Birds

These are some birds you are likely to see around the water.


These are all long-legged, long-necked wading birds typically seen near the water's edge. They will tolerate your approach to a point, and then fly away - one of the advantages of being a bird.

Snowy Egret

The Snowy Egret is very easy to spot, because it makes no attempt at camouflage, and stands out in any environment. They make up for this by being rather wary, although I have seen individuals beg for food from fishermen, a learned behavior that is not common. The Snowy Egret is very common; it would be difficult to go out kayaking and not spot at least one.


These are small birds that are often seen over water. They both feed on flying insects, which they catch on the wing, and over water seems to be a good place to do that. At night, these birds are replaced by bats, doing the same thing. You are unlikely to get a good look at any of these, as they are all very fast and agile fliers.

Chimney Swift


Mallard Duck

Female above, male below

There are many kinds of wild ducks, and even more types of domesticated ducks, but the Mallard is a good representative of all. Ducks are harmless. Bring some bread along, I never met a duck that didn't expect to be fed.


Male, females are gray

This is one of my favorite birds to see when I am out paddling. You're not going to get very close though, a good reason to bring along the binoculars. The Kingfisher is a songbird that thinks it's a hawk. They are actually related to Hummingbirds. You might think that makes them not very aquatic, but I have seen them dive into the water, surface, and take off again, so I guess they put some effort into evolving. ( The Cormorant might want to take notes. ) Kingfishers usually sit in branches near the shoreline, and fly very low and fast over the water.


If you've never spent much time on the water, then you probably don't realize just how fast you can get sunburned. That is because you are getting a double dose of the sun - both direct and reflected off the water's surface. You can get burned very fast.

The best protection against the sun is a big broad-brimmed hat (not a baseball cap - that is nearly useless.) If you periodically dunk the hat in the water or wet it from a bottle, it will stay nice and cool.