Escaping Winter

It seems that with each year, I have more and more difficulty dealing with winter.  Less sunlight and more snow and ice are SO depressing! 

This winter was no different, and I’ve had a terrible case of cabin fever!  I realized a few weeks ago that I didn’t take my camera out one single day this winter.  Typically there are at least a few days that are sunny enough - but I just didn’t feel like it.  What’s with that, anyway?  But with spring only a week away, the days are getting warmer and longer, and I have been just itching to get out and shoot pictures!  So today was the day.

I really wanted to get up to the Bison Range, but I figured there wasn’t really much going on right now.  The ruts are over and no babies will be born until at least April, and most of them in May.  No wildflowers yet, and the migratory birds are only just beginning to head this way, so it would be a long trip with very little - if any - results.  Besides, there is most likely still plenty of snow on the ground there - the very thing I want to get away from . So the Bison Range will have to wait. 

I opted for something that might be a little more promising, and headed out to Metcalf at around noon. It was very cloudy and overcast, with a temp of around 40-42°, and a light breeze.  The sun poked out intermittently and it looked to be a pleasant day!

I arrived at the refuge and my first stop was at the trail head along the river. The temp was quite comfortable with my medium weight parka and I attached the 600 mm lens to the camera and headed down the trail.

My first photo op was a Pileated Woodpecker, roughly 20 feet up a cottonwood snag, about 15 feet off the trail.  I heard the slow drumming on the tree before I spotted it.  I had to maneuver around a bit to get a clear shot of it through the tiny branches, but once I did I got several promising shots. 

I walked further along the path; there were very few birds about, not even crows or ravens.  I can usually see muskrats along the slough in the cattails, but even they were in hiding today.  Further down the trail, where the woods begin to open up and the river runs right alongside the path, the wind began to pick up and I wished I would have grabbed my wool hat out of the car.  I took a side trail, which I noticed has recently been paved, and felt a twinge of disappointment for that. I understand the need to make it accessible for everyone, but there’s something so comforting to me about walking a dirt path.

Along this side path I heard a Flicker, and stopped to listen for it’s drumming. I was not disappointed, for it was in a dead snag just a few feet from me, and about 15 feet up.  I moved into a better position to photograph it and was just getting ready to focus in on it when a second Flicker flew in and began fighting with the first bird. I hurried to get some photos, thinking a “fight scene” would make for some great photos, when they both flew off in different directions. Damn!  I waited for several minutes, hoping one or both of them would come back, but no such luck. An opportunity lost.  Such is the life of a wildlife photographer. 

The wind started picking up more and I decided to head back to the car. But as I reached the trail head I opted instead to wander up another trail, this one in a more densely wooded area where the wind was blocked - more or less. Just off the trail head I heard several chickadees, and saw them flitting around in a small shrubby tree, and one of the bold little birds came right out in front of me and perched in clear view. I already had my tripod set down and the lens pointing in that direction, so I quickly focused and landed a few shots before it flew off again. And what a photo I got!  I have to say it’s the most perfect chickadee photo I’ve ever taken! 

Back to my car and off to the levee and the ponds, where there is not - as I expected - much in the way of activity. The main pond is still about half frozen over, and the open water is on the east end.  Canada Geese, Common Goldeneyes and Mallards were the prominent species today, with a few coots and some other ducks that were too far away to identify - mere silhouettes against the brightness of the overcast sky.

I did spot a muskrat feeding on the edge of the ice and got a few shots of it, but they’re not good ones and only for the purpose of seeing and identifying it. I watched it for some time as is dipped in and out of the water, pulling its catch of small fish or pond weeds (I could not tell which), onto the ice and feasting on it.  The wind was blowing so hard by now that I had to drop the tripod down the a lower height and hide in front of my car on my knees to keep the lens steady enough for the photo.

Got a great shot of a Common Goldeneye in the smaller pond to the north of the levee, but that was about it.  I did hear a single Red-winged Blackbird but never saw it. At one point I watched a large flock of the Goldeneyes bolt out of the pond and fly across the levee, circle around and head back to the large pond, and then circle around again. It was curious to me, until I noticed the Marsh Hawk chasing after them. It caught a small duck in mid-air, raking it with its talons, and then following the injured duck to the ground, out of sight of my camera.

By now the wind was blowing constantly, with gusts that almost felt like gale force winds, and I decided to head home.  And of course, as soon as I hit the highway, the wind died down.  Go figure.  It wasn’t what I would call a great day for photography, but then again, even getting one great shot makes the trip well worth it. That being said, it was a good day!