Thanksgiving Potpourri

Knowing that most of this weekend would be preoccupied with Thanksgiving traditions including eating, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, and making final preparations to the house to face winter, I went to Great Meadows late Monday afternoon to bank a few shots that I could share over the weekend.

It was a quiet day at the refuge. Here are a few of the things that caught my eye.


The fallen tree near the parking lot. All year I've looked at this tree and tried to think how I could photograph it. Today it hit me, to photograph it from the side.


The mysterious, "UFO Landing spot" of crushed reeds near the kiosk. Perhaps this was caused by snow blowing off the trees near by during the snow storm. Supporting that theory is that the reeds are all bent in the same direction.

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Chickadee in the trees near the kiosk


Coot Stretching


Muskrat heading home towards the setting sun


What Mute Swans like to eat


I love the water drops frozen in space


Sparrow along the path


Sparrow in the cattails facing the setting sun


Dike Trail light up in the setting sun


Another tree I've liked, but never got the right photo, until today. The reflected setting sun makes the difference.


Sunset viewed from the end of the lower impoundment

Lights Are On, But Nobody Is Home

Sunday morning, I awoke before the sun and headed to Great Meadows. I was inspired by attending a meeting with other nature photographers the night before. Many shared their beautiful images, including a few Marsh Wrens and Red-winged Blackbirds from Great Meadows.

My objective this morning was to see if I could capture the beavers near the lower impoundment in action. (Beavers are most active at dawn and dusk).

Walking through the woods along the railroad bed and maintenance road prior to the sun rising above the trees was quite cool. I arrived at the outflow of the lower impoundment, I surprised a Ring Necked Duck before it realized that people were up.



At the beaver lodge, there were no beaver present. You can see that they are quite active in the area. The beaver slide through the cattails was still damp. A bit further up the path you could see that the beavers had felled the tree that they had eaten significantly through in my last post. Several new tress had signs of beavers gnawing, while ones they had started to eat had much more bark and wood missing. I hung around a while hoping they would emerge, but with the sun rising, beautiful light everywhere, and a fixed time to leave, paniccing that I might have anything to post, I moved on.








By the time I reached the intersection with the Cross Dike Trail, the wind was starting to pick up. Several coots were hanging out in the lee of the cattail reeds. One thing I like about photography is that it helps you see things you don't notice with the naked eye. I've been trying to capture a bird diving, without success - this is close, but just a moment too late. Another thing I noticed was that the coots would pull up some aquatic vegetation. Using small stick like pieces they would beat the water while twisting their head back and forth. I'm not sure what this accomplishes, but there were several series with similar actions.






But occasionally, you have to settle for normal poses in beautiful light.






Continuing back up the Cross Dike Trail, I encountered a Mute Swan that was also beautifully lit, in the midst of preening. Thought they are not very hospitable birds, they are beautiful.








Almost back to the car, I encountered this Swamp Sparrow among the cattail reeds near the bridge. It was foraging along the side of the path, but would retreat into the reeds when people passed. For a brief moment it posed on the reeds, while checking to see if the coast was clear.

I'm Not Dead Yet

Friday morning was cold and breezy at Great Meadows when I arrived. The temperature had dropped very close to freezing overnight, but there were no signs of ice. We all know that it's a just matter of time before winter is here.

Walking out onto the Cross Dike Trail, I spied a group of Buffleheads in the Upper Impoundment. They soon spied me and retreated out of camera distance.








Some Canada Geese were in near the reeds after the bridge. This allowed some extreme closeups of them feeding and one taking off. (This is full frame, no cropping). In the distance other groups were taking off.








Now the muskrats are building up their lodges for the winter, you will often find a goose standing on the top. I was photographing this one in the golden morning sunlight, when he started to stretch.

Whenever an animal does something interesting you start to shoot. While I was shooting, the stretch turned into takeoff. It reminded me of a World War II era aircraft carrier takeoff where the plane dips, but just before contacting the water starts its climb. No only regret was that it was facing away from us.








On the backside of the lower impoundments the beaver lodge shows the signs of activity. They have trampled down the cattails on both sides of the Dike Trail creating beavers slides, from their trips back and forth harvesting plants in the Lower Impoundment. I guess they aren't too worried about predators, since they take a very direct route back to their lodge, which you can see in the background. A little up river you can see trees that are close to being toppled, while others appear to be marked for future activity.






Summer is long gone. Autumn is starting to become a memory too. However, occasionally you stumble across a plant or animal that hasn't gotten the message yet. These encounters bring a smile to your face as you remember warmer, care free days. Often we tend to rush the seasons. Today these encounters remind me of that line in Monty Python's Holy Grail, "I'm not dead yet."








Arriving at the Timber Trail it was an opportunity to see if the Great Horned Owl is still around. (I didn't see it.) The Timber Trail is mainly a pleasant walk through towering stately pines surrounded by deciduous trees. Along the way here's what caught my eye.