Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Day 2

Day 2 at the refuge was a bit more eventful.  It was rainy all day and a bit warmer, and I knew what that meant.  Melted ice!  Stop scratching your heads.  Melted ice means more open water closer to shore, which means more birds within camera range. There weren't a lot, but there were enough to keep me interested.

Have a look.

Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Day 1

This past weekend I had to head to the Noyes Museum of Art in Galloway to pick up some photographs I had hanging in their "Aftermath" exhibit.  It's really a wonderful place, and I highly recommend it.  One of my favorite things about the museum is that it is about a quarter of a mile from the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.  

The Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places in New Jersey.  I sometimes wish I lived close to it..  However, when I think about it, I realize that's not such a great idea, because I might never leave.  The problem I have when I go there is that I am so smitten with the wildlife I usually forget to enjoy the beautiful landscape. 

I was determined to not do that on this visit.  It's helpful that in the winter there isn't as high a concentration of birds.  Also, because most of the water close to Wildlife Drive was frozen on this visit, a lot of the birds, like that tease of a snowy owl, were beyond the useful range of my 300mm even with a teleconverter.

That said, patience and determination do eventually pay off, but you'll have to wait for day two and three for that.

Here is some of what I saw on Sunday.

Sunlight glistens off the bay between the refuge and Atlantic City.

The colors and textures of the grasses are magnificent.

Mallards

Don't Forget Your Hazmat Suit

This is a horrible little place called Van Campens Glen on the Jersey side of the Delaware.  If you visit, I strongly suggest that you wear a hazmat suit.  On second thought, maybe you shouldn't go at all.  Keep Out!  Stay Away!  DANGER!  DANGER! DANGER!

Horrifying.

Ode to Snakes

Perhaps you are wondering what a cute little fawn is doing in my "Ode to Snakes" post.  It is out of consideration and respect and love for my loyal audience members, who miiiight be a little squeamish about images of slithering creatures and/or images of slithering creatures eating other creatures.  This is your warning to TURN BACK NOW!!!  AVERT YOUR GAZE!!!  Go watch a nice youtube video about cute, little, fuzzy bunnies.

For the rest of you, I will ease you in gently, before I smack you right in the eyeballs.  Btw, these were all taken in various places in Stokes State Forest.  This first one is a friendly little chap that was curious about the odd, floating creature in the strange brown getup.  That would be me, floating around the swamp in my float tube and chest waders.  

This is a northern waters snake.  Isn't he adorable?

These next three are just random garter snakes I came upon while hiking along critter trails.

Oops!  Did I forget to warn you?  Sorry 'bout that.

It is truly fascinating to photograph these creatures, doing what they do.  However, there are just so many pictures you can take of a tangle of snakes or of a snake swallowing a live animal--a painfully long process that seems to take years.  And I have to admit that when I put the camera down to just observe, I am sometimes overcome by an overwhelming sense of ickiness that is cured only by putting the camera back up to my face and taking more photos.

This next one comes from a series of photos that fill me with dread, when I go back to look at them.  At the time, however, it was one of the most incredible things I had seen out at "my swamp".  It was the end of the day, and I was heading back into shore on my float tube.  As I approached an old beaver lodge, which has also served as housing for muskrats and otters, it seemed to me that the lodge was "moving".  As I got closer, the reason for that became obvious.  The whole lodge was crawling with water snakes.   

This is actually three snakes.  At times there were up to six all tangled up. 

Don't need much explanation for these--snake eats frog.

This poor little frog fought to the bitter end.  He was still struggling as his feet disappeared into the snake's mouth.

Time for lunch.  See ya later.

My Happy Place

A green heron stalks its prey.  I love these little guys.

There are few things that beat a day in the swamp.  The only thing that could have made this day better is if I hadn't listened to the "weatherman", who predicted cloudy, cloudy, cloudy skies.  There was no mention of sun whatsoever.  Therefore, I didn't bring a hat or sunblock.  Why lug around extra gear, if you don't have to.  I know.  I know.  At my advanced age, I should know better.  I'm just too darned trusting.

You can stop laughing, Jen.

I'm feeling a little ill, but looking at the pics of my wonderful swamp critters makes me feel better. 

