What Can You Find in a Wetlands Park? / April 4, 2017 by Todd Henson

Why would you ever want to go to a wetlands park? What could you possibly find there that would make it worth the trip?

Answer: Life!

Healthy wetlands parks are absolutely full of life. They are home to countless species of animals, birds, insects, plant life, and aquatic life. They are important locations for these species, both as places to find food and as places to find shelter, to nest, to raise the next generation. And they are important filters for the water system, cleaning water, filtering it through the plants and layers of soil. Visiting wetlands parks helps remind us of the importance of these crucial and beautiful locations.

Red-winged Blackbirds

Male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a stump

I just recently visited a local wetlands park, and this trip is a perfect example of the rich diversity of life you can find. One of the more common species in this park are the Red-winged Blackbirds. Early spring is mating season and you can watch as groups of male blackbirds chase the females, flying almost too fast to follow, hoping to win them over. They will perch on a branch and sing, puffing up their throat, calling out over and over. It’s a very common sound throughout the park.

Muskrat

This park is home to several beaver lodges, but I don’t often see any beaver. I do, however, see the more common and less shy muskrat swimming through the wetlands, pulling up roots and eating. This time we even watched a muskrat gathering reeds and roots and pulling them into its own little lodge, much smaller than that of the beaver. It was less than 6 feet from the boardwalk. Look at the tail of the muskrat in the photos. It’s both long and large, though not nearly the size of a beaver’s tail.

Look at the length and size of the muskrat's tail

Canada Geese

A nesting Canada Goose was also very close to the boardwalk. She was curled up on her nest, resting, with one eye open watching her surroundings. She wasn’t at all worried about the people walking by on the boardwalk. There are enough people who wander through this park the geese know they are safe. For a brief period the goose lifted her head up and began moving sticks and reeds from the sides of the nest closer to her and just under her, providing more cushioning and buffer between her eggs and the environment.

Closer look at the mother Canada Goose on her nest

Canada Goose rearranging branches and reeds on her nest

Wood Ducks

This time of the year is also a perfect opportunity to watch Wood Ducks, as they nest in the trees and the boxes built throughout the park specifically for them. They are such a beautiful and colorful species. They didn’t get very close to the boardwalk this trip, but I still attempted photographing them, even at a distance. I could spend hours watching these ducks.

Female Wood Duck flapping wings as male swims in the background

Great Blue Heron

A very common species at this, and many, wetlands parks are Great Blue Herons. They live here throughout the year, though their numbers increase this time of year. I never tire of watching these amazing birds. And this time of year the males display their beautiful breeding plumage, with the long lighter-colored feathers surrounding their breast and back. Magnificent and graceful birds. I watched one perched on the branch of a downed tree preening itself, twisting its head around in the strangest contortions, under its wings, over its shoulders, twisting and turning. As with so many species, I love watching these birds and never tire of photographing them.

Great Blue Heron flying away with Red-winged Blackbird in foreground

Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage preening

Great Blue Heron looking tired while perched on branch

American Coot

Another species to return to the wetlands in the spring are the American Coot, a species that resemble ducks but is its own species. Coot are almost completely black and dark grey with a white beak and deep red eyes. I watched this one diving completely beneath the surface of the water to find food. Their feathers repel the water, and you can see water beading up on their backs and necks after coming back out of the water. They are curious little birds, and as with all species, I love watching and photographing them. I don’t have nearly enough photos of these birds.

American Coot just diving beneath the surface

Osprey

If you’re fortunate you may see an Osprey hovering over the wetlands looking for fish in the water below. And if you’re really fortunate you’ll watch as it plunges down into the water, coming back up with a fish in its talons. It will shake its wings dry, as they don’t repel water as well as those of the coot, and then fly away to find a tree perch where it can eat the fish in peace. Or perhaps it will fly back to its nest and leave the fish with the female. When her eggs hatch the male will be especially busy gathering fish for the hungry young. I love watching young Osprey in the nest, though I’m not aware of any nest in this wetlands park.

Spotted Turtles

Spring also brings turtles of various species back out to sun themselves on logs and banks. This trip I photographed a small group of Spotted Turtles on a log. Eventually just about every log will be covered in turtles. And the larger snapping turtles will hide just under the surface looking for any creatures unfortunate enough to stray too close.

