Eastern Bluebirds Feeding Chicks

In the dew

The commute

I commute to work every day 1 hr each way on route 17/86 from Elmira to Endicott.  I feel like this is becoming an increasingly treacherous situation.  I almost always drive the speed limit.  I get on the high way, set my cruise control to the speed limit, and then adjust it when it increases and decreases.  Countless cars pass me every day.  Most of the cars are not going just over the speed limit and barely passing me.   Most cars go whipping by quickly disappearing into the horizon.  The same goes for tractor-trailers and construction vehicles.

On two occasions recently I became seriously concerned for my safety as tractor trailers came barreling down behind me  getting so close that the only thing I could see in my rear view mirror was the emblem on the grill of the truck.  On the first occasion, I noticed the tractor-trailer quickly catching up to me.  As I monitored its approach, I could see clearly in my rear view mirror the driver with a piece of paper in front of his face blocking his view of the road on several occasions as he approached.  As the tractor trailer became perilously close to me I had to move over from the right lane of the highway into the left hand lane, the passing lane, to get out of the way of the truck and the truck just continued on its way passing me as if the driver never knew I was there which I believe was exactly the case.  The truck driver either, never knew I was there or did not care that I was there.  More recently as I was proceeding through the construction zone as you approach the Elmira exit where there is only one lane and you are surrounded by concrete barriers a tractor-trailer repeatedly closed in on me from behind to uncomfortable proximity.  At one point, the truck was so close I began to swerve off the road as far to the side as I could without hitting the barrier to avoid an impact as best I could.

On occasions where there are cars in the right hand lane driving under the speed limit, as is their right, and I pass them in the left other cars catch up to me at reckless speeds and do not begin to slow down until they are right behind me.  They ride my bumper as close as possible as if they are NASCAR drivers trying to draft with me to increase my speed so I will be able to pass the other driver better.  Then once I am past the car on the right and I signal and begin to move over to the right lane myself they begin to pass me on the left before I am even in the right hand lane.  Commuting to work should not feel like a NASCAR race with all the danger involved and none of the safety measures. 

It has gotten to the point where I almost feel forced to speed in order to avoid the other dangers of the traffic around me.  Where is the protection for the law abiding citizens who drive the speed limit and obey traffic laws?  I am sure that if I decided to speed to lessen the impact of other drivers around me I would probably end up being the one who was ticketed.  With the pressures and dangers of the traffic around me it feels like I am the one breaking the law and causing danger for everyone else when it is the other way around. 

I am not saying I have never exceeded the speed limit in my life but as I have grown up and matured, I have realized how reckless and dangerous it is to oneself and everyone else around.  By the way, I am only 33.  I just do not understand what logic or lack thereof causes someone to speed.  If the speed limit is 60 m/h and you drive 60 miles, it takes 1 hour.  If my math is correct if you exceed the speed limit by 10 m/h and drive 70 m/h and still drive 60 miles it takes approximately 51 minutes to arrive at the destination.  Therefore, the point is speeding does not really even save a significant amount of time if that is supposed to be the logic for speeding.

Yesterdays Best

Here are some of yesterdays best photos from my visit to Tioga-Hammond Lakes in PA.

something new

I think i am going to try something new with my blog. The mainfocus will bo on photography and nature but I will also blog about other events or subjects that interest me such as politics, animal behavior, and psychology. In the past I have not posted as much as I would have liked to because I always wanted to have a long written post including several photos ideally. Now some posts will be like that. Some posts will have short text with a photo or two. Others will have just a photo. Still others may have just text and or links to supportive information. Please feel free to comment as to what you do or do not like and I will try to adjust accordingly. Thank you.

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Polish Lowland Sheepdog

Elusive Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Last weekend I set up my blind outside my feeder stations with one objective in mind.  I wanted to photograph a bird that has been pretty elusive and only seldom photographed by me.  Red-Bellied woodpeckers in my area see, to be very skittish, more so than other species of woodpeckers.  I see them fairly frequently at my feeders and in the woods around my house. I can watch them fine from inside my house without disturbing them.  They will even approach the feeders as long as I am a long way away from them if I am outside.  If I am close enough to get a good photograph them they either stay away and I can hear them vocalizing in the surrounding woods or they fly to the feeders, see me there, and instantly fly off.

I recently resorted to taking a screen out of one of the windows in my house so that the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers would feel safe to approach the feeders and I could get a clear photograph of them through the open window.  At least this is how that plan was intended to work in theory.  The first part worked fine.  The Red-Bellied Woodpeckers still came to my feeders.  However, being that it is currently winter I do not sit there and wait for them with the window open.  Once the subject arrives I have to open the window before I can photograph it.  This almost inevitably scares off my quarry.  In the instances where the woodpecker does not immediately flee the sound of an opening window it is still gone before I am able to train my lens on it and create an image.

These failures led me to attempt using my blind which previously allowed me to successfully photograph bluebirds at their nest box, feeding their young.  So I figured this would surely work with the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers too.  Somehow, this plan too failed.  Not a single Red-Bellied Woodpecker appeared at the feeders while I was in my blind.  I even tried setting it up in two different locations.  There are several variables that could account for this and it may take a few trials to work out the details that will allow the woodpeckers to feel safe enough to approach the feeders in the presence of the blind.  Repeated trials should allow me to work these out.  Perhaps the blind was simply too close to the feeders.  The woodpeckers may have been afraid of the new and large object suddenly appearing near the feeders.  Maybe the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers simply were not hungry that day.  I am sure I will get it worked out in the long run.

The good news is that out of this experience where I was attempting to photograph a bird I see frequently but am seldom able to photograph I was actually fortunate enough to be able to photograph a birds that I rarely see and have never been able to photograph.  The Brown Creeper is a species that I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I have even seen it.  They generally show up at the tree my feeders are at creep around a little bit and then fly off.  I probably only see them twice a year at most.  I see them so infrequently that I do want to at least watch them a little bit to enjoy their presence.  Once it seems they may stay around a little while I go get my camera to try and get a photograph.  Inevitably this fails.  They never stay very long and leave by the time I am ready with my camera.  I usually see them when I am inside my house so this makes it even more difficult.

This time one appeared while I was sitting in my blind.  I took as many photos as I could.  Not many of them were great, or even good for that matter, but I had finally been able to photograph that little elusive bugger.  Then before I knew it the Brown Creeper flew off into the woods and did not return the rest of the day.

So, even though my plans did not work out as I had planned I was still able to accomplish some other goals.  I created many nice images of more commonly photographed species.  I learned what things not to do if I wanted to try and photograph Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and what to try next time.  And I was able to successfully create some nice images of a bird I had never photographed before and did not expect to be photographing that day.  It’s funny how things have a way of working out.