During our recent canoe camping in Killarney expedition, we were lucky enough to spot several types of wildlife. Especially, we saw plenty of loons over the weekend.
Fortunately, we got the opportunity to get real close and take some pretty nice pictures of them.
Though it wasn’t the first loon we saw that weekend, the first loon we photographed glided by our campsite on our first morning there.
We’d seen a few the day before while paddling in to our campsite, but we didn’t really have time to stop and take any pictures for fear of arriving at our campsite in the dark.
Now, on land, we took plenty.
Browse the Loon on Boundary Lake gallery — click any image above to view a full-sized version in a pop-up carousel.
Later that day, we went for a bit of a day hike.
Shortly after setting off on the La Cloche Silhouette Trail to explore the area, we surprised a porcupine along the path.
It scurried up a tree so fast that we weren’t able to get any decent shots, just blurry ones that look like a big dark spot on a green background.
But, I guess that’s ok after all — our dogs might have gotten into trouble if the porcupine had decided to linger about.
At camp that night, Marc saw a salamander while gathering wood for the campfire.
He rushed back to the tent to grab the camera, but the salamander had disappeared by the time he returned.
The next morning, two loons visited the lake by our campsite on Boundary Lake.
We were reminded of the time, at Esker Lakes Provincial Park near Kirkland Lake, when two loons locked in a mating dance whizzed by our campsite in a frenzy, flying low above the water.
However, that was dusk and this was morning, and these two loons were just floating peacefully by.
Next, we saw two cormorants sitting in a tree while out for a day hike on our way to Silver Peak.
No loon appeared at our campsite on our last day of the trip, but it was still our luckiest day yet.
As we were paddling out to return home, we approached a loon that didn’t seem to be disturbed by our presence.
We stopped paddling to observe and take pictures from up close as we floated by. We probably wouldn’t get a chance like this again soon!
Browse the Loon on David Lake gallery — click any image above to view a full-sized version in a pop-up carousel.
Fortunately, the bugs didn’t come out until our last day of the trip, so we didn’t see too many of those!
All in all, it was a great weekend for sighting wildlife! The loons were particularly lively, but we also saw ducks and other birds while canoe camping in Killarney.
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