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

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:

 

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.