Btw, these were taken in a swamp in High Point State Park in New Jersey.

A green heron preens.

Green heron

A female grackle sits on her nest.  Must have gotten a late start, because the eggs don't seem to have hatched, yet.

A mama hooded merganser and her chicks.  I couldn't get very close to these guys.

The One That Got Away -- Volume I

People think that photography is so glamorous and easy that anyone can do it.  Well, it's not; it's hell.  And sometimes you miss the shot, as I have expertly depicted for you above. 

I like to hang out at swamps, and on this particular day I was floating in the muck and mire in my float tube under a blazing sun.  I happened to look over my shoulder just in time to see a mink launch itself from a log toward a wood duck that was swimming by.  The mink missed and began swimming after the duck as I furiously tried to turn myself in the right direction.  By the time I got myself turned around, the duck was well out of reach of the mink, which gave up the chase and disappeared back into the swamp. I didn't get a single shot off.

Bet you would have gotten the shot with your little iPhone.

Waterfalls and Other Prickly Things

Buy this photo

I wasn't going to post anything today, because I'm so freaking tired.  But I decided I couldn't disappoint my beloved, loyal audience, which consists, mostly, of my sister and friends on Facebook, who feel obligated to visit my blog for fear of being unfriended.  Don't know if they actually read it, because nobody leaves comments.  So maybe that's my answer right there.

Nonetheless, I am making a good faith effort to post more regularly.  I don't really have anything to say right now, so here's a waterfall along the Savantine Creek and that prickly thing I was talking about.

A Voice in the Wilderness

I feel like I'm talking to myself, here.  Of course, it's my own darned fault, since I haven't posted anything since.......................ummmmm.......................October.  Blogging seemed like a good idea at the time, but I've been busy with my freelance work (okay excuse), and it was really freaking cold out last winter (absolutely pathetic excuse).  Usually, the cold weather doesn't stop me.  I really wussed out--but not completely.  Of course, the cold winter doesn't really explain April through June. 

I've got quite a bit to show you.  While I'm getting all that together, enjoy today's journey to Schooley's Mountain Park.  I'll have you know that I was up at 4:30 am, as in "the morning", so I could get to the waterfalls before the sun screwed up my pictures.  No one I know will believe that I was up that early on purpose, but it's true.

Here ya go:

 

It's Not As Easy As It Looks

Tammany Trail

I wanted to get an early start toward Mt. Tammany this morning.  It was supposed to be sunny early on before turning overcast and giving way to rain.  Unfortunately, unless I have told someone that I will be somewhere at some stupid hour of the morning, an early start ain't happening.

Getting up Mt. Tammany in time to get some shots of the Gap in its fall finery just isn't motivation enough, apparently.  But despite not getting to  the trailhead until almost 9, I still held out hope that I could make it in time.  I'd just pick up the pace.

Hahahaha.  Yeah, that's funny.

Several long stretches of trail looked like the photo above.  Still, it wouldn't be that big of a deal if MY KNEES DIDN'T SUCK.  But my knees do suck, so it took a bit longer than expected to get to the overlook at the top.  By then, it had started to rain.  The forecast called for partly sunny skies later in the day, but I didn't feel like sitting around all day, so I slowly continued the loop in the hope of finding something that would justify what I had just done and would continue to do to my knees.  (Going back down is much worse than going up.)

Well, look what I found:

I was quite pleased with my find and continued my torturous descent down the mountain, stopping along the way to photograph Dunfield Creek.  When I got to the parking area, the sun came out, and I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I should hike back up to the overlook."

My knees said, "No."

Am I the only one who likes this photo?

Every year at Christmas I give certain family members and friends a photo book filled with images from my previous year's adventures.  As said friends or family members turn each page, my commentary usually goes something like this, "Ooh that's one of my favorites......That's one of my favorites.......That's really one of my favorites."

So basically, every photo is pretty much one of my favorites.  Otherwise, I suppose, it wouldn't be in the book.  However, if you put a gun to my head and said, "Choose or die," I would have to pick the above photo.  The repro on Blogger really doesn't do it justice, but if you click on the link below it, it will take you to the photo on my website.  That's a much better representation.

