A Casual Day Out To Photograph

Twins!  Cormorants on one of the pilings of a dolphin next to where I was
sitting in my vehicle on the ferry boat. (click to enlarge any image)

Last week the weather here in southeastern Virginia was absolutely perfect.  A very unusual several days for Virginia in the summertime.  The temperatures were in the mid 70s F (~24 C) and even better the humidity hovered around 55%.  Wow!  Time to get out with my camera.

A photographer friend and I decided to meet in Williamsburg, Virginia to have lunch.  Since I live on the other side of the James River from Historic Jamestowne (first permanent English settlement in the North America), I decided to take the free car ferry across the river.  It is always a nice ride, it is free and saves about 20 driving miles.  

Leaving home, at the last minute, I decided to take my Nikon system.  It is always a chore to decide which of my three camera systems (each in its own backpack or bag) to grab and go.  Originally, I was going to take the OM/Olympus gear, but Nikon got the call.  The paradox of choice.  I'll have to write about how too many choices degrade the experience.

As I sat in my vehicle waiting for the ferry to depart Scotland Wharf in Surry County, I decided to attach my Nikon 180-600mm lens to my Z8 as there were lots of gulls and cormorants on the nearby dolphins (A dolphin is a group of pilings arrayed together to serve variously as a protective hardpoint along a dock, in a waterway, or along a shore; as a means or point of stabilization of a dock, bridge, or similar structure; as a mooring point; and as a base for navigational aids.)  A perfect time to practice bird photography as my annual wildlife/bird photography trips are coming up again in December.  I photographed a few cormorants and, as we traversed the breadth of the river, a few gulls that were flying along side of the boat hoping a few fish would be killed by the screws.  I've included a few of those images below.

Craning one's neck.  The image below is a 100% crop of the this image.  I included it to show how
nicely the Nikon 180-600mm lens renders birds.

These gulls were paralleling the ferry boat.  I suspect they were looking for any fish that might have been killed by the ferry's screws.  That said, they made a nice practice subject as I sat in my vehicle with the lens pointed out of my window.

After the 20 minute ferry ride across the James River, I decided to see if I could find any raptors on the nearby Colonial Parkway which runs between Jamestown and Yorktown.  It also passes Williamsburg.  Unfortunately, whoever is the decision-maker for the Parkway has kept the "Jamestown Loop" closed all summer for 'turtle crossing.'  Those turtles must have gotten old and fat and very, very slow as in the past the Loop was only closed for a couple of weeks.  It seems it has been closed all summer this year.  No chance to see Bald Eagles, Ospreys or Eastern Screech Owls on the Loop as I have seen in the past.  Additionally, the National Park Service has installed "No Parking" signs everywhere, put up electronic solar powered speed tracking signs and, to top it off, planted and allowed the Yellow Southern Pine trees to grow up and block a view of the river for most of the way.  They also block the several Osprey nests that I had photographed in the past.  Really, there is no reasons to take a pleasant ride on the Colonial Parkway as the reasons for the ride—the views of the river—are largely non-existent.  It's a real shame.  It used to be a really nice drive.

I then drove the Parkway to Williamsburg.  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a large bird fly into a nearby pine tree.  Not knowing what it was but suspecting it was a Bald Eagle by its sheer size, I drove over near the tree, got out and pointed my long lens up into the branches which were in full shade.  I found the eagle!  It was a sub-adult, not quite a full adult as its white head and tail feathers still looked "dirty" in spots.  A fully mature adult has all white feathers, no remnants of the brown feathers from its youth.  I made a few images, some at 600mm and some with the camera set to DX mode, which gave me 19.4mp at 900mm.  Both variations were nice and sharp.

This is the 'almost' mature Bald Eagle I spotted flying into the cover of a pine
tree quite a distance away.  The bird was in full shade and it took some editing
to get it to look half decent for posting.

Leaving the Parkway and entering Williamsburg, I noticed one of the four daily Amtrak trains was due to arrive at the station about 5-10 minutes after I could get there.  So, I drove to the Amtrak station and made a few photos of the train arriving as well as an Amtrak employee helping a woman off the train with a hand-cranked 'elevator.'  I'll assume she wasn't able to use the steps.  That is a nice amenity.

An Amtrak employee assists a lady off of the train.  The device is a hand-cranked 'elevator,'
which allows someone in a wheelchair or one who cannot ascend or descend the steps to board
or leave the train.  I have only seen this used with wheelchair bound individuals in the past so
this was a first for me.

I then drove to a Williamsburg restaurant to meet my friend.  We had a nice lunch, a lot of good photographic conversation and after about an hour or more, said our goodbyes and I was off to catch the ferry back across the river.

All in all a nice casual outing and day photographing on a beautiful day.  Top off the photography with meeting a friend for a good lunch and I'll take a day like that every week!

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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