Between my flowers and the farm and our surroundings, I’m tip-toeing towards more nature pictures and an underestanding of outdoor life and nature photography. When I started I had a visition of nature’s soft and beautiful side.
As I approach nature through the eyes of the camera, I see more animals, insects and rodents eating one another constantly. That is, in fact, about what much of nature is really about.
I’ve been spending time with my nature lens watching birds and animals other creatures of nature closely. What I am often surprised to see is that birds are cleaning their feathers when they present all of those wonderful pictures – most often they are eating, just like the robin in this photo.
I was delighted to capture a bird that close and when I looked at it on my computer, I saw that the beautiful bird had paused on the fence to eat a winged insect, perhaps a moth, and then bring it to his or her fence up in the Lilac trees.
Nature is about beauty, but also, I have learned about eating. It seems to me that every animal I look at is killing and eating something else, something alive and unsuspecting. I still find the photo beautiful, but if you look at the beak closely, you see the last moments of a flying bug. That’s nature.
Sometimes it’s hard to watch the killing and eating going on, it seems so brutal and unfair. But Nature was designed for balance; it’s us humans that try to apply our own wobbly logic and beliefs about how nature “should ” look. I suppose we can’t help but anthropomorphize, it’s in our DNA and can make us more kind and help us to serve better. As I always say, though, it’s different to be a steward of an animal, of the earth, of an ecosystem, because that’s all about what is best and natural for the other, not for us. Living in harmony – humans really have much to learn from nature.
Jon, that is a gray catbird in your photo. I have been a bird watcher and bird bander for many years. I am not saying this to correct or argue with you in any way. Just thought you might like to know. I love your articles and photos and I’ve listened to your many books on audio while driving. I am a huge fan!
Karen thanks for your message. I don’t see any reason to argue with you at all. Thanks for the explanation and correction. as you probably know I don’t really care about the names, more about the pictures, but it’s always good to know what the reality is. Thanks for writing I think I better off just not dimming them at all.
Thank you for giving the name of the bird. I have never seen one before, so I reexamined it. Thanks to you, I learned a new fact today. I’m trying hard not to be envious of you and your bird identifying skills.
Thanks Mary i’m afraid I don’t have any skills of memorizing birds. I never can remember any of their names and rarely get the names right I’m more in for the pictures. You’re just too many names to remember for me.