Day trip to Algonquin Provincial Park Pt.2

By Ben
Published on October 19th, 2009
1 Comment

So continuing on from the first post….

As I was taking photos of the little critters some more people showed up at the Spruce Bog Boardwalk. One of the visitors was a photographer named Richard. Nice fellow. He shoots with Nikon! So we exchanged cards and got to talking about the area and he told me about some exciting wildlife opportunities near Lake Opeongo.

So I left the Spruce Bog and Richard to his little photo excursion and headed towards Lake Opeongo with a quick stop at the Beaver Ponds hiking trail. Didn’t see much there other than some ducks that were too far away for anything good to show up in camera. After doing a run through and scouting the area there, I left the Beaver Ponds and drove the 1/4 mile down the road to the Opeongo Road.

A male Spruce Grouse that decided to strut his stuff across the Lake Opeongo access road.

A male Spruce Grouse that decided to strut his stuff across the Lake Opeongo access road.

Richard was there already at the bridge and I hung around there for 30 minutes looking for something to take a picture of. Mainly that elusive moose. Richard seen one earlier in the day nearby but alas nothing in the afternoon. I got in my Jeep and drove further north along the access road towards Lake Opeongo and that’s when I seen a Spruce Grouse. I took a few photos of the grouse but of course with it being close to evening and in the shade I only had one good photo of the bird.

Here is the bottom end of Lake Opeongo. Reflections were beautiful.

Here is the bottom end of Lake Opeongo. Reflections were beautiful.

I continued on and pull off the road near where the old Opeongo Road went across the swamp. The Opeongo Road came from near Ottawa back in the day and came all the way over through Barry’s Bay and up to Lake Opeongo. It was a logging and settlement access road. Richard came by and we took some photos in the area then continued on up towards the Opeongo Store.
A Great Blue Heron fishing along the grasses near Lake Opeongo, Algonquin Provincial Park.

A Great Blue Heron fishing along the grasses near Lake Opeongo, Algonquin Provincial Park.

That is when I spotted the Great Blue Heron. We both took some shots then some otters decided to do some splashing around so we tried to get some photos of these guys but were a bit too far off for my lens.

While taking these photos and watching the otters swim around two loons came by. I took some photos and watched them as they went back and forth fishing the swampy channel then Richard noticed that the loons were starting to head closer towards the Opeongo Store docks.

Two nonbreeding adult Common Loons fishing Lake Opeongo, Algonquin Provincial Park.

Two nonbreeding adult Common Loons fishing Lake Opeongo, Algonquin Provincial Park.


Both Richard and I headed down to the docks to see if we could get some closer photos. We went out onto our own separate docks as they were not wide enough for two photographers and camera equipment.

As we walked out onto the docks the loons had dived about 100 feet out. We both waited and then the first one came up about 50 feet or so to the left of Richard. As I kept an eye on the glass smooth water ahead of me I noticed a couple bubbles come to the surface. That’s when I thought to myself that maybe the loon was swimming towards me.

Nonbreeding Adult Common Loon swimming away from me after surfacing from underneath the dock I was standing on.

Nonbreeding Adult Common Loon swimming away from me after surfacing from underneath the dock I was standing on.

That’s when the loon came out from under the dock and surfaced about 2 meters from me. WHOA! It startled me and I managed to capture a few shots. I don’t know who was more startled, me or the loon!

The loons swam off but that wasn’t the end of the photo shoot. A Great Blue Heron flew over from it’s grassy hunting ground and over close to the docks to hunt in the pickerel weed. The heron showed us it’s hunting techniques then flew off about 15 minutes later.

Great Blue Heron fishing in the pickerel weed on Lake Opeongo.

Great Blue Heron fishing in the pickerel weed on Lake Opeongo.

I enjoy going into Algonquin Park and I am planning a trip again this weekend both Saturday and Sunday, depending on the weather forecast. Sometimes rain can be a drag but could make for some different photography but I hope it’s nice and sunny.


1 Comment

Comments

One Response to “Day trip to Algonquin Provincial Park Pt.2”

  1. TRICIA Says:
    August 30th, 2010 at 5:25 am

    THE IMAGE WITH THE HERON IN THE GRASSES WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT BEFORE YOU MAKEIT FULL SIZE LOOKS AS THOUGH THERE IS ANOTHER ANIMAL IN THE GRASS-DID YOU NOTICE THIS AT ALL? YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES. TRICIA

Leave a Reply