| Saturday, June 26, 2021 | | Happy Summer! | Happy Summer!
Looking back at my photo files, I think I made fewer photographs in May through early June than I have in many years. Wet sloppy weather accounts for some of that, and Pete’s yo-yo health the past few weeks accounts for most of the rest of it. Those of you who know us and care about us will be very happy to hear that he is definitely better and making steady progress in stamina and strength and breathing. It is hard to see that progress day to day, but looking back a month, when he came home from his last hospital visit, we can both rejoice in how much better he is doing on new meds and a new routine. We are both very grateful; so many of you have sent well wishes and prayers. Keep them coming!
Now that he is better, I have had more chances to both work in the gallery and get some time outside. Out of town photography friends provided the perfect reason for some of my recent adventures as I made two separate trips to Alligator River refuge looking for bear, and enjoyed a wonderful middle-of-night Milky Way session.
So far I have not seen a mother with cubs. I did spot a couple of Papa Bear I could photograph with my longest lens. One of these waddled away from where several of us were standing to photograph, ducked into the brush, bent over a small sapling, and then re-emerged, standing, with a pose that made me chuckle. You will see it below. A little later another bear kept coming out of the brush toward a soybean field, but then drew back into hiding if a vehicle came by. We had parked our vehicle; another truck was on the other side of where the bear waited, also parked. At one point he came out and sat in the middle of the road for a couple minutes before changing his mind and going back into the brush. One of the folks I was with commented she had never seen a bear SIT in the wild. So when he came out again, I asked, out loud, if he would mind sitting in a photogenic spot for her. So he did! He sauntered across the road, sat down in the grass for a few minutes and then, once again, went back into the brush without heading on into the field. After we both made a few photos, she asked me, do you always receive what you ask for? And I said, I often do.
Then I told her why I think this is so. And this is the reason I shared this story, so I can tell you, too. I had to pause a minute to choose my words. I had already explained that I have come to believe, through too many circumstances to call coincidence, that wild animals sense our thoughts and intentions in much the same way our own pets do. After all, their survival depends in part on deciding whether a given location or situation is safe for them. So I always try to communicate that I am present, and wish to honor them, but not to intrude or make them uncomfortable. I always try to remember to say please, and thank you, and that I wish to photograph, and to share the images I make. So I had already given that as background. Then I said this: I love them. I love the animals and birds I photograph. And I think, in some way I cannot define or explain, only experience, they sense that. They feel that. And they trust. So I don’t “take” photos; I “make” them. I RECEIVE them. They are gifts of presence granted. They are moments of connection. And those moments, those sometimes brief, connecting moments—they are among my life’s greatest joys.
Over and over, I go out with an idea, something I hope to see or photograph, and am given a different, and sometimes greater, gift—as with this sitting bear. I hoped for cubs. But the special moment for my new friend was this big Papa bear, sitting. The lesson for me seems to be to relish the moment, to receive the gifts of each day. My nightly gratitude list helps me remember the small blessings in the day just lived, and helps me anticipate new ones with the new morning. Of course Pete’s returning health tops all of these. Often, the rest come as gifts from nature’s bounty. Some of those from the past month or so are below for you to enjoy, too.
|
click for larger image | Here is the standing bear. I titled this, Wait...what did I come into this clearing for? (Can anyone relate?) |
| | 
click for larger image | I often see Red-tailed Hawks at the Refuge. This one was startled by the small warbler that briefly shared its pine perch! |
| 
click for larger image | The Osprey pair at the Colington Creek Inn has two babies this year. This is Caroline (for Carolina), the mother. |
| 
click for larger image | The father, whom we've dubbed Colin (for Colington) has a distinctive heart pattern in his head feathers. |
| 
click for larger image | This is another nest on Colington Rd. The platform nests don't give much space for Mom AND Dad to be in the nest together. This male is very attentive. |
| 
click for larger image | We had perfect sunset conditions: overhead clouds and a band of clear sky at the horizon. |
| 
click for larger image | Milky Way over Pea Island, with car lights headed south. The moon was still up in the west which gave some ambient light too. |
| 
click for larger image | My photographer friend Tish lit up the marsh for me with her flashlight. The Milky Way is rising almost straight up now (it is more of an arch in April.)
|
| 
click for larger image | Once the moon set, around 2 a.m., we went to Bodie Light. Conditions were perfect. Hint: if you go, take gnat/no see-um spray with you!! |
|
posted by eturek at 1:40 PM |
Comments [2] |
|
|