On Sunday we drove cross-country to to Sheldon Marsh State Wildlife Preserve just outside Huron, Ohio, a Lake Erie shoreline community. It was a cool, blue-sky day and perfect for a casual nature/photo walk in the protected area. We usually visit this area late in the season — after the large wading birds have left, fleeing the approach of freezing weather. This early-season day, however, saw a large number of wetland- and water-loving avians including no fewer than three great egrets. One of the striking, white giants was hunting the shallows along our path. We stopped to watch and photograph the bird which was surprisingly tolerant of our actions. It hopped into the air once but alighted in the shallows only a few feet away. She Who Must Be Obeyed got one good shot and I, with a faster camera, came away with two.
We watched and waited a while longer and, as anticipated, the egret either grew tired of our spying or decided to seek better hunting grounds. Holding down the shutter release I fired off a number of frames and got a couple of nice shots (one seen below) of the action. I've mostly stalked the wild great blue herons prior to this and these are my first images of the great egret. I'll be back for more!
A common call heard across the nature preserve came from the male red-winged black birds as they defend their territories against intruders. They are most famous for their "Okalee" call and we stopped to watch, listen, and photograph one handsome fellow as he puffed up to stake his claim. The red-wings' were the most common bird calls echoing through the wetland woods but there were many others. Among the most beautiful were the songs (again, probably for territorial announcements) of the male cardinal.
It was a beautiful day today. Before we left on a pleasant drive to other beautiful places, I stopped to admire the beauty found literally at our front door. A flower, viewed from different perspectives, is a thing of beauty rediscovered. I've got to revisit this one, better prepared to fully lay down for a better vantage point! Thank goodness for tall flower stems and flexible knees.
Not much to write except to say the day started off nicely. The garden area tended by She Who Must Be Obeyed is sprouting beautiful new green. It has been cool and wet so my favorite foliage plants, the hostas, are looking very good.
To take a break from a day full of frustrations –installing a new server machine ought to be easy for me, but when the manufacturer and vendor strip it of all documentation, well, it isn't easy– I ate a quick Taco Bell lunch and headed for the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village. The Center is nestled in a beautiful suburban metropark and features exhibits and a lovely courtyard dominated by a large water feature. Wild and captive (injured) birds are in residence in the open and are both fun to view and easy to photograph.
I'm glad I took time out to enjoy a little open air and wildlife. The afternoon wasn't nearly as frustrating as the morning since I pretty much resigned myself to the fact I wouldn't finish the installation today! Left work for home and, hopefully, a good weekend. Viewing these photos tonight brought back good feelings of a lunch hour well spent.
I left the house this morning to take a nice pre-work nature photo walk around Hinckley Lake, hoping and expecting to see the low sun shining through morning haze. I also wanted to capture images of herons, imagining them backlit by that golden sunshine. As I left home it was sunny; when I got to the lake a few minutes later, the fog was so thick I couldn't see half a mile! Oh well, perhaps some moody shots. I got those and more.
While I was walking the lakeside path I saw the morning's first heron arrive, searching for breakfast. The big bird swooped down to the lake, alighted, and waded slowly in the shallows, a hundred feet or so away. I watched, shot some photos and moved closer. Herons are every bit as wild as their prehistoric look may suggest. Their call is a raspy "graaakk." They are also amazing to watch. Herons' wings span many feet and a few beats lift the magnificent creatures up and away with amazing grace and speed. That first bird grew wary of the human watching and took off. I began my walk back, photographing plants and flowers along the way. I came around a curve in the path and up popped the heron, springing off the shore and into the air — I'd been distracted and did not notice the bird until it was alarmed. I continued my hike back toward the parking lot, this time watching the lake for the heron I'd spooked twice already. Yes! The bird had found a new hunting spot not far ahead of me and I approached quietly, seeking a clear place from which to photograph. As I watched, the heron stabbed at the water catching a fish. Through the brambles I squeezed off a few shots with my camera, recording the last moments of life for the fish and a life-sustaining meal for the heron. Respectfully waiting for the heron to swallowing its prey, I walked a little closer, stopped, and shot some photos. Walked a bit closer still, stopped, and shot a few more images. Finally I got close enough for a couple of full-frame portraits of our big friend and that was enough… off it went! With a few wing-beats the great blue took off across the lake. I had just enough time to roughly frame the scene, firing off three or four photos and that was it. It was a fine, if brief morning adventure.
Heavy fog transforms the scenery at Hinckley Lake. I have a fine collection of shots from this morning that look like classical Japanese watercolors, even a few images with delicately colored tree blossoms floating before a moody, gray background.
The fog was burning off but still supressed most colors of the lake and trees. Foreground objects, however, retained their character in fine, soft light. A line of boats awaited park visitors and sunshine that really never arrived this day.
I headed home happy, even though I'd next need to head to the office. A lovely, foggy morning this was.
I took the day off to tend to Observatory matters. After the work was done, it was time to relax and explore. The dandelion field is in a rural area of Portage County, Ohio. The skunk cabbage patch is along the Headwaters Trail of Portage (Ohio) Park District — a rail-to-trail conversion.
I was uninspired in the morning and it felt like the day off might be a waste. After doing some routine Web stuff and catching up on email, I finally determined I would go out and do a few things including playing "vulture" at a Ritz Camera store that is closing and taking a photo walk. Here's what transpired:
* NOTE: On the return trip home I took the Honda Insight to the gasoline station for the first time since picking it up. The odometer read 397 miles and I put 8.7 gallons of Shell gasoline in the tank. Since we don't know exactly how much gas the car started with or at what odometer reading, we can't be sure about our hand-calculated results but that comes to ~45 MPG overall since I started driving it. The car's internal calculator was claiming 47 MPG and I'm beginning to believe it's pretty accurate. I am quite pleased. By the way… the tank holds only a little more than 10 gallons of fuel and getting 400 miles out of a single tank of gas ain't too shabby.
A server upgrade did not go well last night. The email system was properly installed, could be accessed from the Web, but could not send or receive messages — the SMTP server was mashed. I worked til 11:00 PM trying to revive the beast but finally gave up and went home. I thought it would be a stressful morning and day but things went quite differently. A calm came over me as I drove cross-country towards work. I enjoyed the brightening day and the mists and dew-bright fields of rural areas, the diamond reflections off a meandering river in its valley off the side of the road.
On other mornings I've wanted to stop on my commute to photograph and enjoy some of the scenes. Between not having enough time and finding no place to park the car, those stops never happened. This morning was different. I had passed too many beautiful scenes this day; there was enough time to spare; I had my camera with me (as always); and I really didn't care if I wound up a little late arriving to tend to a sick computer. Seeing a likely spot as I passed, I turned the car around, found a parking spot (a miracle, actually) and emerged to try and record some of the beauty I had been so enjoying.
Dew-dotted spider's webs backlit by the rising sun are easy to enjoy but devilishly difficult to photograph, especially with no tripod at hand. Focus is difficult and the drops are brilliant compared with the dark backgrounds that let them shine. No matter, I enjoyed the sights. I even found one that, for all the world, looked like a Native American dream catcher.
Then it was back to the car and off to work. The email server? The vendor's tech support spent about two hours finding and repairing the problem. My improptu photographic experience cost no time or inconvenience in getting the mail through. As I upload this item, just before retiring for the night, I feel good… better than I have for days. What a way to start the day! I really must do that more often.
PhotonStopper 