The phone rang at about 9 p.m. This was highly unusual because most of the people that I know are “all talked out” long before then. I had already gone to bed, but was still in that “settling in” stage and was setting the alarm clock to wake me at what I thought was a horrifyingly early time the next morning.
New phones being what they are, I saw that the call was coming from my brother-in-law, Lou. Now my interest had really been piqued. Had the phone call come much later, I would have been concerned that someone had died, but it was still early enough that the call might have something to do with football or an “emergency” question that just couldn’t wait. As it turns out, it was the latter.
Lou explained that my nephew, Michael, was working on a school project that required him to interview someone he admired. I was delighted to learn that the person he was hoping to interview was me. What could be better than helping a beloved nephew work on a project that glorifies the importance of your own role in his life? Right?
So without further adieu, Lou handed over the phone to Michael and the interview started. The general theme of this interview was my love for birds and my photography. Michael asked me a variety of questions, but one of them really stuck in my head: “How long does it take to get a photo?”
The answer to this question must be pure aggravation for the interviewer, but there is no getting around it. The answer, quite simply, is “It depends.” To illustrate my point, I went deep into my archives and dug up a photo that took me a week to capture after traveling roughly 1,640 miles. I would have delved even deeper into the historical records, but the fatal crash of a computer in 2017 has left me without that capability for the time being.
The year was 2004 and I was on my honeymoon on the Island of Saint John (in the Virgin Islands). In addition to spending time with my beautiful wife, Susan, in a stunning tropical stetting, I was determined to make the most of this location by getting out and taking as many photos as possible. As has always been our arrangement, Susan was more than happy to sleep late and enjoy a lazy morning of tropical luxury while I indulged in my own version of tropical luxury: an early morning of birding.
Day after day, I woke up early and went out. One morning, I rented a Jeep and toured the island before Susan even woke up. Finally, on our last day, I got up and took yet another walk along the beautiful grounds of Caneel Bay and it was then that I crossed paths with the most tropical-looking bird I think I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. It was a species called a bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), and I was utterly transfixed.
There are lots of little birds in our area, but the beak of a bananaquit makes it stand out from the crowd as something altogether different than anything we see hidden along the shores of the Connecticut River, or in the forests on Mount Toby. This little bird is clearly of another place and I particularly like the photo I captured. It is clear enough to see, but just a little off, which communicates the brevity of my encounter with the bird. I looked up, saw it, snapped a couple photos and then it was gone.
In contrast, the other photo I share with you today took me all of five minutes and no traveling. I was in my kitchen, walking over to my writing desk where I keep my journal, when I noticed this juvenile Cooper’s hawk sitting on the railing next to a flower box. All I had to do was slowly turn around, lift my camera off the kitchen table, raise, focus and “click.”
I quickly realized that my caution was unwarranted. The bird clearly saw me, and just didn’t seem to care. It posed for a more than eight minutes as the light outside faded and I finally gave in because it was just too dark for photos. Even then the bird lingered, but finally moved on in a flash of beautiful, striped wing feathers.
So there you have it. You can be completely prepared and have to wait for a week, or you can be completely unprepared and wait for 30 seconds. It all depends on luck. However, fortune favors the prepared and you can sometimes make your own luck. All you have to do is keep your eyes open.
Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 21 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and Massachusetts State Parks, and currently teaches high school biology and physics. Visit speakingofnature.com for more information, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.