Blessed by the creatures on this kayak day

We are way behind in getting travel posts published this summer because we're having too much fun traveling! So we won't be confused about when each "wandering" happened, we'll start each blog with its actual date.

October 6, 2022

We were camped at a Corp of Engineer campground right on Shelbyville Lake. We could have put our kayak on the lake that is just 10 yards from our front door. But instead, we decided on a different option. Instead of kayaking in the wide section of a big lake, we much prefer to put our little boat on the narrow ends of the lake that trail off into rivers and creeks. So we drove twenty miles and inflated our Sea Eagle at Strickland boat launch. From our boat dock, we could see a white line in the distance.

That thin white line is actually a very large group of migrating American white pelicans.

We paddled towards them, trying to count the flock. Our best guess was around 300-400 birds.

These aren't small birds, as the average wing span is nine feet. A white pelican is one of the largest birds in North America. So if you put hundreds of them together in one place, they can be seen a long ways away.

We had a front row seat to this amazing sight. While we kept our distance, at times something would spook them and some would fly. The sound of those nine-foot wings overhead was awesome.

Even though they look totally white while they are standing around preening . . .

when they unfurl their wings to fly, their black wing tips show. We talked to a photographer from Chicago who was taking pictures from the shore. When we circled back by our launch spot, he said he took pictures of us in our kayak with the pelicans flying over our heads. We were excited that he wanted our information so he could send the picture to us. . . But we never got it. We're guessing that it was such a good picture so he would be selling it for a huge profit, and he didn't want to share the royalty with us. So imagine us in our kayak with the rush of those big wings just over our heads. It's a good picture, huh?

We watched as a large group of pelicans suddenly started sticking their beaks into the water and bobbing up and down excitedly. It looked like they had found a large school of fish, and the pelican feast started. More and more pelicans flew to this special spot. We watched as they scooped up the fish in their pouch, then lifted their beaks, and swallowed down fish after fish. We read that they often do this cooperative fishing where they line up and drive the fish to shallow water for easier fishing. Sorry Shelbyville Lake fishermen, but hundreds of pelicans can eat thousands of fish in a hurry!

In case you think this is only a pelican trip, we also took pictures of other critters in this stretch of the river. We found the usual red-neck turtles . . .

enjoying the sunshine and posing for pictures.

But then we spotted some weird looking, flat turtles laying in the mud at the edge of the river.

These are soft shell turtles, and it's the first time we've seen them. They have curious pointy noses, and each one slid into the muddy water as we approached.

We had paddled a couple miles when we caught site of the railroad bridge that crossed the water up ahead.

Denisa grabbed the camera when we saw movement up on the train bridge. What is that?

The crows were circling and raising a racket because they saw the bobcat first.

So this is the way that a bobcat can move from one side of the river to the other! We're finding all sorts of interesting critters on our trip down the river today!

After all the great animal sightings of the day, seeing a great white heron is hardly worth the effort of snapping another picture.

It's a perfect weather day with blue skies and no wind. We have wandered into another of God's wonders today!

Just past the railroad bridge we came to the next boat dock, and the lake got noticeably narrower. It was a good place to turn around and head back to our pickup. As we paddled back, we had to go through the pelican flocks again. Denisa couldn't resist taking more pictures with the fall foliage in the background.

This river has been a good stop on their migration flight, and the pelicans should be filled with fish for the next step of their journey. These birds migrate from their summer breeding home in Canada. They fly over this area on their way to their winter home along the Gulf coast. So we will see them again when we head south for our winter as well.

We watched as a group of white pelicans took flight on their black-tipped-9-foot wings. The whisper of their wings on the air right above our heads is magical. It was even better because not one of them pooped on us in this fly-over.

We have certainly had a good time floating in the kayak on this narrow end of Shelbyville Lake. But we've been especially blessed by the creatures on this kayak day.