During hunting season you just never know what strange sights you might see at Farmington Bay.
Hunters are generally a hardy lot but apparently some of them like their comforts. About a week ago on a cold morning just after sunrise while I was driving south toward the 4-way at Farmington Bay WMA I encountered a sight that made me do a double-take. It was three hunters dressed to the gills for the cold and wet conditions of the marsh lounging on a plush and comfy-looking triple recliner on the ground that was facing the large expanse of water on Unit 1 just a few feet in front of them.
They looked silly as hell but they didn’t care. They’d hauled it there in a pickup that was directly behind me when I took this photo a little later that morning. They were obviously warming up as they faced the sun rising over the nearby mountains and they were having a grand old time with their incongruous display for all to see. They weren’t hunting from there so they weren’t doing anything wrong (it’s illegal to hunt from that close to the road) and I actually got a kick out of seeing such an unexpected sight.
I wanted to snap their photo while they were sitting there but I figured that would be intrusive and rude of me and I didn’t have time to stop and ask for permission so I didn’t. I took this shot a short while later as I passed by once again and they were presumably hunting again out on the water. I was largely bird-skunked on that trip to the refuge so in some ways seeing those guys was the highlight of my morning. They apparently took the recliner with them when they left the area because I haven’t seen it since.
Farmington Bay is a magnet for both duck hunters and bird photographers and this particular area of the refuge, very close to what most folks call the “second bridge” or “the owl bridge”, seems to be a hotspot for both. When I looked at this photo it reminded me of some of my own photographic ventures near the owl bridge, especially because of the two man-made vertical structures we see in the background – the stout but short wooden pole to the left in the frame and the weather station tower we see just to the left of the maroon pickup. The actual bridge, a small one, is beneath and directly in front of the tower.
So I thought I’d show you a couple of examples of raptors I’ve photographed on those perches in the past. Some viewers will have already seen one or more of the following photos but I think the recliner shot helps to put that area of Farmington in perspective, especially for those who have never been there and that includes the vast majority of my readers from all over the world.
Various raptors, especially American Kestrels and Bald Eagles, love to perch on that stout pole in the previous photo and I spent several hours literally freezing my keester off waiting for interesting poses from this nearly adult Bald Eagle on that frozen morning in the coldest part of winter. I might have been colder for longer on that morning than I’ve ever been while photographing birds over the past ten years and I’ll never forget the experience.
One of the reasons I waited and suffered for so long with this eagle was because once in a great while it would take off directly away from me to a large expanse of water in front of me and try to catch fish and then it would return to this same perch to eat it. I was hoping to catch it flying toward me with a fish in its talons.
But the eagle only returned to the pole with a fish one time and I botched those flight shots (my personal contribution to the Farmington Follies). But it returned several times with empty talons so I still got a fair number of flight shots I like as the eagle was flying directly toward me and the pole. Eye contact just doesn’t get more intense and direct than this. It almost looks like the intention of the eagle is to land on my head. Or to rip it off.
I wish that coot (the black blob) hadn’t been on the water at the tip of the right wing.
Just for the fun of it I decided to include another photo I’ve posted in the past. Notice once again in this same introductory shot the weather station tower just to the left of the maroon pickup. See those white things on top of it? They’re not electronic weather or telemetry units, instead they’re…
plastic Great Horned Owls meant to keep other birds off of all the sensitive electronic equipment. But guess what – it doesn’t work with feisty kestrels. This male and other kestrels would regularly perch on top those owls and poop right in their faces.
I was going to say that kestrels just don’t give a shi* but I guess in this situation they do.
Ron
Cool post. I love the variety. That kestrel shot is so funny. I’d bet that comfy sofa would work for bird watchers too. I know the sofa in my living room works great for looking at my variety of feeders.
You’re right, Barbara. If this post has anything to offer it does have variety!
Thanks for the chuckle. Between the couch and opportunic kestrel I can’t decide which is the funniest.
I’m sure you know that area near the owl bridge well, April. And have had some interesting experiences of your own there.
