Pages

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Renting a boat for birding on Lake Henshaw

This past winter Marlene and I stayed overnight at a rustic cabin at Lake Henshaw. [Read Overnight at Lake Henshaw]

In August some rarer shorebirds were reported at the lake, viewable by boat. So we arrived early on the morning of August 28th and rented a motorboat and puttered around on the large, shallow lake.

The cost for the boat rental is $50 (their website says $35), plus $7.50 per person for lake access. So it was a bit expensive. But Marlene and I had a great time. Birds weren't really afraid of us in the boat. We were limited a bit by shallow water in the southeast end of the lake, but got many photos of the shorebirds there.

We rode around the boat in the morning. Then we stopped for lunch. Afterwards we went around the lake again, but the wind came up blowing us into the muddy shallows and creating slightly rough water, making birding and photography difficult.

So, if you want to spend a couple of hours boating around the lake, my recommendation is to arrive early,... and don't bother if it's windy. For shorebirds, mid-August is probably best.

Lake Henshaw
Looking back at the boat dock at Lake Henshaw.
Great Egret
Great Egret
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
American Avocet
American Avocet
Stilt Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Baird's Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Clark's Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant

No comments:

Post a Comment

I really want to hear from you! I've changed settings (again) in order to try to make commenting easier without opening it up to spammers. Please note, however, that comments to posts older than 14 days will be moderated. Thank you.