Flying
Watching the elegance and grace of a soaring bird has always given me energy and made me happy. My grandparents were bird people and took every opportunity to teach me about the lives and ways of birds. My grandmother gave me the Audubon book and I was hooked on the beauty and grace of these magical, yet everyday accessible, creatures. When I was in the sixth or seventh grade I discovered that our little town of Huron had a chapter of the Audubon Society and they gave presentations every month in the high school auditorium. I would regularly attend, no matter the weather, for years; I loved the videos and images. Until I discovered girls and rock and roll.
When restarting my photography passion some years ago, my interest in birds was rekindled. I’d also found a walking area, Huntley Meadows, that was a large, bird rich wetlands. Should I become a birder? I looked at the equipment I would need, looked at my budget, and shook my head, no. To get the closeup, detailed shots that ooze the power and nature of birds, you need a lens of bazooka-like proportions. Well, maybe not bazooka, but certainly long…and heavy. At Huntley Meadows I saw photographers carrying their gear in baby carriages and golf carts. And the cost! Wowza! A Sony 600mm lens is almost $13,000! And these are not lenses that have a great number of other purposes besides wildlife. After all, it’s hard to get close to an eagle and it’s best not to get too close to a bear…and those attributes are probably worth $13k to wildlife shooters! So my bird findings are normally happenstance, circumstantial to enjoying the places I’m in.
A couple of weeks ago I did a walkabout at Tuckahoe Creek Park, a tiny wetlands north of the James River just west of Richmond. The walkway is only about a quarter mile long with a couple of bump outs. I went back last Saturday at dawn. I saw a few birders with long lenses but these folks were friendly, more interested in sharing where birds were than shooshing us non-birders from making noise as we walked (my Huntley experience). I don’t have a long lens so was using my street 135. Fortunately these birds decided to pose for me. The photographers told me the two egrets had been “battling” for the space for several minutes when I arrived. It was a great way to start my day. Off in the distance, I could see a bald eagle perched on the top branch of a tree. At least I think it was a bald eagle. Hmmmm….
