Tai Chi Master

I’ve spent quite a lot of money buying a camera and lens that can capture images quite this crisply:

Why is it, then, that I’m driven to experiment in Photoshop until I end up with images that look like this

and that I actually prefer to the original, though it’s not nearly as sharp and could probably have been captured with any cheap digital camera on the market?

Is it simply perverse human nature that drives us to want what others have and we don’t, and, once we have it, and only then, to realize it really wasn’t what we wanted after all?

Or do we have to prove to ourselves that we can do what others are doing before we can ever hope to find our own vision?

Duck !

Duck season started today in the Pacific Northwest, so it’s a good thing these two were practicing their getaway yesterday:

And, starting today the best parts of Nisqually Wildlife Refuge will be closed from now through January due to hunting season . Visitors to the refuge seem to subscribe to two different theories on why the best parts of the refuge are off limits for the next three months depending on their particular biases.

The first theory is that you have to walk dangerously close to the hunters on both sides of the refuge, and they’re worried about someone getting shot. If this is the main worry, why don’t they just make it illegal to fire into the refuge?

The second theory seems to be that they’re trying to provide a safe place for ducks and other birds, and they don’t want people walking through the refuge and disturbing birds already traumatized by hunters. I’d like to think this is the primary reason they’re closing it, but I wouldn’t bet on that since most wildlife refuges in the United States are open to hunting, which seem like a rather strange definition of “refuge”?

I know you can’t even walk the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge during hunting season without a shotgun and hunting licence because hunting always trumps the mere enjoyment of nature.

Sadly, it seems to be a fact that much, if not most, of the money for bird preservation comes from hunting tags. Virtually all increases in refuge funding during the Bush administration have been derived from hunting licenses

Expect the Unexpected

I almost didn’t need my camera at Theler Wetlands Trails and Nature Preserve this week as there weren’t many birds around, and the ones who were there, including the robins, didn’t seem to want their picture taken.

Personally, I’m used to the kind of robins that try to take over your yard and hang around whenever you’re out in the garden, waiting for you to turn over a worm or two. So I was a little surprised that they flew off whenever approached, even when they were so far up in a tree you couldn’t possibly threaten them.

Though I managed to get closer than I ever have to a Belted Kingfisher, it was no easy task as I moved up and down the river and sat around for several hours waiting to get this shot of him.

I’m beginning to wonder if these birds were the real inspiration for Woody Woodpecker, as they seem like half-crazed, speed demons who race up and down the river making raucous bird-calls that make crows and jays seem positively harmonious. When you try to get close, they berate you loudly and speed off. In other words, I love them. Stay tuned, I’m determined to get a great picture of one yet.

The only friendly, photogenic animal I met all day was this young harbor seal

who kept swimming back and forth to have its picture taken. If it had been warmer I might have been convinced to join him as he seemed to be looking for a friend and hung around as long as I was willing to take pictures. Needless to say, the fact that I wasn’t expecting to get a picture of a harbor seal made these pictures even more special. While I was more than willing to take advantage of his friendliness to take pictures, I fear his approach to humans is probably not as wise as that of the refuge birds.

After all, some fishermen are convinced that these vicious predators, not the hordes of boats and nets lining the rivers, nor the runoff from industry or roads, are really responsible for the decline in salmon. Of course, these are the same people who voted twice for Bush, proving not all bird-brains have wings, though they may have flights of fancy.

Beauty is Where You Find It

It hasn’t been a very good week for birding here in the PNW. Though some summer residents seem to have left, the winter migrants haven’t arrived yet. I did manage to get a few bird pictures, but my best pictures weren’t bird pictures at all, but simply the result of paying more attention to what’s happening around me.

My best photo as far as birding goes has to be this one of a Wood Duck:

Truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting when I took this shot, but took it because the duck stood out so distinctly. If I hadn’t taken it myself, I’m not sure I’d really believe that a Duck could look like this. No wonder this species is endangered; it’s impossible to miss the males while hunting.

My most embarrassing moment of the week was misidentifying this Giant Blue Heron when I saw it from the front and didn’t recognize the breast colors, which are much softer and duskier than I’d ever noticed before:

Most of the shots of Giant Blue Herons I’ve seen emphasize the blue feathers and are taken from the side. Still, as much as I’ve been observing them, you’d think I would have known better.

My favorite shots of the week, though, is this one of a butterfly I’ve sighted several times but haven’t managed to get a picture of before. This one landed close enough, and far enough away, that I could use my 400mm lens to get a relatively clear picture of it.

I suspect if there were more butterflies out there I would have become a butterflier, not a birder. I’m a sucker for a good butterfly shot, often spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get a picture of one that’s flitting from here to there.