Canadians
So I’ve been needing to get back into jogging for awhile. My weight is up quite a bit now. But I had a brilliant idea in my head that I could take my camera on the jog with me and jog to someplace (along the American River) where I could do some photography of birds or what not, then jog back afterwards. So this is what I did. I packed my bag as light as possible (basically only the camera and the 400mm lens in it). I was worried it would jiggle around too much which might be too hard on the lens, but I packed it well, and it seemed to be fine. I went to Lake Natoma and started jogging to this spot I thought might be good, and went down to the lake and sat down and waited. At first, it didn’t seem like a very good place. There were no birds around at all, and I was thinking I might have to go somewhere else. However, before too long, some Canadians splashed into the water from across on this little island and swam over to me. I don’t like taking photos of geese or ducks much (too common), but these guys came right up to me, within 5 feet. So I took a bunch of shots of them for awhile. I had to really pull back the zoom on the 400mm lens for some of them. I was amazed that they had no qualms about coming close to me. The ones at Salmon Falls are much more skitterish and don’t let you get very near them. But Lake Natoma is a much more popular place, and these guys are probably quite used to people (and getting handouts – I think that is why they came up to me in the first place). Still, I thought it very interesting that they are so different in comparison to the ones at Salmon Falls, which is only a few miles away. After the geese left, I noticed a kingfisher on the island across from me, fishing for dinner. He was a bit too far away, but I tried taking a few shots of him, and I watched him for quite awhile, as he would dive down into the water to catch a fish, then fly back up into the tree branches. He did that 4 or 5 times. Then, just as I was putting my camera away to leave, a hawk flew right over head. I could’ve had a great shot of him if I was ready. Then an egret flew over, and I missed him as well. So all in all, I had a pretty nice time there. I am definitely gonna do this again, jogging with my camera.
Here’s a couple more of the geese:
