A Beautiful Reminder

Close-up of Canada goose head

Just a simple portrait of an extraordinarily common bird. We have a small flock of Canada geese that winters at work, with a few cackling geese sometimes present too, but since they make a mess of the sidewalks I think I’m the only one that is happy to see them. To me they are also a reminder that beauty lies not too far outside my cubicle walls.

This picture was taken not at work but at, well, you can probably guess.

February 6th, 2011

An American wigeon drake swims in Horse Lake

I arrived early with the fog, which soon lifted to reveal a day both cloudy and surprisingly warm. I spent the first couple of hours at Horse Lake, a small pond at the start of the auto tour, delighted with the opportunity to finally photograph the beautiful American wigeon. Wigeon are common at Ridgefield during the winter but I had always struggled to photograph them.

I made this note in my journal later in the day:

“Took me almost five hours to make my first loop of the auto tour. Sadly I don’t think that’s even close to being a record for me.”

It was a good day.