Wildlife in Photography

Tuesday evening I made my way back to Huntley Meadows Park to see what a dusk shoot was like.

Despite seeing little in the woods, I began to hear constant noise of chirps and motion once I approached the boardwalk. As I walked that area, Red-winged Blackbirds, Downy Woodpeckers and tons of sparrows moved among the reeds.

Even though I’m much larger than any species out there, it’s still a little unsettling to hear so many birds but see so few.

As I reached the outermost section of the boardwalk, a strange creature caught my eye, that turned out to be a Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)

I’ve never seen one of these before and had no idea at the time what it was. It slowly navigated the area around the boardwalk, weaving between the cattails. I even watched it grab and devour a crab. Based on everything that I’ve seen, viewing these birds isn’t very common because they prefer staying in the vegetation.

Just that sighting made the trip worth it in my mind, but I was also able to get some other nice things before the dark became too much. All in all, a very pleasant, but too short, of a trip.

In other news, I’m falling into my previous routine where I’m developing content for another book, this time focused on Northern Virginia. I’ve even begun the framework of the layout. Right now it is a motivational tool and I’m not sure if I will even be able to finish a collection to my satisfaction before moving to Texas this summer. If I am, I’m sure it will be significantly smaller than the Shenandoah Valley book.

However, the nice thing about a project is that it gives me a purpose and drives me to an end goal. That way, the adventures all lend themselves to a common objective.