Ron, thank you for the entertaining post. Funny story about the hunters and their couch.
I like the head-on photo of the eagle and the “sassy” kestrel.
Yes, we could definitely use some snow to go along with the cold temperatures.
Thanks, Ron
Thanks, Alice. Bring it on (the snow)!
I am tickled by the hunters bringing the comforts of home with them – and impressed that they took it away again. Too often that would not be the case.
And love the kestrel not giving a rat’s fundament about the plastic bird.
And oh, that head on bald eagle shot…
I was worried they’d leave it, EC. Some hunters are real slobs, just like some bird photographers.
Didn’t notice “black blob” until I reread your comment…doesn’t bother me at all…that big bird’s intent focus and wing span is what got my attention…
I don’t think it’s a big deal either but I don’t like it much.
About that big piece of furniture….are you sure those were three men you saw sitting there–not couch potatoes???
Maybe they were both…
Great immature Eagle shots. Worth freezing your buns off! Love the Kestrels with their larg eyes, however I believe the recliners take the cake! Hahah
I guess it was worth it, Linda but at the time I sure had my doubts.
Here we have smoke, worse air quality than Beijing, I have read. Not a day to go outside. Sending care packages to victims of Camp fire and Ventura fire. Farewell, California.
Those fires are so tragic.
I don’t know how these were started, and they are definitely tragic in what happens to people. However, when studying botany in southern California, one of the things I learned is that fire is a natural part of the chaparral vegetation. It naturally happens about every 10 years, and there are some plants, like manzanita, that require fire for their seeds to germinate. Ditto for the lodgepole pines in Yellowstone. The big problem with the natural fires in southern California is that people don’t understand how nature works and choose to build their homes in harm’s way, because they want the views or whatever.
Sensational post and shots Ron. I enjoyed every word of it! ;>))
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte.
Kestrels are definitely birds that don’t care about humans’ rules. Which is one of the reasons to love them. I’m really glad to know that the recliner was only at Farmington for a short while. So many times, people will dump things like that along the roads. On the road to our park there is a lone cottonwood tree with a painted bench directly in front of it. When we drove out there Wednesday, someone had left an old TV in front of and facing the bench. I looked in vain for the extension cord (never mind that the location is out in the middle of nowhere)… At least that one was cute.
Great way to start my Saturday…Thanks Ron..Kestrels are such cool little raptors..one of my favorite birds…and the Eagle shots are awesome..
I’m glad you like them, Steve.
Great laugh on this snowy morning! 🙂 Certainly glad they took the couch with them! Lots of “fools” (being nice here) leave their “stuff” behind for others to deal with! 🙁 Hilarious that the Kestrel isn’t at all intimidated by the fake owl 🙂 Beautiful shot of the eagle!
“Snowy”! Wish we had some, Judy. I saw 12 degrees F. yesterday morning where I went shooting but skies were blue and clear as a bell.
Quite a nice study in contrasts, Ron. The out-of-place couch, the butt-ugly owl (pun intended) versus the naturally elegant Bald Eagle and Kestrel.
Thank you, Lyle.
Have never seen the two eagle pictures before Ron, but the kestrel yes. I guess the owls work with some birds, but definitely not the kestrels. The good news is that the hunters took their couch with them when they left. Before reading the story I of course thought it was just something someone dumped there.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Nope, I think they’re pretty fond of that couch, Everett. They probably take it with them to other hunting areas when it isn’t storming. If they’d left it there I don’t think refuge managers would welcome them back. Nor would I…
Interesting post with humor tossed in! Love the head-on eagle shot…the front edges of the wings have the appearance of being covered with fish scales….almost a metallic look. That face too is most appealing, looks a little scruffy to boot. Yes I too have found hunters to be a strange lot but then bird photographers are probably equally strange in their eyes! 🤪
Ha, bird photographers can definitely give hunters a run for their money in the “strange” department! Thanks, Kathy.
This is a fun post! I like it when birds outsmart humans.
Nice eagle flight shot.
“I like it when birds outsmart humans”
Which is most of the time in my experience. Thanks, Dick.