His Own Protected Island

In my last post, I told a sad story about a very active nesting place for seabirds that had been torn apart by a developer.

It took me more than a year to find a new place to photograph my friends, but finally I have a happier story to tell.

Poring over maps of Little Assawoman Bay, I found a surprisingly large island accessible to photographers in cars. And imagine my joy when I discovered the entire island is labeled WILDLIFE PRESERVE.

My first trip to this promising, protected habitat was marred by floodwaters that made it hazardous to park for more than about 15 minutes. But this proved long enough to discover a trail leading to a boardwalk. And imagine my joy when I espied a hard-to-find Tricolor Heron staring back at me from boardwalk’s end.

The following season, I hightailed it to my newfound paradise, lugging camera and long lens. But, as is often the case when I look for wildlife, no birds of any description were to be found.

I was used to this, so patiently waited two more hours. No joy.

I returned on the next fair day. No joy.

But I knew — just knew — birds must be lurking somewhere. There were plenty of shallows, abundant fish and trees aplenty in which my buds could roost.

Finally, on my last day in the area, I walked a newfound trail, found a new boardwalk, and there — at boardwalk’s end — sea birds were having a party! I counted a couple of Great Blue Herons, a Forster’s Tern, a Great Egret and two Snowies!

They didn’t scatter at the sight of me, seeming to know this was their special place and they had nothing to fear from a tall guy with a big lens.

Here’s a second photo of Billy, one of the Great Blue Herons. We’ll meet more of my new friends in subsequent posts.

Dark Day, cold spring,