I'm not certain that others love this photo as much as I do.  My attachment to it may have to do with the circumstances in my life at the time.  One day I was on my way home from work and was stopped in traffic, when my car was slammed from behind.  I won't go into all the exciting details of what happened or what I went through.  Suffice to say, it really screwed up my back.  The pain became worse and worse as the days went by until I was barely able to walk.

A couple weeks later, we happened to get one of those late fall snowstorms.  It was a heavy, wet snow that stuck to everything.  It was gorgeous.  I'm going to try to not say anything rude about people who don't like the snow, but ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?  You're nuts, cuckoo, looney, one brick short of a full load.

Oops.  Sorry.  I tried.  Okay, not really.

Hmmm.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, snow.  I love snow, and I wasn't going to allow a little excruciating pain stop me.  It was only a year earlier that I had decided to begin building a nature and wildlife portfolio, so it was, basically, get the hell out of my way pain.  I'm on a mission.  Plus, it was so beautiful.

I threw my gear into the car and headed out.  I'm not really sure why I picked this particular spot to stop.  However, as I pulled my car over it immediately became evident that it was not the best place to park, and I decided to find another spot.  Mother nature had other ideas.  My wheels spun, and I rocked her back and forth but the car made no progress.

Now, it would have been blatantly obvious to anyone who passed that I was stuck and, as luck would have it, a snow plow came slowly ambling along.  I continued to spin the wheels and rock back and forth, so that Mr. snow plow driver would see that I was having trouble and would, hopefully, come to my aid.  But do you think that *bleep*ing [expletive deleted] would stop?  No, the *bleep*ing [expletive deleted] continued on his merry way like the *bleep*ing [expletive deleted] that he is.  He even stopped briefly right in front me, just to taunt me, I'm sure.

*bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep* you!  Okay, deep breaths.

I finally just said, "Screw it.  I'm already stuck, so I may as well just get the pictures and deal with the car later."

 I threw on my backpack and dragged myself across the road.  As I started walking into the woods with my back screaming at me, all I could think was, "This is not a good idea."  But that's never stopped me before.

Fortunately, the scene above was only about 50 ft. in.  When I saw it, I stopped immediately and was in awe.  It was so quiet and peaceful and beautiful.  And for just one moment I forgot about my pain. 

Ummmmmm.  The End.

Whadda you lookin' at?

This was one of those amusing moments in time in which I wish someone had been videotaping the scene.  I had been running errands all day and wasn't planning on heading into the woods, but something kept telling me to go.  Bad things happen, when I don't listen to the voices in my head, so I headed out to one of my favorite swamps in High Point State Park.  In order to see the swamp, you have to actually be in the swamp.  It is surrounded by very thick growth, most of which is thorny bushes.  So I donned my chest waders and headed in.

After shooting for a couple of hours, I started hearing what sounded like people walking near the outskirts of the swamp.  I don't really like people, so I kept really quiet in the hope that whoever it was would just keep walkin' and leave me the hell alone.  But then I started thinking, what if it isn't people.  What if it's a bear.  And what if the bear decides to come into the swamp where I'm sitting.  I wouldn't know it was a bear until we were nose to nose.

Not to worry.  The sound finally faded into the distance and I continued the task at hand--sitting in the muck in the hope of seeing something cool, which I did.  My logo, which is at the top of this page, came from a photo that I took that evening.

Finally, it was time to go and I worked my way out of the swamp.  I was walking along with my head down, because it's very rocky there, when that voice in my head told me to look up.  There was a sudden rush of happy excitement and holy shit wrapped into one.  Standing maybe 50 feet away was a big mama bear and her two cubs. 

The happy excitement part of my brain told me to start taking pictures.  However, the holy shit part of my brain took over, and I backed away slowly until I reached a big, fat tree.  At the same time, mama bear and cubs were making their way slowly to their own big, fat tree.  We all hid behind our respective big, fat trees and all at once poked our heads out to look at one another.

Unfortunately, my camera settings weren't ideal, so the photo isn't technically well done.  But it was such a great moment, I love looking at it.

This was my very first bear encounter, and I think it went relatively well, save for the bad photography.  My next encounter wouldn't go quite as smoothly.  Maybe I'll tell you about it one day.