Category: Nature

I’m taking on bird photography, which may be the most challenging yet. This isn’t easy. Birds move much faster than I do, and they stay a micro-second, long enough to grab some seed or suet and sail off. To capture them,

I have to use a tripod, which is challenging, and curse the wind, which spins and shakes the feeder constantly.

If the wind doesn’t tilt the feeder, more giant birds land on it with a thud, which goes around and around, a nightmare for settings and exposure decisions. I rarely have time to get set; things are happening too fast, and the feeder and the birds are constantly in motion.

I like this photography and want to work on it with specific lenses, like the one I used for the feature shot above. We bought a thinner, longer feeder and plan to put it outside a living room window.

I can set up the tripod, sit on a chair, learn patience, and wait for the birds to come to me and be still. Looking at a bird feeder is pretty grounding. The songbirds are amazing creatures, and I am learning a lot watching them.

That will take some time and some work and research. I sat for an hour at the window and only got one or two usable pictures.

I have to experiment with lenses and settings, and I will have to adjust myself to new settings and faster reflexes. I’m excited about it and will get to work on it over the weekend. I learned a lot yesterday and today.

In the meantime, here are three of my shots today. I have work today, but I think I can pull it off. At least the flowers stand still.

I shot these inside Maria’s studio; the birds don’t notice or care that I am in the window. But if I even cough, they disappear. This is a good exercise for me. I will learn to be patient and still, or I’ll fail and hate to fail.

I’m starting with a Leica 60 mm and might switch to a bigger lens.

A big and beautiful bird landed on the feeder below, but the bird and the wind kept turning the feeder around, so I only got the corner shot of this big and beautiful thing.

I’ve found something that is as calming and grounding for me as meditation and deep breath, two powerful remedies for anxiety and anger. The new thing is bird watching. I sit inside Maria’s studio (with her permission) and point my camera. Sometimes, the birds come. Sometimes, big and bossy blue jays chase them away.

They are used to Maria, but if I move, they bolt. I’m learning to be still.

Sometimes, Zip hides in the chicken roost, scaring the  birds off (he doesn’t fool anybody). Sometimes, they wait until the snow stops. But they keep coming, grabbing some food and taking off. I do this for about a half hour, and I love it.

Sometimes, there are no birds. Sometimes, they come in blocks. I missed some more significant, colorful birds, but I’m figuring out when they come. Photography, I am learning, calls for patience, not my strength. They say nature is healthy and good for us. I am finding this is true.

Bird watching is another thing – like cats – that never drew my attention. Now, I can hardly wait. I sit in one of Maria’s chairs in silence and wait. It is both beautiful and calming.

I love watching their agility flying around and their enthusiasm for food.

Junco bird from Canada is waiting his turn.

Zip, hiding out in the hen-roost, watching the birds. So far, he watches them. They have his number and take off when he appears. Zip is everywhere, watching everything.

If I sit in Maria’s studio, I can look out at the feeder just outside of her studio window. I am never disappointed. First, the sparrows come, then the starlings, then the blue jays. I could sit there for hours, but today I just sat there for a few minutes.

Nature is the most beautiful thing in the workd if I pay attention to it.

When I came to the country 20 years ago and spent a few days alone, I knew I had to live here. I had been hearing about the destruction of natural life for years but paid little attention to it, like most people. The trees and hills and hawks and wildflowers transformed me. I could never go back.

I understand now that nature and a life with animals around me are essential for my physical and mental health. I am not sure humans are fit to keep the planet healthy or even want to. In our country, making more and more money seems much more important than preserving the earth or the animals who live there.

“The world has been turned into steel and glass,” writes Joan Chittister. “We must go on guided nature walks now to see what we are missing. Maybe that’s why we no longer see the price we pay for our demise.”

When the animal rights movement gets through driving domesticated animals out of our lives and into their obscurity and death,  and the builders run out of earth to build on, then the only place our children can see an elephant, horse, or pony is on YouTube.

It’s almost impossible to persuade people to preserve what we do not see, live with, or value. We are paying for and pursuing our demise. Perhaps it is just too disturbing to think about or focus on. Or maybe that is the price of being so greedy.

Rachel Carson wrote: “The more we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the  universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” Rachel Carson was sadly mistaken.

Carson said that hopeful statement long ago; sadly, history has proven her wrong. The banishment of working animals from human beings and the destruction of environment after environment is well underway. Our former president says it’s a hoax, and most people in his party agree.

It seems most people in the world agree with him. I don’t. Worthy people have warned us for years, and the truth is now upon us. I hope the next generation will do a better job than we have to get humanity to see the truth.

I can’t take care of the world and shouldn’t, but I can care for myself. I’ll never again live anywhere where I can not be close to nature or the animals who have been our partners on the planet since its creation.

And Maria and I are committed to doing everything, large or small, that we can to save our beautiful earth.

Millions of people got hit a lot harder than we did thanks to climate change, but we got destroyed this summer. We had to replace much of the roof; our basement nearly flooded with water, we had a minor rat infestation, and a dozen slate tiles on the barn roof were damaged and cracked – several large holes in the roof could have severely damaged the barn.

Mother Nature cost us several thousand dollars, and we are happy and grateful to have each one of these problems fixed. We are using our generator for the first time; severe storms keep knocking out the power, and we imagine more trouble in the winter. I think our roofs are secure in the farmhouse and the barn.

Dan returned today from an annual rabbit hunting excursion with old friends in the Adirondacks. He didn’t get any rabbits, but he did shoot a grouse instead; he said it was delicious. Dan is a find. He is meticulous and competent, comes when he says he will, does a first-rate job, and continuously charges less than we expect. He’s great fun to talk to. We lucked out running into him; we weren’t sure where he was.

He’s working on Case Page’s horse wagon for her coffee and sandwich cart. He’s coming back in a few weeks to get our compact toilet working upstairs. We greatly appreciate Dan and the work he does. He’s becoming a friend.