Magee Marsh

I made a side-trip to Magee Marsh along the shores of Lake Erie yesterday. Beginning the second week of May this spot will be a birding hot spot for migrating warblers. They will rest along this last stretch of trees before they make the long flight over Lake Erie to Canada. They wait in this grove of trees for a tail wind to help them make the flight. Usually their next stopping place is Point Pelee National Park, this also is an amazing place to photograph the warblers as they stop and rest. Today though as I walk the Boardwalk trail I don’t see any warblers, what I am able to do is to fill up my own soul.

My van for work is a moving communications devise. I travel for work attached to my Blackberry as many are, I handle multiple levels of communications, from Vice Presidents to manufacturing people that make the end-user products that the product I sell goes into. I have to assess each of these conversations and ask questions for what is needed to help understand the situation the best way. I do this while driving, walking, flying. Each can be intense in it’s own way. What many people take for granted in what I do, I work at each day. I won’t say that my job is any more difficult than any other, but my understanding of the situation is what shapes decisions on both companies platforms.

Regardless of what you do for a living all have to find solace somewhere. I do in photography and the places I get to take side trips to. One such side trip is to Magee Marsh in Northern Ohio. The boardwalk trail is the highlight of where the warblers are in the month of May. There will also be a lot more bird watchers during that month than there are today. Today I have the trail to myself. You could hear the wood planks with each step I took. I like trails this way, they help me think and recharge.

For this short walk I didn’t even take a camera. As most know that is a rare occasion for me. I was enjoying the sites, sounds and smells of the trail and wildlife around me. After this trip I was listening to a podcast about Stephen Johnson at 7 Photographing Questions that helped me understand this better. Stephen spent some time describing how best to capture your photos. He felt you had to not only experience a scene with all of your senses and emotions, then you could practice your craft better.

It hadn’t occurred to me, but I do this very same exercise quite often in my photographic journeys. Times where I lock everything else except what I experience around me. No distractions, just the solitude. I had one such walk that I previously blogged about among the Bristlecone Pines. You sometimes need to feed your soul and then your able to practice your craft. I was doing some soul feeding today.

I walked into the wooded seclusion and from the moment I entered I could hear many different variety of birds, the red-wing black birds were the most recognizable, but there were also, jays, woodpeckers, robins and cardinals. Not being a birder myself there were many unidentifiable species. The seclusion was nice. The peaceful sounds, site and smells energized each of my senses that were used to road noise, traffic and the smell of old McDonald’s bags. Even though the morning was very cold, the brisk walk was worth every step. No camera, no phone and about ¼ mile on the trail and I didn’t have any worries.

I felt guilty for not taking any pictures of my experience a little later as I was leaving the park. Along the road out there are dikes on both sides of the road. Along those I spotted some Egrets and later a Blue Heron. From my car I hauled out the D300 and the long lens to capture the above shot. It was cold, windy and rainy. The bird didn’t move, just sat there for at least 10 minutes while I was there and even longer since I only observed for that long. My life had come back to me at this point. The phone rang and conference calls began, decisions were made and conversations and situations were analyzed. I clicked a few shots off of this Egret during one of those conversations; otherwise I just sat and watched, until he decided to fly away. Maybe he was doing the same, as I was earlier on the boardwalk. Filling his soul.