(C)aged

Caged in a tunnel. That’s how I felt as I walked the boardwalk at Tuckahoe Creek Park, a wetlands with access only on the boardwalk. The boardwalk was wide, maybe 8 feet, with metal barred handrails, the vertical metal bars like those you see in jails. I’d seen only one bird, a small white heron which turned out to be a juvenile blue heron. I thought my walkabout was a bust and then I ran into another photographer, Bob. I’d guessed him to be a birder or wildlife photographer…or both…based on the bazooka like lens he wielded.

We chatted for several minutes, he showed me some of the images on his website, MomentNTime, many of which were taken on the very boardwalk where we were standing. He tells me that the animals get close, so close that he’s gotten some incredible shots of eagles, hawks, herons, otters, beavers, and more. All you need is patience, he says, and I know I’m in trouble.

He believes the animals have come to count on the barred railings to keep the humans caged, no threat to them. Because we’re not a threat, they come very close, sometimes just a few feet away so I know this long lens is probably a zoom. I’m not a birder, I take the occasional bird photo but I don’t have the equipment or passion. But I do enjoy seeing other’s work, his images of the park are quite amazing. He also provided some suggestions for other local parks with wildlife and water. My walkabout was no longer a bust. A green heron flew over us and landed in a dead tree just a few feet away. He posed for quite a while so I did his bidding and made this image. Not a bird image, but for me, an emotive image.

On the way back to the car I puzzled about mankind and nature. Was the cage of the boardwalk to keep humans from falling into or wandering around in the wetlands, or, was it to give the animals a view of mankind in a cage. Hmmm. Maybe both. The image below is through the railing.

Caged. Maybe. But, I enjoyed my brief captivity in nature’s zoo.