Turkeys!

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Ah the wildlife you can see on Massachusetts highways! I had left Patriot’s Place  fully intending to head right home. No more stops and between the fresh air, the walk and the early morning wake-up call, I needed a nap. But nature had another surprise for me.

It’s almost as if Mother Nature said “Ok you missed the geese, see what you can do with this!”

I was almost at the turn off for RT 140 when right there on the side of the road was a Tom Turkey and a pair of hens. Now I’ve seen plenty of wild turkeys. We have our own flock at work. They come visit every spring and fall but I still get a thrill seeing any animal in the wild.

I pulled into a little strip mall and grabbed the camera. There was a sidewalk so I just casually started walking along the sidewalk. One of the hens took off and actually flew across the road. I knew turkeys could fly but I don’t think I’ve ever  seen one do it. They are so clumsy. The other hen went the other way into the brush. The Tom didn’t know which way to go so he fluffed up his feathers and displayed for me then he walked into the road! It looked like a suicide mission for sure!

 

My heart was in my throat. I didn’t even think to take any pictures while he made his dangerous trek. I just watched and prayed he’s get across. He was lucky. Everyone stopped for him and he made it safely to the other side. He never hurried.

I was about to turn around and go back to the car when Mr. Tom decided to come back across to my side. I was sure he was going to be road-kill because a big delivery truck was barreling down the road right at him. That silly turkey, instead of hurrying, stopped right in the middle of that lane and fluffed out his feathers again in  display for the truck! He just stood there staring down that vehicle! That’s one Macho turkey. 🙂  Thankfully the driver was able to stop and Mr. Turkey continued to strut his stuff back to my side of the road.

Back where he started he looked around, then headed off after the hen that had slipped away into the brush. They are really ugly-looking birds except for their  feathers.  His head gleamed a bright blue, his body feathers were shades of green, brown and blue in the spring sunlight. I never noticed that coloring on the wild turkeys we see where I work. I watched him for a little while and then headed home. This time for sure:)

Patriot’s Place on Patriot’s Day

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I’ve been meaning to check out a nature trail I heard about but just haven’t had the time. It’s at Patriot’s Place in Foxboro, home of Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriot’s Football team. The complex houses a shopping mall and conference centers as well. This is where the AAA marketplace was held last month. Bottom line, it’s hard to believe there’s a nature trail amid the asphalt.

As I left Lexington I noticed my gas gauge was getting kind of low. I expected I would need to get gas after making that trip to Lexington. I stopped at a service center with a  McDonald’s for a breakfast sandwich. While there I checked their gas prices…$3.95 + / gal for regular. I shouldn’t have been surprised. The  egg McMuffin and orange juice w/ a small water came to $7.99! Friendly’s has a whole breakfast for $2.99. I thought McDonald’s was supposed to be cheap!

Anyway, I decided to try to get to a gas station I know on RT 1. It usually has less expensive gas and I could go home by way of RT 1 instead of RT 128. In fact when I got there the gas was $3.73/ gal.  Big difference!

So with a bit more gas in my tank I headed off down RT 1. On the way I drove by Patriot’s Place and for the first time saw a sign for the Nature Trail and Cranberry Bog. It was still so early I decided to take the time to check it out. It’s located behind Bass Pro Shop and be warned, the dirt road to the dirt parking area has pot holes big enough to swallow your car.

For the most part the parking lot was empty. There were some construction vehicles and a port-o-potty on the far end of the lot. I didn’t take all the camera stuff, just my monopod that doubles as a walking stick, the new super telly and my 55-200. I left the backpack and the kit lens in the car locked in the trunk.

 The path is well-marked. The upper portion is brick-paved and there is a little sitting area and a man-made water feature (waterfall). It’s a pretty little spot. The trail itself is dirt but well maintained. Much better than the access road! It’s a short loop, only about 1/2 mile. To the left is a gentle downslope to a bridge/boardwalk over the marsh to the bog. To the right the trail is more steep. Going right would be the easy way so of course I went left first!

I loved the boardwalk over the pond. It even has a little bench where you can sit and watch the birds. There were the Canadian Geese , of course, a pair of swans, quite a few red-winged blackbirds and a variety of finch/sparrow type birds. I didn’t see any ducks this trip but I am sure there must be some around.