Read-headed Woodpeckers

The trails leading out of the wetlands back to the visitor’s center and parking lot are also full of birds. It’s often more difficult to photograph them high in the trees, but still fun to try. One species that really stands out and spends time at the edge of the woods closest to the wetlands is the Red-headed Woodpecker. This species is aptly named, as its head is completely red, and a beautiful metallic red that just sparkles when the sun hits it. I didn’t manage many photos of red-headed woodpeckers this time around, but did capture one from a distance, high up in a tree just outside a perfectly circular hole, perhaps its nest.

Red-headed Woodpecker perched in front of hole in tree

Insects

Wetlands parks are also home to all manner of insects. I’ve been lucky in this park in that there aren’t usually many biting insects, not like several other parks I visit. But if you keep your eyes out you can find insects worthy of photographing. Eventually the dragonflies and damselflies will return, along with butterflies and katydids. I photographed the remains of an insect nest this trip, possibly an old bee’s nest, hanging from a branch in the woods not far from the wetlands. And we watched what appeared to be hornets nesting in a tree cavity, though we didn’t approach too close.

And Much, Much More

This was just a small sampling of the species you can find in wetlands parks. There are so many other species of birds to watch and photograph, and the list changes throughout the year. Other mammals include deer, mice, voles, beaver, fox, and possibly others. The snakes should be coming back out before long. In this park I’ve seen water snakes, garter snakes, and ribbon snakes. There are many other species of turtles, such as snapping, painted, mud, and box turtles. In the water are fish and crustaceans, though I don’t often see these except when caught by the other animals. There are a large number of amphibians that will soon appear, including several species of frog, toad, and salamander. And, of course, there are so many different species of plants, some flowering, some that live in water, or just near water, and those in the woods beyond the wetlands.

Do you have any local wetlands parks you enjoy visiting? If not look around your area and see if, perhaps, there are any. If so they are very much worth visiting.

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Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden / March 28, 2017 by Todd Henson

Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, side facing the National Mall

My brother and I recently visited the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Hirshhorn is the Smithsonian museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and culture. Outside, between the museum and the National Mall, is their sculpture garden containing a wide range of sculptures, two of which I photographed. Inside is the museum, which contains several floors of artwork.

The main exhibit when we visited was a collection of Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama. This was popular enough it required (free) timed passes in advance, and they had already run out for the day. So we missed the Infinity Mirrors exhibit this time around, though I would still like to see it.

I think I still have a lot of room to grow and learn as an artist, and the Hirshhorn is a perfect reminder of that. There were many pieces of art I just didn’t get. I’m not nearly as drawn to much of the modern art out there as I am to the more traditional pieces you can find in the National Gallery of Art. But I do try to expose myself to all forms of art, both to learn from them and to try to appreciate them.

Voltri XV steel sculpture by David Smith in the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

Sphere No. 6 bronze sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro in the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

Untitled (Big Man) sculpture by Ron Meuck in the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum

I’ve included a small sampling of some of the pieces I found interesting. I really enjoyed the sculpture garden. I like the Japanese feel to David Smith’s Voltri XV steel sculpture. And I was fascinated by the detail in Arnaldo Pomodoro’s bronze sculpture, Sphere No. 6.

In the museum one of the very first pieces we viewed was Ron Mueck’s untitled sculpture of a Big Man, and it is a Big Man. There’s really nothing in the photograph to give scale to the sculpture. I should have zoomed out to show the sculpture in the context of the museum room it was in, but didn’t think of it. I was amazed at the detail of the piece. It very much looked alive.

One room we entered was completely dark, and on the far wall was a painting by Hamish Fulton titled Moonrise Kent England, 30 September 1985. As you can see the painting is of a full moon (a white circle) in a dark sky (a black wall).

Moonrise Kent England, 30 September 1985, painting by Hamish Fulton in the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum

One of my favorite exhibits this trip was in the inner hallway, which is a circular hallway facing the inner courtyard. The piece was titled World Time Clock by Bettina Pousttchi, and was a series of twenty-four photographs of clocks from twenty-four different time zones around the world. Each clock face has a different look, but all the photographs were created at the same local time, 1:55 PM.

World Time Clock by Bettina Pousttchi in the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum

I would certainly recommend the Hirshhorn to anyone who hasn’t visited, especially if you enjoy modern art. The exhibits change over time, so there should almost always be something new to see. I look forward to returning in the future. Let me know if you’ve ever visited the Hirshhorn and what your experiences were.

