BNWR Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron is one of my favorite wetland wildlife photo subjects.

With their large size one does not need to get extremely close to capture and acceptable image. Perhaps the old saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” applies to this bird but I do find them to be quite handsome birds capable of striking extremely elegant poses. Another point in the GBH’s favor is that many of these birds are not overly wild and can be approached to within acceptable photo range.

I captured this close-up backlighted image during my February morning visit to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. As we were slowly driving along Wildlife Drive I noticed this bird standing in the shallows just to the side of the road. The heron never moved a muscle as I stopped the car only a few yards distance and took a series of shots hand-held from the car window.

Blackwater Plumes

While visiting Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge I encountered a small marsh filled with tall dead grass still carrying last year’s spent seedheads.

What was simply a bunch of brown grass from any other angle was transformed into a scene of beauty by the natural backlighting.

Another First: Golden Eagle

During my recent visit to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Willard and I noticed a photographer with a “Big” lens set up aimed at a clump of trees. It took a few moments to locate the bird that had captured his attention as it was well camouflaged in the shadows among the dense evergreens. It took me even longer to figure out what it was, my very first Golden Eagle sighting!

With the golden sitting in the shade and the distance involved I was unable to get an acceptable image. An hour later we returned to find that the sun was now lighting the bird making photography possible with my rig.


I’m will continue hunting these magnificent birds in hopes of better captures but for now I am happy to have had the privilege to have photographed America’s two most magnificent raptors.

SkyWatch: Blackwater Dawn

Canada Geese grace the quiet waters of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge at dawn.

I have been posting images from my Sunday visit to Maryland’s Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. This was my first visit and I was suitably impressed with the tremendous numbers of waterfowl available for viewing and photography.

For more Skies from around the world visit Sky Watch

Reflections of Flight

I was particularly attracted to the reflections in this image. Normally I do not notice such things while concentrating on the action of a take-off shot but in this case I did and framed the image with it in mind.

The Canada Geese were the most visible bird species at BNWR during our visit. My impression was that they literally numbered in the thousands if not the tens of thousands.

Tundra Swans: Blackwater NWR

In one of the freshwater impoundments at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge a large flock of Tundra Swans were intermixed with the Canada Geese. Their large size easily dwarfed the smaller Canada’s

The photo-op arrived when two Tundra Swans began displaying aggressive behavior. Although the aggression lasted for only a moment, it was long enough to focus and shoot.

I had clicked a photograph of a distant Tundra Swan some years ago with a point & shoot, but with the small image of unprintable quality I consider this encounter with the Tundra Swans to be another photographic “First”.

Northern Pintail: Blackwater NWR

When I first opened the car door in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge I could hardly believe my ears; the clamor of thousands of nearby honking geese was tremendous!

Wildlife Drive, a four mile one way road runs through the refuge following the top of a dike separating freshwater impoundments from tidal marsh. This road allows one to get reasonably close to the waterfowl with little physical effort. Of course the waterfowl here is accustomed to people and automobiles along this route and are not alarmed by ones presence. During our visit a portion of Wildlife Drive was closed for repairs but with two thirds open there was plenty to see and photograph.

After the Eagle from my previous post had left it perch I began to focus on the Canada Geese in a fresh water impoundment. Only then did a notice a pair of graceful little Northern Pintails swimming among their larger cousins.

Another “first” as this was my first ever photo-encounter Northern Pintails. Our visit to Blackwater provided me with a number of “first” which I will be sharing in upcoming post.

A New Adventure: Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Last winter I decided on making a trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. BNWR is located on Maryland’s scenic eastern shore near the town of Cambridge..

Between the weekend weather and personal issues I was unable to find a suitable weekend date. As this winter approached I again began to think of Blackwater. With the mild weekend weather forecast Willard & I decided to make the trip today.

The alarm jangled raucously at 3am with my feet hitting the bedroom floor a moment later. By 3:30am,with Willard and our gear in the car I started the wheels rolling southeast. As we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at Annapolis Maryland I noticed the eastern sky beginning to brighten slightly.

Upon our arrival in the refuge we were greeted by this Bald Eagle bathed in the warm early morning light. What a way to begin the day! It was beginning to appear that the 200 mile morning drive was going to be worth the effort.