First photos of Spring 2013

Today is the second day of Spring 2013 and here in my corner of the woods in upstate NY we still have snow in the upper elevations such as where I live. I have been trying to be more active of late. I have been bored with regular exercise routines and wanted to do something that I enjoy more but is still a good workout. I decided I would take that motivation and use it as a reason to go for a nice hike at one of my favorite locations, Tanglewood Nature Center.

Going out for any type of outdoors activity always initiates an internal debate for me. The debate I have is to just go out and enjoy the experience or bring my camera so that I don't miss any photographic opportunities. I have learned over the years that as a photographer I usually regret not taking my camera. So I have learned to be able to take my camera and just limit my photo taking to the truly good opportunities and still focus my trip on the original purpose such as getting some exercise.


So, needless to say I grabbed my camera. And I found a good use for it as soon as I got under way. I was presented with a nice photo op literally seconds after I left. At my neighbors two houses away there were three deer grazing right in their yard. So I pulled over watched and took a few shots. Not the greatest light or the best shots but I always like to get as much work in as I can especially if it has some sort of challenge such as difficult light and situation. I was already happy I took my camera.

When I got to Tanglewood the birds were singing. It was cold but beautiful and relaxing. I watched the birds and snapped a few shots but I didn't want to get distracted from my goal of exercising for pictures that weren't going to come out good so I stopped and started hiking. A little farther down I saw some deer tracks crossing the path that looked fresh. I stopped and looked around and at the edge of the woods and the field I spotted a deer. As the deer moved off I saw the white tails of several others also moving away.

I then hiked my three miles that I had intended. At the end of my hike I came up out of the woods into the field. I heard birds singing. Birds that sounded familiar but they were not the usual Winter birds. I didn't recognize them. Then I got closer and saw the birds swooping down of bushes to the ground feeding and singing. When I was close enough to see them clearly through my lens I could tell that they were Eastern Bluebirds singing and feeding near the nest boxes in the field. Spring really was here after all.