Becoming A Better Birder

"To become a better bird photographer, you must first become a better birder", Shawn Carey. With that in mind Tuesday morning I joined the Menotomy Bird Club visit to Great Meadows lead by Alan Bragg.


Group Silhouette


Fish basking in sun by the bridge


Most of the interesting birds including a Long Tailed Duck, Buffleheads, and Green Winged Teals were far out in the impoundments but visible by scope from the tower. However, as we walked, I did occasionally grab a shot or two with my camera.


Mute Swan touches down


Bumpy landing continues


Coot stretching


Shy goldfinch


Swans bonding


After the walk I continued to explore the refuge. If the light was at the right angle you could see strands of silk spun by spiders that are ballooning to new locations streaming off the cattails.




I met up with Alan and Cherrie Corey for a quick visit around the rest of the refuge. Along the path to Borden's Pond we encountered this Woodcock. It briefly flew down the path, landed, and pause for just a few moments before heding into the flooded woods along the river. It let us know our stealthy approach was not so stealthy as it proceeded to fly away further down stream.


Woodcock along trail to Borden's Pond


Woodcock fleeing back into the flooded woods


Along the way some of the plants caught my eye as their colors and shapes danced in the sunny day.


Backlight leaves


Lacy oak leaves


A new technique keeps the whole plant in focus

Golden head of seeds


Reflection of foliage in the river


For reading to the end of this post, you have been rewarded with my favorite photo of the day. One goal of this project was to become a better photographer. Having arrived at the right place at the right time, I took a moment to find the right angle and background for this photo. I selected just the right aperture to capture the spider, while rendering the background a pleasing blur. In the end the shot resembles what I saw in my mind's eye. I just love the way that this spider stands out against the neutral background.

A Day Off

After three straight days of cutting and stacking logs, picking up and carrying piles of brush, and racking my back and the rest of my body protested this cruel and unusual punishment. So I took advantage of Saturday's last opportunity to sleep until almost seven AM and still catch the sunrise at visit Great Meadows.

I've been dreading photographing Great Meadows in November. It doesn't have the variety of life that exists in the spring and summer. It lacks the beautiful stark landscape of winter snow. It is often gray. Today, the sun was shining early which cast a pleasing light on the animals that remain.

It's almost tradition to warm up with some shots of the Canada Geese.






I mentioned the invasion of Mute Swans in my last post. There were a couple of family units in the Upper Impoundment. The juveniles are still grayish. One of the juveniles demonstrated his independence by flying to forage in a different area of the impoundment far from the others. It is amazing when the fly overhead. They are so large. Their wings make loud whooshing noises as they pass overhead.














We've all grown bored of the coots. They often don't warrant more that the casual glance, but today one of the birders spotted a smaller bird in their midst. This Ruddy Duck is a new bird for my photographic "life list". It was quite cute to watch as it repeatedly dove every few seconds. I tried repeatedly to actually catch the diving motion, but finally realized that they don't really jump up before they dive under the water. I did find it curious the way it fanned its tail feathers as it dove.












Elsewhere in the refuge things were relatively quiet. The Chickadees are out in force. I expect that I will be sharing some photos of them in the near future. This Downy Woodpecker was intensely feeding in the cattails nearby as I watched the Chickadees.




I often like unusual patterns or lights and shadows.


This bit of exposed tree trunk, looks like a medeval torture devise, not the former remnants of branches.


I was drawn to the zigzag pattern caused by the shadows of the bench back cast upon the seat

Smoke Gets In My Eyes

For regular followers of this blog; my apologies for the delay in your next post. The power was restored to our house Tuesday evening, so the remainder of the week was spent with my electric chain saw and the large number of tree parts littering our and neighbor's yard. Each evening, I would crash on the couch to watch television, until I could drag my sore, tired body down the hall.

However, before then, on Tuesday morning, without power, and a cool house, I thought walking around Great Meadows would be a good activity to warm me up and get the circulation flowing. The air quality reminded me of my winter time business trips to Delhi, India. The large number of people burning wood in their stoves and fireplaces has cast a haze over everything.

For some reason a large number of Mute Swans has decided to invade the refuge. I counted 8 and later was told the number had increased to 11. While these birds are pretty, they are pretty aggressive towards all other animals and are considered invasive. This group includes mature adults and the grayer juveniles.










The big flocks of Canada Geese had departed before I arrived. However, there are always a few stragglers.






The sparrows are still hanging around the dike trails. I was glad to finally find a Swamp Sparrow in a setting more typical of a swamp. The classic pose justified including the one in the tree.






Here are some miscellaneous shots from around the refuge. I'm not sure I've taken a fall foliage shot of the tower. Will being on top with his scope was bonus. (Note to self - don't park car at base of tower when taking its picture!)










On the backside of the lower impoundment I encountered a couple of Goldfinches in winter plumage feasting on the Evening Primrose seeds. I included the first photograph because most bird photographs are from the side. It's rare to see a bird straight on. I'm glad this pair was so interested in eating. They allowed me to get to within 20 feet.