I followed the path through the Cranberry bog. There are two statues of Elk set on the shore and another bridge that crosses the irrigation canal on one side and the pond on the other.

 At that point  you enter the woods and the terrain changes again. It’s still an easy walk but now you climb a couple of hills.

There’s another little bridge over a brook that feeds the pond. In here I spotted squirrels playing hide and seek but that was about all.

Back at the start I took advantage of the seating area to set up my new lens. I need to get used to using such a heavy lens and the monopod. I found the swans on the pond and was amazed at how big they came out with the super telly. The only thing is it’s a bit cumbersome. I think it will be great if I’m looking to shoot from a blind or someplace where I will be sitting or standing for a bit, in other words, where I can set up housekeeping. 🙂 It’s not a lens to just snap on the camera and go hiking. I’ll stick to my 55-200 for that. It will definitely travel with me when we go to Alaska.

The day seemed to be warming up a bit but that wind was still cold so I wrapped up my morning and it’s only 9 am!

 Just as I took the lens off and packed up the geese started honking like crazy and the whole gaggle took off in formation! A very impressive sight  and me with no camera ready! Why is it that this always seems to happen to me! Oh well, another picture that got away 🙂

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After the Battle

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On Battle Green in Lexington after the smoke had dispersed many of the re-enactors remained to mingle with the crowd. They willingly posed for pictures.

There was a Redcoat showing off his sword,

 A judge or preacher…not sure which…

And of course the militia

But I think my favorite picture was one I set up. I called it the old defenders and the new. There were some Rangers there in their uniforms and I asked them if they would stand with a couple of the Patriot’s for a picture. Both groups liked the idea and began to line up. I had to back up because of the lens I was using. As I was framing the picture I heard a man’s voice behind me. He yelled” Hey, here’s a great picture” and pushed me right out of the way. I didn’t get the whole picture I set up and I was not happy about that but almost immediately I was behind a wall of photographers taking the picture that was MY idea! I’m willing to bet that picture will be in some of the local newspapers by tomorrow!. Another lesson learned..Change you lens before you start setting up your pictures!

Anyway, here is what I was able to get before I was muscled out of the way! There were more Rangers and Militia but if I had backed up to get them in I wouldn’t have gotten any shot.

That about wraps up my visit to the Lexington Battle Green on Patriot’s Day and it wasn’t even 8am yet! I was ready to find breakfast!

There were many more events planned for the day plus a movie but I think Rocky told you that I am not a morning person. I left the house without bringing my list of events. As a result I didn’t know where anything was or what time an event would be held. I was so focused on the Battle on the Green that everything else just passed  right out of consciousness until the reenactment was over.   With all that it seemed prudent to skip the rest and head home. Now that I have an idea what to expect I will be able to plan it better for next year.

It was definitely worth the lack of sleep!

The British are coming, the British are coming

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It’s Patriot’s Day in  Massachusetts or at least yesterday was.  This was a big day in Massachusetts. There were reenactments all over but the most traditional one is the one on the Lexington Green where the battle really took place. Then there’s the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon. I think the marathon gets more coverage than the reenactments! And we can’t forget the Red Sox even though their season so far has been really  forgettable. They were playing at Fenway Park and wonder of wonders, they WON! So much to do, so much to see, so little time!

I chose to travel to the Battle Green in Lexington to see their reenactment. It’s a bit over an hour from my house to Lexington.  They try to be as authentic as possible, even holding the reenactment at 5:30 am, daybreak. To allow time for parking and to walk to the green, I left my house at 4am and arrived in Lexington at a few minutes after 5am.

The pre dawn light was just beginning to lighten the sky.

As you know I scoped out the area last week so I would know where to park and were to get a good vantage point. It quickly became apparent that the trip was pretty much an exercise in futility. I made excellent time, there was no traffic even for a Monday. Many businesses close in Massachusetts to observe the holiday. We even get an extra day to file our income taxes.(Isn’t that special?).

I pulled into Lexington and headed for the Stop and Shop Parking lot but it was full already! I began to search for a parking spot. That quest took me almost 20 minutes so by the time I got parked, they were ringing the church bells on the green.  I loaded up with my camera, new lens and monopod and began hustling toward the sounds. As I reached the green I was shocked into standstill.  IT WAS PACKED! Who gets up at 5AM to watch grown people dress up and play dead people? Apparently a lot of people including young children.