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Museums

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art

Smithsonian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum

National Gallery of Art - West Building

Examples of Bird's Third Eyelid - The Nictitating Membrane / March 21, 2017 by Todd Henson

Female red-winged blackbird with third eyelid, the nictitating membrane, closed over eye.

Female red-winged blackbird looking normal with eye open.

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One of the great things about photographing wildlife is the opportunity to see aspects of the animals you might not normally see, and then to later research and learn about that aspect of the animal. An example of this is the nictitating membrane on birds. The nictitating membrane is a third eyelid under the typical two eye lids we all have. It’s a translucent eyelid that can be closed while the other eyelids are open to clean and protect the eye. If you have a cat you might have seen an example of this, as cats also have nictitating membranes.

Eyes Open

Female Hooder Merganser

Third Eyelid

Female Hooder Merganser

Closing all eyelids

Female Hooder Merganser

Small portion of third eyelid showing on Eastern Phoebe.

Tim Birkhead, in his fantastic book, Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird, says knowledge of this additional eyelid has existed for centuries. People such as Aristotle, Frederick II, and Louis XIV wrote about it. Frederick II wrote in his falconry manual: "for cleaning the eyeball there is provided a peculiar membrane that is quickly drawn across its anterior surface and rapidly withdrawn." John Ray and Francis Willughby wrote in their 1678 encyclopedia of birds, "Most, if not all birds, have a membrane of nictation... where withal they can at their pleasure cover their eyes, though the eyelids be open... and serves to wipe, cleanse, and perchance moisten..."

Green Heron showing third eyelid, the nictitating membrane.

Example of nictitating membrane protecting female red-winged blackbird's eye from debris.

Tim Birkhead goes on to further describe how the nictitating membrane not only cleans the eye, but helps protect it: “Each time a pigeon puts its head down to peck at something on the ground, the nictitating membrane moves across the eye to protect it from spiky leaves and grasses. In raptors the membrane covers the eye immediately before the bird slams into its prey, and in exactly the same way the membrane covers the eye just before a plunging gannet hits the water.”

Female Wood Duck with nictitating membrane closed over eye.

Eastern Phoebe with closed nictitating membrane over eye.

In analyzing my images of birds I’ve seen how the nictitating membrane will cover a woodpeckers eyes just before it begins pecking at a tree or stem. I’ve seen instances of the membrane closing just before a bird ruffles its feathers, shaking itself in the process of preening. And in most cases my camera’s shutter just happened to close at exactly the right time to catch the membrane closing or opening while the bird was standing still.

Eye fully open

Barn Swallow

Part of nictitating membrane

Barn Swallow

Eye fully open

Barn Swallow

Nictitating membrane

Barn Swallow

This post contains many examples of these third eyelids in a host of different birds. Most of these images have been heavily cropped to try to show the details around the birds eyes. I hope you find this topic as fascinating as I do. If you’ve never seen the nictitating membrane then keep your eye peeled for it next time you watch a bird up close through a camera or binoculars. Maybe you’ll catch it moving. Perhaps the bird’s eye will appear cloudy for just a moment. That’s the membrane closing and opening. The word nictitating comes from the Latin nictare, which means to blink.

Male red-winged blackbird with eye open.

Male red-winged blackbird with nictitating membrane closed.

Nictitating membrane beginning to close on male red-winged blackbird.

Nictitating membrane almost closed on male red-winged blackbird.

Another interesting tidbit from Bird Sense relates to us humans. Go look in a mirror some time. Look at the corner of your eye nearest your nose. There’s a little pink nub in the corner. That is the remnant of our own nictitating membrane.

Eye open

Green Heron

Nictitating membrane

Green Heron

Cloudy eye of Green Heron caused by nictitating membrane (third eyelid).

Closeup of nictitating membrane on Green Heron.

Great Blue Heron with eye clouded over by nictitating membrane.

Great Blue Heron with eye (and beak) open.

Great Blue Heron with nictitating membrane partially closed over eye.

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If you’re interested in learning more about birds, and what it might be like to be a bird, check out Tim Birkhead’s Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird. The book is broken into 7 chapters, each describing a different aspect of how a bird experiences the world. The chapters are: