We paddle Scuitto and Campbell Lake each and every year, but we try to schedule Campbell Lake for late August or September to paddle with the pelicans and sandhill cranes. Campbell Lake is at the end of the Scuitto Forest Service Road, a 14 km bumpy backroad. There is a BC Recreation Site on the south shore of the lake and a good boat launch there for fishermen and paddlers.
No wind is always a blessing for both paddling and photography. An early start on a sunny day with no one else on the lake made this outing perfect, but I couldn’t see any pelicans from the boat lunch.
When the pelicans come to Campbell Lake, they usually roost in shallow bays on the south side of the lake. There are some private properties on the north side of the lake. They fly to other areas of the lake to fish, but they congregate in one of two bays, not very accessible by land, but fine for a kayak. A kayak can skim over very shallow water to get closer to the pelicans.
Rafts of ducks filled all the shallow bays and a few perched on logs by the shoreline.
In the largest shallow bay there were 16 pelicans clustered together. Some were sleeping with heads buried in their feathers, but most were preening or resting. A few aired their wings, standing apart from the pod.
I used a telephoto lens to try to get a close up of the birds, but it is only an intermediate lens. Its too hard to use a heavy, long lens in a kayak. I floated in without making any noise and kept my movement to a minimum. The pelicans kept an eye on me, but did not disperse.
I took lots of photos, then I continued around the lake. There were also two sedges of sandhill cranes on the lake. They are much more skittish than pelicans, so I got whatever shots I could from the water.
The second group wheeled over the lake making a racket, then settled into a small bay across the lake.
We spotted all sorts of birds on the lake, but the pelicans were the stars of nature’s show on this day.
Campbell Lake is a very nice paddle on any day, but it is a special place when there are blue skies, no wind, a quiet lake, and lots of birds to see.
