January Recap
Hello Everyone,
Can you believe we are done with the first month of 2024 already? I still feel like we just celebrated New Years just the other day. As I’ve aged, I have noticed how quickly a day seems to pass. Even a week feels a lot shorter. Maybe is because I like staying busy but I definitely am feeling very tired. I started January with relatively good health. I have been able to go and hike with heavy camera equipment and been able to complete a full hike taking pictures along the way. Because of how productive I’ve been I have definitely been rewarded for it. This month alone, I have captured the Barred Owl and had a close encounter with the mighty Bald Eagle. But, along the way I have met some very adorable looking birds. As I mentioned before the fall I had the day I captured the eagle. Maybe, it was that or something else but I have been having a lot of issues with my right knee. My joints have also been tensing up and because of how heavy my equipment is my hands have started cramping up. I started to noticed this the other day I came back from shooting a couple photos, it’s because of this I been seriously considering investing in straps to carry all my gear. Having that break in my heads hopefully helps with this issue I am having. Hopefully, I recover quickly because I have more plans to keep going back to that sanctuary trail. I am on a goal to capture birds in action so I have started to take my time and camping out in areas hoping to capture something cool. This has definitely help me also alleviate some of the pressure I have on my feet. MS really does get in the way sometimes, I try to toughen it out sometimes but lately I haven’t been able to do that. This definitely doesn’t stop me though I know I have to keep working at it to get better.
The weather hasn’t really been my friend either. It’s either snow or rain but it’s made trails very muddy. I woke up Sunday morning around 1:30am and saw that it was raining I looked at the forecast and saw that it was going to rain until 5am. I set my alarm for 7am to check again saw that it was clear and headed out. I been researching a reservoir near by and been trying to figure out how to find the trails. I have been very unlucky however, mostly because they are doing construction on the reservoir trying to renovate the area. On their website it said that they are done but are waiting for the reservoir to naturally fill with water to re-open. But, I been checking ebird.org and birds are still being seen around the habitat so I have been going out to see if I can find an open trail and so far the first one I check was blocked off. I might go try a different one that I found just yesterday and might have to go check it out. One of the best things about birding and wildlife photography in general is finding new places were this animals are going on with life and is just beautiful to see. I highly recommend you go out and explore around you, maybe you will find an interesting place which is peaceful and quiet. It will make you appreciate this animals much more just seeing what they have to do to survive. Since I started researching this lovely birds I have found so many articles about how some of there populations are being affected by global warming.
I decided to go to Riverbend Park, a park that I haven’t visit in almost a month. I finally found the ducks I have been searching for and was trying to capture them but unfortunately I did not have my tripod so I failed miserably. But that’s completely my fault, I did however ran into this beautiful Blue Jay. This beautiful bird is definitely a treat to see while you are out on a walk. A relative of the crow, these two birds belong to the corvidae family. They may not look the same in color but this birds share strong beaks, long tails, and they are very intelligent. The most interesting things about this birds is that they do not have a consistent migratory pattern. They generally stay with a mate for life and have a complex social system. It is more likely for younger blue jay to migrate then an older one, it has been noted that if a bird migrates south on a certain year, they may not migrate again the following year. Female are primarily responsible for incubating the eggs, and the couple usually stays with there young feeding them for about 2-3 weeks. They usually stay with a group and if one migrates the rest of them follow. They also typically stay with there group for life, and their children also joined there group. A truly beautiful bird wouldn’t you agree?
I have been wanting to explore a new niche in photography. I have started planning the whole concept and I think I am almost there. I will begin testing this weekend and hope to launch around the spring time. I will be definitely be sharing this new project here and will be making a special blog sharing a bit of behind the scenes in the making of this project. I do want to say I am open to trying new styles of photography and will be looking into doing wedding, portraits and maybe pet photography. I am open to fulfilling any photography need. I am going to start updating my portfolio here to reflect new projects I am going to be shooting. If you are interested in working with me please feel free to contact me through my email or even through socials. I try my best to respond in a timely manner. I am excited for what I have in the works and if interested in supporting consider leaving a donation anything surely helps. It helps this projects come to life. As always thank you for taking the time to check out my website I appreciate all the support.
Thank you,
