The Wild Life

Posted on October 10, 2015October 10, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I was thinking about wildlife. Now if I were still in my 20’s and 30’s it would be reasonable for you to think I was talking about WILD LIFE! You know, crazy, partying and carrying on. But as I left those wild days behind long ago I was actually thinking about animals in the wild.

Of all the things I’ve tried photographing, pets, people, landscape, travel, flowers, and anything else I run across, wild life, animals in the wild are may favorites. Its also probably the most frustrating and truth be told, the style in which I have the most failures.

My best work seems to be birds. Why? Because there are always birds of some kind around. I can stake out a bird feeder and have all the “models” I could ever wish for.

But wildlife doesn’t always cooperate. First you have to find them. Then you have to wait for them to do something. A perfect example is the great blue heron that summers at the Herring Run. I have spent hours with this bird and over the past 5 years I’ve seen him catch 1 fish. Normally he stands as still as a statue for hours. I finally got this picture this year. But he’ll be back next year and I’ll be waiting.

It occurred to me that I haven’t been out to photograph any deer in the last couple of years. I take that back, I photographed deer

and elk

on my vacation in Tennessee but not around here since I got my first camera. According to a photographer friend of mine, now is the perfect time to try to get more deer shots for my portfolio.

The weather is changing there’s crispness to the air and the bucks are looking for love. He got some really fun shots in RI this week but you have to get there early.

Now I’m not an early riser. Must be a throwback to all that “Wild Life” when I was young so even though I had the best of intentions this morning I missed sunrise. Yup, overslept.

I took a run down to the Wildlife Sanctuary anyway so I can be sure to find it in the pre-dawn light. I’m going to try again tomorrow.

Since there wasn’t any action going on there I headed to my old faithful sanctuary in Marshfield, MA, Daniel Webster. I’ve never been there without seeing deer but this afternoon I came up empty. The reason is that it was crowded with families walking the trails. Kids were whooping and yelling. I stayed until after 5 pm and I could still hear them. My previous schedule allowed me to explore mid week so it was always quiet. Often my car was the only one in the parking lot. So note to self, try after work mid-week.

So cross your fingers. I’m heading back out to the RI sanctuary in the morning and this time I have set the alarm.

Return to Daniel Webster

Posted on May 7, 2013May 7, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Mr. Majestic seemed to have life on the Grist Mill Pond well in hand so after observing for a while I decided to squeeze in a visit to one more place, Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.

Many of you may remember that this is one of my favorite places to go to look for birds and wildlife to photograph. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I’ve been back there. My last trip left me covered in deer ticks and then I got busy with “staged” photography for my cards. Well I don’t have my Deet with me but I’m only going to go sit in the blind for a while and see if anything is going on.

The parking lot was full when I arrived. Not surprising since it’s Sunday but I did feel my heart drop. Usually lots of walkers means less animal activity but I’m here so I’m going to check it out.

At the blind another photographer was watching the panne flats. I asked him if there was anything happening. His response, “Not unless you like Canada Geese”. Shortly after I set up he gave up and left. I settled in for a wait but it didn’t take long for things to pick up. Mama & Papa Canada Geese were giving their 5 goslings swimming lessons.

Into the water they went, swam in a small circle and then out to the shore again. This routine went on every 10 minutes or so, never venturing too far out.

Turtles were hauling out to sun themselves on every rock and log in sight, even climbing on each other.

Then I spotted another bird that I’ve only seen once before…a glossy ibis.

I must have spent an hour watching this beautiful bird forage in the shallows. He/she had rich mahogany body feathers with darker wings.

When the sun hit just right his feathers glistened with an iridescent rainbow of colors.

He wasn’t making it easy to get pictures. He was either behind the reeds or way out in the middle.

I had a 300-500 telephoto lens on the camera but it was still a reach. The pictures are better than my first try last year but I wish he had come closer or I had a bigger lens.

To paraphrase the line from Jaws “I think we need a bigger boat”….I think I need a bigger lens!

Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary

Posted on April 7, 2013April 7, 2013 by Dusty Roads

As many of you know The Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield is one of my favorite places to go for wildlife photography.

I have never been there at dusk without seeing deer…plenty of deer. I have also seen muskrats, turtles, glossy ibis, swans, rabbits, and tons of birds, more than I can go into right now.

One year we even had an otter family pass through and I got to see them…briefly as they raced across the path to the pond. So you can see this sets the bar really high for other sanctuaries.

Since last year I have been hearing about another wildlife sanctuary that seems really popular, Allens Pond in Westport, MA. Daniel Webster and Allens Pond are both Mass Audubon sanctuaries so that means they are kept in really good condition.

In the week since the layoff at work I’ve been concentrating on rearranging furniture, cleaning out my storage area and just making changes to my living space. The weather hasn’t been great so I haven’t been out to shoot any photos. But finally we got a sunny day and according to the weather report we might break 60 degrees. I looked at the boxes of stuff I was trying to arrange and looked outside and the choice was made…I’m playing hooky!

Camera bag on my shoulder I decided to try to find Allens Pond to check it out. Westport is quite a bit south of Taunton but it was a nice day for a drive. The address I had for the sanctuary was 1280 Horseneck Road. I know Horseneck beach is a very popular beach in the summer so I wasn’t surprised when I saw the parking lot for the beach. Beyond the parking lot were some amazing dunes!

The sand here is so fine, like grains of sugar.

But as I continued on I was surprised to see the road was completely buried by stones.

These were smooth round stones…thrown up by the ocean in the series of storms we had this year? I don’t know because I’d never been this way before but it made me think of the roads on the Big Island of Hawaii that abruptly stopped, buried under lava flows.

The road followed along the beach by Buzzards Bay then made a sharp turn left and there was the entrance to a small parking lot.

Right away I noticed the field house was different. There were people inside, even a dog and cat and a rest room. No port-a -potty. I can see why that alone would make it more pleasant. But now the big test…what kinds of animals/birds will I be able to see here.