Around the Impoundments

Life and weather keep on imposing on my photography at Great Meadows. Actually, I've been able to sneak over to the refuge, but haven't had the time to post process and post a blog entry. Today's post is a bit of this and a bit of that.

You would think that filling up the impoundments would be as simple as setting up a pump and puming until the impoundments are full.  However, nature has its own opinions of what should happen.  The carp (and invasive species that invades the impoundments during high water and flood conditions, sense the movement of the water and try to swim upstream.  Unfortunately, they ultimately arrive near the pump, usually stranding themselves among the cat tail reeds.  As a result the Fish & Wildlife staff have to wade in and pull out the dead fish, ultimately giving them a proper burial.


First you find a carp


Then you throw them into the Front End Loader


Until you have no room for more


Ultimately burying them in a mass grave


It appears that the snapping turtles aren't big fans of flooding the impoundments. This day I met three walking towards the river.



All across the refuge there are signs of the end of summer and the beginning of fall.


Straggling Monarch butterflies



One of the last dragonflies on turning foliage


Falling leaves on ferns


Milkweed pods launching their seeds

I have been fascinated by the Northern Harriers that can be found cruising the edges of the impoundments. The have been torturing me, often choosing to fly on the opposite side of the refuge from wherever I am. When they do come close, something is often wrong - backlit, reeds in the way, or the like. Sometimes, I get a reasonable photo.

I still am in pursuit of my ideal Harrier photo - a Harrier cruising the reeds in the golden light of sunrise, looking at me, with it's distinctive tail stripe visible. It's been elusive, so I guess as long as they are hanging around, I will keep coming back.











When the harriers don't cooperate sometimes I focused on the dewy flowers nearby.





One foggy morning this juvenile Cooper's Hawk went cruising by instead.



When I think of fall at Great Meadows I think about geese and ducks in the impoundments. It's fun to watch them come and go.










You might find this photo interesting if you have never seen a Great Blue Heron's tongue before. It certainly doesn't look very flexible.



On a still morning down by the river, its surface is smooth and glass and reflecting like a mirror. During the fall, you get bonus foliage as the leaves are reflected perfectly in the water.

Fill 'er Up

The quiet of the refuge Monday morning was broken by the constant sound of a running engine. Down by the river, a pump was drawing water from the Concord River and pumping it back into the upper impoundment.


After only a few hours of pumping


By Tuesday morning there was enough water to lure a beaver who was checking out the situation

I am not sure everyone is a fan of the pumping. The Northern Harriers might like the fact that the mice and voles will be chased to the edges in the short term. You generally don't see them as often as they've been here with the impoundment drained.

Tuesday morning the birds were kind of laid back, allowing you to get closer than normal.

Sparrow sitting in a bush along the Dike path


Goldfinch feasting on Evening Primrose

Down by the "Poison Ivy" bench you can often see flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and Bobolinks feasting on the Wild Rice

There are three keys to a close-up photograph of an autumn leaf. 1) Find a great leaft. 2) Find a good background. 3) Backlighting. This Cottonwood leaf had all three. How could I resist?

Practically across the path was a dew covered spider web.

Velvet Elvis

Cameras are poor proxies for our eyes. Even on a sunny day our eyes can see details in both the shadows and bright areas at the same time. Cameras can only capture a portion of what we see.

To overcome that limitation photographers have developed a technique named High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) where multiple exposures of the same subject are combined together using software to create a version that contains the range of light that your camera couldn't catch.

Many of the early versions of HDR photographs looked artificial, sometimes even garish looking like something from an alternative reality. The software has evolved to allow you to produce very realistic photographs. However, if you want to take artistic liberties you can produce wildly creative photographs. I call these "Velvet Elvis" images, named after those wonderful paintings on velvet that were so popular at Flea Markets and Crafts Fairs in the 1970s.

 I had been hoping to catch Harriers flying in that brief interval between sunrise and the start of the rain. They weren't cooperating so while waiting I occupied my time practicing some HDR photography.

(Click on the photographs to see these images in a large size. While you are there take a look at my redesigned website & let me know what you think.)

  This version has a bit more of a painterly than photographic feel to the scene from the tower.


In a normal photograph either you would see the bright mist, but the reeds would be in shadows, or the reeds would be visible but the sky would be white.


I like the color of the flowers combined with the moody feel of the impending storm


When you visit the refuge keep your eyes peeled.  You will often find catbirds in the Winterberry bush eating the berries.

I know that lately I've been focused more on the fauna at Great Meadows so I thought it time to include some flora. It's interesting to see the combination of late summer / early fall flowering plants combined with the subtle changes in color of the leaves as the trees start to transition into their autumnal display.

Calico Asters


Early Morning Dew on Maple


Bee on Nodding bur-marigold

Finally it's not a great photo, but then again the bird wasn't in a great location. Here's a raven seen during Monday's bird census. That was a photography life bird for me.