If you don’t take the time to look, there’s a lot that you can miss out on!
When the game Pokemon Go came out in 2016, there was a noticeable increase in the number of people out and about at our local Greenway. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them had their eyes on their phones instead of on the scene around them. One sunny Saturday, a Great Blue Heron flew up the creek and landed near a pedestrian bridge — plain as day and right in the view of the dozens of people milling around. Two things about this struck me as amazing. The first, of course, was the beauty of this magnificent bird. The second was that not a single human near the bridge so much as looked up while this all transpired. They were so busy looking for digital creatures in the virtual world on their “smart” devices that they were missing out on the live creature in the real world.
What a metaphor for life! Whether you are a bird or a human, not paying attention to your surroundings can lead to a lot of missed opportunities.
Hawks, like this Cooper’s Hawk, have fantastic eyesight that allow them to find prey that would elude other predators
For every moment I capture on camera, there are probably millions more that I miss – either because of poor timing, or missing out on the sight entirely. A slight change in angle can yield a glimpse of an elusive raccoon nestled in the hollow of a tree, or a well-camouflaged Brown Creeper, or even just a new and amazing angle of a leaf in the sunlight. Standing still and being quiet can allow you to hear a rustling in the leaves, or a characteristic call. There’s a reason that I walk very slowly when out in nature, and periodically stand still to take in the surroundings. I’ll never be able to go after every opportunity, but slowing down greatly increases the chances of a good sighting (and hopefully a good capture). In the business world, keeping an eye out — for a business lead, for information that can help with your projects, for job postings that can advance your career — is the key to long-term success.
At first glance, the bird in the foreground may look like just another Canada Goose in the crowd. But take a closer look. That is actually a Brant – relatively rare in East Tennessee, and several local birders actively sought it out when they heard reports.
The human brain is a funny thing. There are so many extraneous stimuli in our world that we have to filter out some information in order to sustainably function. As the old adage goes, “If everything is important, then nothing is important.” However, there’s a danger in letting too much get filtered out. Admittedly, I’m a little bit of a “speciesist” in that I don’t get as excited about some bird species as others. Canada Geese, European Starlings, and Brown-Headed Cowbirds don’t garner as much interest, so it’s easy to take in a cursory glance, get a gut feel that it’s “just” one of those birds, and keep walking without even bothering to raise up the camera. One day, I saw what initially looked like a flock of Brown-Headed Cowbirds, and almost dismissed them. Then one bird happened to turn its head to reveal what looked like a different color pattern. Intrigued, I took several photos of that bird and others in the flock, realizing that this was something different. Later that evening, comparing the photos with information on AllAboutBirds.org, I found out that these were actually a group of Rusty Blackbirds. Slowing down and taking a better look has also led to sightings of other more “exciting” species, such as Brants or Cackling Geese hanging out in a crowd of Canada Geese, or female Blue-Winged Teals nestled in a crowd of Mallard Ducks.
This Great Blue Heron was so intent on the hunt that he didn’t notice he wandered into a Red-Winged Blackbird’s nesting territory
There’s a balance to be found, of course. Once, in the process of photographing a group of Double-Crested Cormorants, I was so intensely focused on getting the settings just right while focusing on the cormorants’ wings that I didn’t even notice a beautiful Painted Turtle who was resting on the rocks as well. At least, not until the editing process a few days later. Had I been paying attention at the time, I could have gotten some great shots of the turtle as well. Focus is important to avoid distraction, but don’t let yourself become so focused on one thing that your tunnel vision causes you to miss out on other possibilities. And, of course, never let focus on work or your career take away from maintaining relationships of friends and family.
Balance can be hard to find, but that’s what life is about. Sometimes you need the high-level view like the hawk way up in the sky — other times, you need to get down in the dirt and the details like the American Robin.
Evan Kidd Photography 