NatureLog
Nature & Energy Insights
When do you get the answers that you need in your life’s journey? Is it when you sleep? In messages through others? Through your intuition? I’ve learned that I receive it through all of the above - and through nature. Lately I have been exploring whether to pursue macro photography. I had recently rented 2 macro lenses to test and had been so disappointed. I learned that being 100% reliant on a tripod and being right on top of my subject matter was not for me. I didn’t want to scare the animals and insects of my fascination, and my camera gear is already heavy and cumbersome when I travel without necessitating a tripod, too. This week, while visiting family on the East Coast, I had rented one final lens before I was going to decide whether to give up my quest. Arriving on the East Coast, I was exhausted. With a three hour drive to my destination ahead, and only an hour or so of sleep on my overnight redeye flight, it’s 6 am, and I’m asking myself: “What was I thinking taking a redeye?” With just 1 hour left in the drive, we stopped for an hour to wait for my nephew. At wit’s end, irritable, and just ready to be done with this drive is precisely when the magic happened…. I began to notice an odd phenomenon each time we stopped on the drive: a single dragonfly would appear, and would fly back and forth across the car, front to back, back to front. Now stopped on the side of the road awaiting my nephew, 2 things happened: first, an insect resembling a bee flew into the back window, just behind my seat, and just looked at me. Hmmm…. "Is he staring at me out of fear? He doesn't seem to be in any hurry to move away from me." So I gingerly grabbed my camera and took several shots (see above). Then I ever so gently ushered him back out into nature where he belonged. Then, not one but two dragonflies landed on branches just beside me at the car’s edge. And they just stared at me. Yes – they looked right at me. Feeling confident that any moment they would fly off, I just sat and enjoyed their beauty in this special moment. But they didn’t leave. So again, I pulled out my camera, gingerly stepped out of the car, and began taking pictures. Still, they just sat. After I had snapped what seemed to be 100's of pictures, they flew up – and returned and sat back down in a new position. And again I took numerous shots of their new angles. And so it went on like this – the entire hour we waited for my nephew. Now, you might be thinking, “It’s just coincidence that they landed to charge in the sun at the very moment you pulled up in the car”. Except that they weren’t sitting in the sun. In many cases, I don’t even bother shooting in the sun for the myriad problems it poses in photography. Nope – this was just pure magic. I began to realize that they were perhaps here for another reason: to prove a point to me. As the week continued and this happened again and again (on my father’s balcony as I walked by, on my father’s porch where I was sitting, on a nearby limb and then a lily pad at a friend’s house where I was visiting), I reflected that these were no coincidences. Macro photography was here to stay in my life, and the dragonflies were going to show me precisely how it was possible – with my existing lens and the third rental that I used for the shots that week..... I also was reminded of something I already new: life's obstacles are in your life for a reason. Embrace them!
I now have profound gratitude for my little "teachers". Thank you, bee and dragonflies – (and thank you to my nephew for taking so awfully long to get ready.) I shall do my very best to remember this “intentional magic” the next time I start to get irritated in life's unappreciated moments, when it is not moving as fast as I'd prefer. I hope that you will, too……
0 Comments
I’ve been very fortunate this year to see a wide variety of Cormorants – all a short distance from home. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to get out and see the various migrants or even the birds in their full breeding plumage. For years as a wildlife rehabilitator, any free time in spring was spent caring for newborns of all varieties, the latest being harbor seal pups. It has of course all been worth it(!), but I’m also quite excited to have a little time to explore this time of year. And speaking of the spring.... seeing the breeding plumage is such a delight – especially on the Brandt’s Cormorants. Blue being my favorite color, I can’t help being spell-bound by their blue plumage this time of year, and their gorgeous blue eyes. Brandt’s Cormorants – endemic to North America, and only found along the Pacific Coast - frequent our area for breeding. Unfortunately they've been at risk from a number of disturbances, including recreational marine use and commercial fishing. I usually see them arriving in the Slough, skimming the water to grab seagrass and other materials for their nests, built atop the channel markers. I laugh at myself when they're here: in my