could bathe in water that they could stand in.
On my second paddling trip, just after getting seated in my blue kayak, I noticed a group of gulls dropping onto the water to pluck, what appeared to be small fish from the lake. The gulls would land on the water before quickly jutting their beaks at something in the water, When the birds flew off, I could see a small, fish-like object in their beak. This flying and dropping attracted more gulls from the island until there was about 20 gulls going about this activity. I happily sat in my kayak at the shore line just watching this whirling collection of gulls. I could not photograph it because the light was still too dark in that period just before dawn.
Silver Gulls on the shore
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Leaving the shore on that second trip there was a little bit of wind so so it was a bit more challenging paddling the kayak. Still, it was a mind clearing experience tot be out on this wonderful lake. I made it to yellow buoys warning of Scrivener Dam before curving the kayak around to return. On my way back along a stretch of water called Yarramundi Reach, I noticed an Eastern Great Egret (Ardea modesta) in a tree still denuded of leaves by the last grasp of winter. The long, white bird was just starting to develop its breeding colouration for this special time of the year. The colouration included the beak turning black and the facial skin going from yellow to green. The egret was also developing those delicate white nuptial plumes visible on the back of the bird in the photograph. The rising morning sun reflected strongly off the pure white of its plumage. The bird was a little nervous with my presence, turning its head from side to side before it took off to fly a graceful circle over my head, its bended neck cutting through the air, and landed a bit further along the bank. I did not follow it because I felt that I had already disturbed it once so I turned my kayak back to its original heading, feeling really happy that I had seen such a beautiful bird.
Great Egret changing into breeding plumage
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Paddling back towards the exit point was a little easier because I had the wind at my back, although the wind had weakened so the lake was a bit calmer than the outward leg. In the area where I was to exit there were two old, wooden swimming platforms that were always covered in bird excrement. I am not sure if people still used those platforms, given how decorated they were by birds these days. However, I always had a look at those platforms because of the birdlife to be found using them. That morning a single Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) caught my attention. The bird shared the platform with two Silver Gulls but there was no fighting between the species. The cormorant was mainly interested in preening its black feathers. At one time it shook its dark, sculptured wings out, that is the photo that I used at the top of the blog. These birds tend to be colonial nesters and Springbank Island, not far from where I saw the bird, was often a location for cormorant nesting.
Great Cormorant on a swimming pontoon
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 160, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
I thoroughly enjoyed both my paddles on the lake and photographing some beautiful birds while also getting some exercise. As the weather warms and the breeding season gets into full swing there will be much more activity on the lake and I am looking forward to trying to photograph it.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the Australian Capital Territory has on offer. All the best until the next post.