Carolina Wild Photo (the blog)

With the holidays over I waited for a break in the dreary, overcast, rainy weather to get in some photography. I finally got a good weather forecast, so I made a trip north to a favorite spot of mine on the Choptank River in Cambridge, Maryland. The usual cast of characters were there – Canvasbacks, Wigeons, Mallards, Scaup, and the ubiquitous Canada Geese. Didn’t find any Scoters this time, and not a Redhead in sight, but the weather was suitable.

The first day was in the upper 40’s, though a stiff breeze made it quite cold. The second day didn’t get over 35, but with virtually no wind, it felt much warmer than the first day. There were fewer “flyers” this time compared to my last trip chronicled in my “Flight School” posting, but I still managed a couple of decent “BIF” (bird in flight) shots. (continue reading…)

This was my second trip to Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River in Maryland, near the Pennsylvania border. It is a hot spot for photographers and birdwatchers in the late Fall and early Winter. They come to view the Bald Eagles that tend to gather there to fish and fatten up just prior to mating season. Though I’ve been told the Eagles come by the hundreds, I’ve never seen more than a couple dozen of them there at any one time. In fact, you can rest assured there are more photographers there than Eagles most of the time. The thing that draws me is the opportunity to photograph the Eagles as they dive for fish just below the dam. Eagles sitting in a tree just aren’t as interesting to watch as they are when performing their fish-snatching aerial acrobatics.
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It’s been awhile since I posted, but I have a good excuse…. I’ve been working my hiney off on construction projects around the house, and dealing with contractors hoping to get some remodeling done. All the while I was also looking for a used kayak trailer to haul my Native Ultimate 12 Tegris (from my previous post) on a planned trip to Beaufort in May. Finding and getting the trailer is a story in itself, but I’ll just shorten it to say I did find a trailer, did finally get a title for it, and barely managed to get it ready for my trip at the very last minute. There was something of a deadline involved.
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As promised, this part three post is about some birds I’d never seen or photographed before. The beginning of my marathon weekend was a 9 hour drive to New Jersey, north of Atlantic City, to the Barnegat Lighthouse. Next to the lighthouse is a long jetty of huge boulders which attracts birds of the open sea not commonly seen along the shore. Because of this, Barnegat Light is popular among birders and wildlife photographers for viewing Harlequin Ducks, Black Scoters, Surf Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Scaup and others, including the Common Loon. Lucky for me, I also found another species I had not expected…. Brant geese.
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One of the photographic techniques I’ve been wanting to improve upon is photographing birds in flight, or “BIF” as they’re called by wildlife photographers. This past weekend I made another trip to Cambridge, Maryland, where I planned to concentrate on my technique with ducks (just about my favorite photo subject). I hoped to catch them one last time before they made their usual mid-March exodus to parts far north for the Spring nesting season. Once again I was blessed with sunny warmish weather, a rare freak occurrence it seems this winter, between all the frigid ice, sleet, snow and rain that has characterized the beginning of 2014.
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As a continuation of my recent marathon weekend post, I’d like to focus individually on the two locations from the trip that produced some great photos. In this “part two” installment, I will highlight Cambridge, Massachusetts. The location is along the Choptank River in a quiet old neighborhood near the downtown. The locals began feeding ducks that stopped over on their migration, and ever since ducks have taken advantage of the free corn they have come to expect at this one magic spot. In fact, photographing ducks here is akin to “shooting ducks in a barrel”, to quote a recognizable phrase.
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My absolute favorite birds to photograph have to be ducks. They tend to be the most skittish subjects in the bird world, generally making the task of getting good photos of them fairly difficult. Thankfully there are a few places one can go to get reasonably close to a few species, where they will tolerate the presence of humans in their proximity, within limits of their choosing of course. And with the right equipment and quiet patience, it’s possible to get some excellent photos of these fascinating birds with relative ease, compared to hours or days in the “wilderness” trying to find them, and attempting to get close enough for photography.
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Well finally, a month into my retirement, I got my break… sorta. Actually I simply took a big chance and drove to the Outer Banks a few hours before the big snow of Jan.28-29, 2014. Snow on the Outer Banks (any snow, much less several inches) was a rarity indeed, and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. The plan was to arrive just before the snow hit so I’d be positioned to get some photos. I knew if I didn’t get there before the snow, I wouldn’t be able to get there at all before it started melting. I reached Nags Head and got a room just as the first of the sleet and snow began to fall on the 28th. Based on the forecast that the 29th afternoon and the 30th would be sunny, it was a good plan. Problem was…. no sunshine. Dull overcast skies prevailed the entire time, so any chance for “good” shots was all but dead. I found enough subjects to shoot, but with such poor light there was no good color or vibrancy in the images.

As soon as the snow quit on the 29th and I could get out on the roads, I headed straight to Bodie Island Lighthouse. I discovered, much to my surprise, that all the pine trees in the loop drive in front of the lighthouse had been cut down. There was no sign they had ever been there. This opened up the view for wide angle shots that were not possible in the past. The dark overcast made for dull images, so I had to make do as best I could.
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