kayak, fighting the current around the channel markers, , around and around again, just to get a glimpse of their beautiful blue beauty. I'm ever so careful not to disturb, but just close enough to relish their beauty this time of the year. If I get a photo, it’s a bonus. And while we so often see Double-crested Cormorants from our kayaks, this year I was fortunate to see them in their breeding plumage. And LOTS of them. In one of our local reservoirs recently, I counted a group of over 90(!) Double-crested (that was just those on the surface). I don’t recall ever having seen so many in one location. Clearly our Reservoir is a breeding ground and I was delighted to have a chance to see them rearing their young. I laughed at the site of the breeding plumage, with all of the head feathers sporadically shooting out of their heads, some with more wisps than others. It's a funny sight. Earlier this spring, I also happened upon a couple of lone Pelagic Cormorants in Monterey. While I’ve seen Pelagics, it's rare and I did a double-take to make sure it was indeed a Pelagic Cormorant. Very sleek and slender, this little Cormorant is the smallest of the Cormorants. Because the largest concentration of Pelagics are up in Alaska and not nearby, I do stop and relish seeing them. Besides their small size, you can easily spot them aflight – the only Cormorant with a big white circle on their backs. And so I’ve had tremendous gratitude - enjoying the changing of the seasons, the familiar friends like the Cormorants that come our way, and the changes they exhibit during these special times of the year. As the late American essayist, John Burroughs, has written, “I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” It's another way of practicing mindfulness. What will you find in nature that will soothe and heal you? I encourage you to open your doors and go find out….
For the last few weeks, I’ve enjoyed the transiting Allen’s Hummingbirds as they migrate through the area on their way south. I always look forward to their arrival. The males arrive much earlier than the females and this year, we saw very few males. The males typically only visit ~3 to 4 July every year. But this year we saw a shift in the date of arrivals of all migrating hummingbirds, so we presumed they, too, would be late. Unfortunately for us, the only opportune time for a family vacation overlapped the typical male Allens’ arrivals, so regardless of when they did transit, we seemed to miss them. However, the volume of female and possibly young juvenile male Allen's transiting through this year are helping make up for my disappointment. Interestingly, for the better part of a week, I thought the same female was frequenting our backyard. However later review of my photos revealed it was indeed 2 different females. So who knows just how many we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks. Regardless, it has been a joy to watch them and be entertained. One female stayed for only ~24-48 hours and ruthlessly chased every single hummingbird away – from BOTH large feeders. Another stationed herself in a tree above one feeder and chased all hummers away from just the one feeder. Another positioned herself under the pergola on the draped lights – again darting after every hungry hummer at that feeder. Through it all, we’re reminded of those striking differences between Allens and the other hummingbirds: the shorter beaks, the constant view of their tongues, and of course their vocalizations. I don’t ever recall Allen's migrating through as late as September but, as long as it still means a safe migration for them, I’m thrilled to see the constant flow of new little visitors. Meanwhile, we’re still enjoying all of the quite young new Black-chinned and Annas arrivals of the season. The feeders and the backyard sage and other flowers are ablaze with little fast-moving wings. There are so many that at dusk it’s like a hummingbird highway – we look out above and around us as we happen upon the back patio at this critical time. We know this stage, too, is temporary – soon our little Black-chinned friends will migrate south, and the Annas will disperse to establish their own territories and we’ll see fewer at the feeders and across the backyard. So for now, I relish this time with them – taking in their beauty, their antics, and just their mere presence that cheers me even on my most stressful day of work. I have tremendous gratitude - thank you, tiny ones, for making our lives so much richer, vibrant, and joyful…..and Godspeed for the migration ahead. Please remember to phone your nearest wildlife rehabilitator if you find any bird or other animal in distress, injured, or otherwise in need of care. And may you discover and relish the many treasures that nature bestows on you in your own backyards - regardless of season..... |
Archives
January 2023
AuthorPamela, Eyes4Nature's proprietor, enjoying life out in the field among the animals and the peacefulness of nature. Categories
All
|