Arkansas Wildlife Blog and Gallery
Buffalo National River and NW Arkansas
A Poor Start
Yesterday was one of those sleeper days. I felt pretty beat down by the weather and was getting frustrated with the stalling of the rut. True we have two bulls running cows, but since earlier in the week hearing a bull bugle repeatedly, the valley has gone silent.
My guess is that the animals are aware that "big weather" is on the way and they are already hunkering down. Things are kind of amiss this year. Anyone attuned to nature knows this. Cycles are out of whack and patterns are changing. For instance, I have day lilies still blooming, they are usually done in June. Honestly this haunts me because I am a student of climate change, and none of the news is good, in fact, it is terrible. We have committed a durable crime against nature. Species extinction is accelerating, and we humans are clearly to blame, and plainly ignorant or indifferent to it. Say what we will, we are doing nothing that will turn this tsunami.
Grinding and Being Patient
But getting back to Boxley. I have believed for some time that any wildlife photographer has to be adaptable and opportunistic. We must believe we will always come away with some pictures or we give up too soon. There was no better illustration of this than yesterday. The first run up the valley yielded nothing. Not even the three trumpeters in the Boxley mill pond were in any useful photo location -- they were in swans in the slime pose.
I kept moving back up the valley and observed the bachelor bull herd migrating around on one of the back fields. Way back. Mild haze, very distant animals, and not much to report. I decided to give myself a chance and I parked my black/dirt jeep and waited them out. I managed to scrape out a few sparring pictures at something like 200 yards, everything my 560mm could muster. I then noticed one of the elk had migrated forward, closer to the road, and in front of a nice barn. By that time the haze had started to lift and the light was a nice mix of angular and diffuse. I snapped off some nice elk and barn wildlife landscapes.
I then drive back to the mill pond to revisit the swans and see what might happen with a possible in-migration of maybe the egret that has given me so many pictures lately. The sun was beginning to peak through the clouds and interact with the fog. I got some fascinating pictures of dew laden spider webs reflected in the black water of the pond and kind of studied them as a new subject. I then was caught by the beautiful landscape opportunity shooting across the pond. By then the swans had moved back to their customary perch atop an old beaver dam. I didn't pay too much attention to them while composing the landscape, then one decided to open up his wings. It was one of those rare moments when a bunch of nice visual elements converge in a wildlife landscape.
I decided to check the Lost Valley field for elk and came up empty, but a locust and spider collaborated with the morning dew for an unusual composition.
Carry Your Camera
Later yesterday, I went to Jasper and proved conclusively (as if anyone would ever doubt it), that I must go nowhere without a camera. Jasper has done a nice job of planting flowers and the purple foxgloves are just vibrant. In brilliant, midday sun, the butterflies were really ripping. I shot about 300 more exposures, bringing the day to around 500. A few of the butterfly shots are real keepers. One is posted here.
What promised to be a poor day emerged into a pretty good one. Staying with it and being opportunistic pays off. If you think about it, the foggy, frustrating day might turn out to be the very best once the light starts to emerge. This belief keeps me grinding.
Yesterday was one of those sleeper days. I felt pretty beat down by the weather and was getting frustrated with the stalling of the rut. True we have two bulls running cows, but since earlier in the week hearing a bull bugle repeatedly, the valley has gone silent.
My guess is that the animals are aware that "big weather" is on the way and they are already hunkering down. Things are kind of amiss this year. Anyone attuned to nature knows this. Cycles are out of whack and patterns are changing. For instance, I have day lilies still blooming, they are usually done in June. Honestly this haunts me because I am a student of climate change, and none of the news is good, in fact, it is terrible. We have committed a durable crime against nature. Species extinction is accelerating, and we humans are clearly to blame, and plainly ignorant or indifferent to it. Say what we will, we are doing nothing that will turn this tsunami.
Grinding and Being Patient
But getting back to Boxley. I have believed for some time that any wildlife photographer has to be adaptable and opportunistic. We must believe we will always come away with some pictures or we give up too soon. There was no better illustration of this than yesterday. The first run up the valley yielded nothing. Not even the three trumpeters in the Boxley mill pond were in any useful photo location -- they were in swans in the slime pose.
I kept moving back up the valley and observed the bachelor bull herd migrating around on one of the back fields. Way back. Mild haze, very distant animals, and not much to report. I decided to give myself a chance and I parked my black/dirt jeep and waited them out. I managed to scrape out a few sparring pictures at something like 200 yards, everything my 560mm could muster. I then noticed one of the elk had migrated forward, closer to the road, and in front of a nice barn. By that time the haze had started to lift and the light was a nice mix of angular and diffuse. I snapped off some nice elk and barn wildlife landscapes.
I then drive back to the mill pond to revisit the swans and see what might happen with a possible in-migration of maybe the egret that has given me so many pictures lately. The sun was beginning to peak through the clouds and interact with the fog. I got some fascinating pictures of dew laden spider webs reflected in the black water of the pond and kind of studied them as a new subject. I then was caught by the beautiful landscape opportunity shooting across the pond. By then the swans had moved back to their customary perch atop an old beaver dam. I didn't pay too much attention to them while composing the landscape, then one decided to open up his wings. It was one of those rare moments when a bunch of nice visual elements converge in a wildlife landscape.
I decided to check the Lost Valley field for elk and came up empty, but a locust and spider collaborated with the morning dew for an unusual composition.
Carry Your Camera
Later yesterday, I went to Jasper and proved conclusively (as if anyone would ever doubt it), that I must go nowhere without a camera. Jasper has done a nice job of planting flowers and the purple foxgloves are just vibrant. In brilliant, midday sun, the butterflies were really ripping. I shot about 300 more exposures, bringing the day to around 500. A few of the butterfly shots are real keepers. One is posted here.
What promised to be a poor day emerged into a pretty good one. Staying with it and being opportunistic pays off. If you think about it, the foggy, frustrating day might turn out to be the very best once the light starts to emerge. This belief keeps me grinding.
Boxley Valley Update 09/12/08
Bull elk by old barn in cross light.
Backlit trumpeter swan and foggy landscape of Boxley mill pond.
Dew soaked orb web along entrance road to Lost Valley Campground
Spicebush swallowtail on purple foxglove in Jasper corner garden.