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Bombay Hook in the Fall

Twice a year, my wife and I make it a must to get up to Bombay Hook NWR.  In the Spring, when nature is in bloom and wildlife is in high activity and in the Fall, as colors are changing, and wildlife is on the move in preparation for the Winter to come.

During the Fall and when the foliage colors are in transition, there is beauty everywhere as you look across the many bodies of water of Bombay Hook.  The Fall colors of nature’s paintbrush are decorated everywhere you look and combined with the tranquility of this place, you feel a sense of peace that I have come to truly appreciate and love.  In my earlier visits to Bombay Hook during the Fall, there has been one location, one view I have always wanted to capture with wildlife as a primary subject, and it is at Bear Swamp.  Near the center of Bear Swamp, about 75 yards out, there is this one bush and tree area that looks lifeless and dry without much interest throughout most of the year, but in the Fall the leaves start to change color and the once plain tree comes to life with color and beauty.  The beautiful reds, oranges and greens of the bush combined with the deep blues of the water and the Fall colors of the swamp backdrop create a striking scene.  I would sit in my car, and just stare at this view, take it in and love how it makes me feel.  Nonetheless, I still felt a need to capture the scene and envisioned, almost desperately, a bird or some other wildlife subject as part of the scene.  I love doing landscapes, but focusing on or including wildlife in my captures is where my biggest passion lies.

Along Came a Harrier

As my wife and I were sitting in our van at this scenic view, and right after I told her of my years long wish, this young male Northern Harrier came up over the trees and just past our van on his way to the water and grass area of Bear Swamp.  We watched for several minutes as he hunted back and forth, from one side to the other, like a search team doing a grid search, carefully covering the area looking for a late afternoon meal. Then, suddenly, this harrier made its way towards my 'wish' scene.  He moved back and forth across the bush area and then started hunting right over the bush, mid scene, hovering centered over the bush like their namesake military aircraft.  I snapped off some images and was able to capture the image shown at the top of this blog post. It was my favorite capture of the day and such an amazing treat to see.