Playin' Hide-N-Seek with the Heron

The day was cooling off as the evening approached. A little bit of exercise and some fresh air seemed appropriate and so I headed over to one of my favorite spots, the stream in Hampton Township. The sun was getting lower and the sky had a nice shade of blue, the trees were bright green where the sun still lingered.

    Pulling into the road leading down to the creek, I had to slow to a crawl to allow a couple small fawns and their mother to cross the road. The two young deer took one look at my car and jumped into the woods while the doe stood her ground, staring at me, daring me to do anything. I slowly passed, not six feet away and wished her a good night before continuing on. 

    I parked the car and started my stroll down the road. In the distance I could hear someone cutting their grass but other than that, it was quiet. No cars were on the road and soon the lawnmower shut off, all was still.

    I crossed a small rise and saw the cars of a couple fishermen. One could be seen in the creek trying his luck with a fly rod. I moved over to the railroad tracks which parallel the stream, being careful not to kick any stones, attempting to be quiet. I was watching the stream, searching for the heron that frequents the area.

    Taking my time, slowly working my way past bushes, he was nowhere to be seen. I came to a path which leads down to a flat beach and as I started down it, I saw the heron take off, flying upstream. I went down to the creek and looked for him but he had flown out of sight.

    Returning to the tracks, I backtracked a bit and returned to the road. There is a small swamp which often acts as a hide for all sorts of birds, this would be the midpoint of my walk. I could hear bull frogs calling as I neared the overgrown path which leads to its edge. Walking quietly, I kept an eye on the trees growing in the area.

    A huge dead tree sits on the edge of the muddy land encompassing the swamp. There in its branches, I saw the heron. The dim light made his chest, legs and neck look the same as the dead wood of the tree. The camouflage was perfect, if I hadn’t been looking for him, I would have walked right underneath him.

    I raised my camera slowly and he took off, dropping into the tree covering with a few squawks, effectively hiding himself from my lens. He was on his game tonight, or maybe I was just too slow, either way, he had won again!

    The swamp was mostly dry, what was covered with water a few weeks ago was now a thick mud, the water laying further out, barely visible. I stood and listened to the frogs awhile and searched the trees for my feathered friend. No other birds could be seen or heard. I returned to the road and headed back towards the car.

    Nearing my car, I saw another deer. Thinking it might be the doe and her fawns, I prepared the camera to get a picture. When I had a clear shot, I saw that it was a young buck, standing in the shadows of the hillside. He was watching me. A picture wasn’t worth attempting, the best shot was the one I retained in my memory. The two of us stood still, staring at each other, about 30 feet apart. He decided he had enough and turned and leapt off into the darkness.

    I walked over to the car and returned home. It was a great walk. Fresh air, a nice cool time of the evening. I saw four deer, two of which were fairly new to the world. I was serenaded by frogs singing in the swamp. I had watched a fisherman enjoying the pleasures of a quiet stream and got a couple quick views of “my buddy”, the heron. He had bested me tonight...but there is always tomorrow! It was another wonderful summer night in Pennsylvania!

Sometimes You Win and Sometimes...

 I consider myself fairly lucky at getting most of the photographs I envision. It probably ranges a bit higher than 50%. When things go right, it’s wonderful, but when things go bad, it seems as if everything is going downhill.

    I’ve recently had a string of good shots, the “photography gods” were smiling down on me. But I knew it wouldn’t last for long. This is one of the "joys" of amateur photography, you try your best and sometimes it works. The longer you keep trying, the better your chances get!

    On the 2nd of July, I was looking forward to what would have been a great shot, well at least in my mind.  The Chinese space station, Tiangong, would be coming out of the west and would be passing directly across the face of the moon! The moon would be only a few days past new, only 11% illuminated. This would enable a longer exposure without overexposing the moon. The longer exposure would also enable the camera to record a longer pass of the bright satellite as it neared and passed over the moon.

    I checked my sources and then rechecked. I did a run through on Stellarium and they all showed that the space station would be going right across the moon as seen from my home. By moving just few miles away, the chances of a “moon hit” was decreased. This was only a prediction, there was always the chance of a miss! Still, how could I not be excited?

    During the day, things were looking good, the skies was mostly cloud free. I charged the battery to the camera, set the gear by the door and then laid down for a short nap.

    Waking up, I looked outside and saw that the blue skies had morphed into grey. It didn’t damper my enthusiasm though, I still had hopes.

    Disappointing would be a good word to describe what I saw at the appointed time. The sky was grey except for a bright patch to the southwest, the reflection of the city’s lights on the clouds. Some fireworks were being shot off, but that wasn’t what I wanted to see! The moon couldn’t be seen at all and neither would the space station. I watched a few aerial displays and then headed back into the house. "Ya gotta remember, you don’t always get what you want!"

    This was my second failure in two days. The day before I had set up to catch the same satellite as it passed close to the bright star Vega. I had the camera set up with a nice composition with some trees in the foreground, a couple test shots had been taken, all was ready. All that was needed now was the space station. I watched the western sky, waiting for it to come up out of the trees. Then, there it was! I moved over to the camera and watched as it crossed the sky, nearing the target.

   Just as I touched the shutter release a neighbor started up his truck and its lights flooded the camera. I attempted to shield the lens but it was futile; the lights had destroyed the chance to catch the pairing. As I watched the satellite drift into the trees in the east, my neighbor put his truck into gear and drove away, leaving me in darkness once again, never knowing what he had done. Well, that’s life, there was no sense getting upset because that wouldn’t solve anything. I’ll catch it again in the future. 

Jupiter and the road to Wagman

    I know that there will be lots of other successful shots to come, I can’t let one or two destroy my will power. These future shots are the ones I’m looking forward to!

     You have to remember; mistakes and problems can sometimes turn out for the better! Ann Marie and I made a wrong turn the other day while on a short road trip. As we navigated the back roads returning to our route, Ann Marie spotted a red fox running through a field. She would’ve never seen it if we had taken the correct turn! It all worked out in the end.

    In the meanwhile, I’ve been thinking. These types of things tend to happen in threes, I guess I have another one coming. Sometimes you win and sometimes… ya don’t!