Down the Rabbit Hole

October 21, 2023

‘Down the rabbit hole’ is an English-language idiom which refers to getting deep into something, or ending up somewhere strange—or wonderful. Lewis Carroll introduced the phrase in 1865 as the title for Chapter One of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

I tumbled down the nature photography rabbit hole quite by accident and I fell in deep. It all started about seven years ago when my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas. It took a while for me to come up with something I really wanted, but eventually I hit upon the idea of a camera. I wanted a better one than we had. My request came when we had two small grandchildren and I thought if I had a better camera, I could take better pictures of them. But that’s not what happened!

We went to Florida for the first time that winter and visited some of the most amazing preserves with incredible wildlife. It gave me the opportunity to use my new camera for the very first time. It wasn’t a fancy camera, but it did have a built-in zoom lens and I could get much better shots of birds and other wildlife than I ever had before! I was hooked! (The pictures below were taken with more recent cameras.)

Within a year or so, I was already yearning for a better camera and a longer lens; a camera with a quicker shutter response time, and a lens that could capture birds that were even farther away. Once I had the newer camera and the longer lens (thanks to my husband’s diligent research), I spent more and more time outdoors taking pictures, totally immersed in my own little world.

It wasn’t long before I had exhausted the shutter life of that second camera, with well over 100,000 pictures, and started looking for yet another camera and an even longer lens!

To date, I’ve gone through four cameras in seven years, mostly because I exceed the recommended shutter life of each of them. My current camera is a Nikon D500 with a shutter life of 200,000 cycles; I’m well over 127,000 after only a couple of years! The lens I use most often is a Sigma 150-600mm. The D500 camera and the Sigma lens have been the perfect combination for me and for the things I like to photograph.

Nikon camera with Sigma lens on a monopod

I go out almost every day in all kinds of weather, even if ‘going out’ means just standing on our deck or in our backyard. Some of my favorite shots have happened right outside our back door where I have a ‘designated tree stump,’ placed in the yard, and a ‘designated tree branch’ attached to the deck for bird and mammal ‘portraits’. Plus, we have a beautiful bank of trees nearby and a small creek behind the house, both of which are attractive to a variety birds and mammals.

Red-breasted Nuthatch on the ‘portrait branch’

I love going on picture walks! I love looking for interesting things to photograph, whether it’s a bald eagle or a green bottle fly! It’s all quite fascinating, especially when I bring up the pictures on my computer and can see so many amazing details—like the individual hairs on a fly, or the tiny red mites on a dragonfly!

Male Monarch (males have two distinct black spots on the lower wings)

One of the things I also enjoy doing after taking all those pictures is finding interesting facts about the creatures I’ve photographed and then sharing what I’ve found on Facebook, our local newspaper, or this blog.

Two male grackles on my ‘designated stump’ engaging in ‘bill tilt’ behavior to establish dominance. Whichever bird can maintain this posture the longest wins!

The name ‘picture walks’ started years ago when I first fell down this rabbit hole and was heading out the front door for a walk. If I was leaving the house without my camera, I’d tell my husband I was going on a ‘regular walk’, which meant I’d be home in an hour. If I was leaving the house with my camera in hand, I’d say I was going on a ‘picture walk,’ which was code for “I won’t be home anytime soon!”

White-tailed Deer in our backyard only a few feet from where I was standing

Some of the rabbit holes we fall into can be disastrous.

This one has been quite delightful.

Standing Still

April 9, 2020

My picture walks began a few years ago as a way to combine a little exercise with a little picture taking. Over time, the walks have become less and less about exercise and more and more about picture taking—mostly because I stop so often to take a look that I never get very far!

Greater Yellowlegs and a Tri-colored Heron

On my walks to the various preserves and rookeries, I often see other photographers who have picked a spot to take pictures and they never move, preferring instead, to stay in one place forever! I used to think this would be an incredibly boring thing to do, that I would miss so much if I just stayed in one place. But, over time, I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of just standing still.

Sandhill Crane with offspring (called a Colt)

Sandhill Crane Colt and White Egret nestling

That’s not to say that I have ever parked myself in one spot for hours on end, but I have, on several occasions, stood in one place for a good hour or so. I have found that by parking myself in one place for a while, I become part of the landscape; the birds and the butterflies no longer notice me and go about their business as if I weren’t there. The elusive Kingfisher, which has been extremely hard for me to capture, will land on a nearby branch unaware of my presence; the Black-crowned Night Heron will perch on a fence right in front of me, and the Roseate Spoonbill, totally oblivious to my presence, will continue fishing less than 20 feet away!

Roseate Spoonbill and a Black-crowned Night Heron

When I do stand still for a while and just observe what is going on around me, I find it very calming. I am so absorbed in what I might find, that it’s easy to forget life’s worries.

Male Four-spotted Pennant and a Female Needham’s Skimmer

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and a White Egret

With the recent introduction of this deadly coronavirus into our lives, we are, as an entire planet, collectively standing still. We can look upon this time of isolation and social distancing as a colossal state of boredom, frustration and angst, or as an opportunity to more closely observe the life around us and to take stock of what’s truly important.

There is much that is beautiful to be found.

Be still. Be safe. Be well.

Red Saddlebags with Mites

March 26, 2020

In the midst of this global pandemic, I feel grateful that I can still go out for walks. No matter how anxious or stressed I am by all the heartache and suffering this pandemic has caused, if I can get out for a while and take pictures, I always feel better when I return.

Green Heron and a Louisianna Waterthrush

I enjoy going to a wide variety of places in hopes of finding a wide variety of interesting things to photograph. But, when I’m limited in the number of choices I have, I just change the time of day that I go– which changes the light as well as the creatures who might be out and about. In the past ten days, I’ve been to nine places, two of which were repeat visits. No matter how many times I go, I always manage to find something that surprises or delights me. If nothing else, it’s all good photography practice. When I do find something unusual, it’s fun to do a little research later and find out more about it.

Great Blue Heron and a Black-necked Stilt

One thing that has really helped my research endeavors is an app called iNaturalist. When I don’t know the name of the bird or bug or plant I’ve photographed, I enter the picture into the app and, within a few seconds, I get back several suggestions as to what it might be. Once I am reasonably certain that I have correctly identified my subject, I go online for more information. That’s how I identified this dragonfly called a Red Saddlebags.

“ The red-mantled saddlebags or red saddlebags is a species of skimmer dragonfly found throughout the eastern United States. It has translucent wings with red veins, and has characteristic dark red blotches at their proximal base, which makes the dragonfly look as if it is carrying saddlebags when flying.”

One interesting thing that you can see on this dragonfly are tiny red dots. A few years ago, this phenomenon surprised me. You can’t really see them with the naked eye (unless, perhaps, the dragonfly is in your hand), so, I was quite surprised the first time I saw the red spots on a dragonfly when I had enlarged a picture on my computer. They’re called mites.

“…these bright red mites, from the tick family, are hitchhikers that feed on body fluids. They jump off when the host drops down over a new pond or wetland.”

Apparently, these mites have little or no adverse effect on their host dragonfly, unless you happen to be a male dragonfly with a body full of them, in which case, you might not be as successful as your friends during the mating process.

White Peacock Butterfly and a Tri-colored Heron

Anhinga and Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Wherever you are in this world living through this pandemic, I wish you good health. If you are able, take a restorative walk outside now and then and look for something that surprises or delights you. If that’s not possible (or not particularly fun for you!), I hope these virtual walks serve a similar purpose!

Stay well.