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My
View of Nature
by James Ownby
In 2000, I retired to pursue an interest in
nature photography. Here are my best images: animals (especially birds),
scenics, and wildflowers that portray the beauty found in nature. I welcome your
comments and questions, so please contact me by
e-mail.
June 2009 Update:
After our Texas trip in April, Duncan Hill & I flew to Trinidad & Tobago to
photograph tropical birds. All photos from both trips are now in the Travel Diary.
All images on this site are
Copyright© 2000-2009 by James Ownby and cannot be reproduced or otherwise used for
private or commercial use without express permission of the owner.
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Photo
of the Month
June
2009

Ruby Topaz
Hummingbird
Adventure Farm, Tobago |

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January 2009
An Incident near Fort Supply
The bird photographer
soon learns that this pastime offers brief
triumphs amid long stretches of tedium and disappointment. I had
traveled around western Oklahoma for two days, mostly
experiencing the latter. The landscape of wheat fields and
rolling grassland that extend to the horizon
held few birds. All were remarkably wary.
Flocks of sparrows – American Tree, Harris’, and
White-crowned, would occasionally appear but could not abide a large
lens pointed at them. The birds of prey were no better. Northern
Harriers, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks lifted from their perch
and soared into the distance at the mere idea of being
photographed.
The little backwater hamlet of Fort Supply, population 328 and
dwindling, was sere and brown on this cold sunny January day. Quickly
leaving behind its grain elevator and
boarded-up storefronts, I headed toward Woodward, passing by the Cooper
Wildlife Management Area.
On impulse, with nothing better to do, I turned the car
around, entered the reserve and soon came to a manager’s residence,
complete with metal storage barns and trees struggling to survive
in a dry climate and relentless wind.
At once I saw them. A flock of 50 – 100 Mountain Bluebirds,
feeding on the ground under an aged juniper tree. I think it was the
stark contrasts that made the scene most memorable: the deep blue sky;
the drab ochre landscape; the brisk cold
wind. And these
brilliant blue avian jewels,
as lively and vivacious as the
surroundings were dreary.
Twittering among themselves, they would feed for a while, then
for reasons known only to bluebirds, take flight en masse and
swirl about in the clear sky, now alighting on
the fence surrounding the compound. Soon they
would work their way along the fence back
toward the juniper and my car.
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Finally one
courageous bluebird, the catalyst if you will, would alight within range
of my camera. In seconds I had a dozen or more posing for me. Some
lingered for a photo; others vanished from the
field of view as they swooped
back down to their juniper berry feast.
Mountain Bluebirds nest in the majestic setting of the Rocky
Mountains, amid soaring peaks and verdant forests of pine and fir. In
winter they spill out into the decidedly un-majestic southern plains,
trading breathtaking mountain vistas
for
bleak rolling monotony.
But I do not think these bluebirds feel the less for it, or judge
Fort Supply as I do. Perhaps for them, western Oklahoma is Palm Beach
and the French Riviera rolled into one. Here the sun shines brightly
even in January; snowstorms are rare; and a
bounty of juniper berries feeds them until the Rockies beckon them
home. In return, they enliven a place desperately in need of beauty and
joie de vivre. Among our winter guests
here, few are more welcome than Mountain Bluebirds. |
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