In late summer each year I drive the backroads to get to Campbell Lake Rec Site to paddle the lake and, at the same time, spot and photograph pelicans and sandhill cranes.    I timed it right and saw both, along with eagles, an osprey, loons, many ducks, deer, and shoreline birds.   Campbell Lake is a pretty spot, with low hills surrounding the lake.

Paddling the whole lake shoreline is about 8 km, but some of the bays are very shallow in late summer so paddlers may need to adjust their shoreline routes.

There were about 10 pelicans standing on rocks or in shallow rocky bays on the south side of the lake.  To get good photos, we have to drift in, then use a good telephoto lens.

The  shallower bays were sometimes choked with aquatic vegetation, but getting closer to the sandhill cranes and pelicans means paddling through those bays, scraping the rudder in the mud.

About 20 sandhill cranes flew into the lake and landed on the shoreline at the end of a large muddy bay.

After spending some time watching the pelicans and cranes I paddled all the way around the lake, another great day of paddling in the hills.