The little rise I had staked out as mine was overflowing so there was no chance of getting up there. Plus loads of people had step ladders, not little ones either, big 6 ft step ladders and they ringed the back of the crowd that already surrounded the common. I could tell I wouldn’t be able to get close enough to see anything there. I continued to work my way around the common on the fringe of the crowd looking for any little opening I might be able to squeeze into but it wasn’t til I was well past the common that the crowd began to thin out.

Having driven all that way in the wee hours I wasn’t going to just turn around and go back home so I slid into a small opening right at the barricade. Clearly I wasn’t going to be able to use the new lens so I pulled out my favorite lens, my trusty 55-200mm telephoto. Oops, I left the polarizer on and it was wasn’t very light out.  But it was cold, and windy and that meant that my polarizer was stuck…again. Seems like it won’t budge when it’s cold. Warm the lens up to 70 degrees and the polarizer will come right off.  Boy is this morning off to a good start? (Not).

Anyway, it was time to try to improvise.  I upped the ISO and although I had wanted to use a small aperture to get a deep DOF , I decided to do the opposite to try to increase shutter speed so I could capture action. If the sun had been up higher and I could get the polarizer off, I probably wouldn’t have had to make these compromises.

Across the street was a building that I think is the Hartwell Tavern. That was where the Patriots gathered that fateful morning before heading to the green. I could see some reenactors milling around on the lawn. Someone was making a speech but we couldn’t tell what was being said because the speakers were pointed away from us and toward the crowd around the green. All of a sudden 3 of the Patriot’s raised their  rifles and a shot went off. Boy it was LOUD! Smoke billowed out and drifted on the breeze.  It caught all of us in my little corner off guard. I wasn’t the only one who jumped!

Right on the heels of that we heard someone yelling. We couldn’t make out exactly what was said but a rider came trotting up to the Patriots on the lawn. It was pretty clear this was the messenger bringing the news that the British were on the move, not Paul Revere because he had been captured, if you recall.

The Patriots began to run out of the Tavern and form up on the green. We began to hear drums and pretty soon the British came into sight marching at a  brisk clip right down the road where we were standing. They were going to go right past us.

The columns of Redcoats marched by us and formed up on the Green .

 They had 1 captive and suddenly someone yelled that the captive was escaping. A shot rang out and then chaos broke out. Rifles were firing, smoke was blowing and all of the players were yelling. The crowd was spellbound and those of us with cameras were all trying to jockey for position.

From my vantage point I could see the redcoats and the smoke and that was about it.

And then it was over.  8 Patriots had been killed that day. The British  formed up and marched away.

The crowd began to break up, many headed to the pancake breakfast. I chose to head to the Green to see what remained.

I’ll tell you what I saw when I finally got to the green in my next post. For  this one I will say a lesson learned for next year. Unless I want to be one of those people dragging a ladder around next year, I will have to get there much earlier than I did this time. I don’t need a super telephoto, a 200mm is more than adequate and be sure the polarizer is off! 🙂

Patriots Day

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Editor in Chief

Good Morning everyone. Editor-In- Chief Rocky here.  It’s very early but I wanted to give you all an update. Dusty has left the premises…yup, just like Elvis, she has left the building. Her office wanted her to work the 2nd shift today but when they found out what time she was getting up to drive to Concord they told her never mind. Can’t have her falling asleep at her desk!

 

The weather report is for a nice day today. It’s too early to tell right now if they are going to be right or not. The sun hasn’t even come up.We’re hoping it will be a pleasant day and that Dusty will get great pictures and have lots to share. After all she is certainly making the effort on this one!

 Did you know that she is not a morning person? Getting up before 4 am is pure torture for her. Give her a choice of sunrise or sunset, there is no choice. She’ll go for sunset every time! About the only time she drags herself out like this is to catch a plane when she travels. Then she consoles herself  that she can go back to sleep on the plane. Not so this time. She’ll have to stay awake all day now. I told her I would be happy to keep her up all night playing with the mousie but she didn’t appreciate that suggestion. I just thought it might be easier if she didn’t go to bed at all. She used to stay up all night when she was younger.

 Oh oh am I telling tales? I guess I better sign off this post. I think I’ll go take a cat nap. Wake me when Dusty gets back! I will want to “help” her edit any pictures she got!