That’s what it takes. To get the great shots. To see the amazing moments. I thought at this time I’d talk about it and give some examples of just what you can do when you incorporate these three critical pieces of nature photography.

It has been especially evident of late, as I make my regular and frequent trips to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Time. You cannot do this in a passing glance, or in a quick run out in your car. Or a 30 minute walk in the woods. Sure, you may get some nice shots, but you will miss far more. And you won’t learn what to look for. Or learn about the birds and animals you photograph. No books are good enough to teach you what you need to know. You have to live with them. The creatures we admire, love and want to capture with our cameras. You have to observe them. With a keen eye and ear, and learn what they do, how they behave. how they communicate.

In my time out there, I have learned many of the behaviors and calls of Osprey, Forsters Terns, and many others. It takes hours and days and weeks and months before you start to put things together. When you start to understand them. And once you do start to know how they behave, what their habits are, and what their various calls mean, you can be ready and in the right place and time to capture amazing moments.

Like watching Osprey engage in courtship rituals, where the males dive down from on high to chase the female after she calls out to them…and if she is willing, she will jump up from her perch and grasp his talons in mid air.

Like learning how Forsters Terns call to their mates to bring them an offering of a freshly caught fish. What they sound like when they do that. What they do to display their intentions. And the male, how he will circle around her proudly displaying his catch, holding it up for her to see…and then finally meeting her on her perch and handing her the prize from his bill to hers, in one of the most incredible scenes in the avian world.

Those moments don’t get captured by chance. They happen when we take the time. Have the patience. When we spend the hours to observe. When we are persistent in our attempts to be there often, to find them when they are doing these amazing things, and to be ready when they do.

The photos I have of Osprey courtship and Tern courtship feedings took not only the many hours sitting in one location watching and waiting, but days and weeks and months of study. To learn how and when they will do their courtship, and how to know what they are saying. What they are doing, and to be ready for the moment.

Forsters Terns have a complex social network, hierarchy, and an even more complex vocabulary and method of communication. It is incredible to watch, hear and start to understand. Once you do start to “get it” with what they do, you can be ready for what is to come, and what they may do next. They talk all the time. To each other. And they coordinate. They communicate. And it is not as simple as “want food”. They will follow a leader’s signal, leave a fishing spot suddenly all together, go back out a ways, regroup, and line up to take turns diving again where they just were. What purpose this serves? Not sure yet. But I am studying it. And learning.

The photos of Osprey and Tern courtship and behavior aren’t the only wonderful things you can photograph by having patience and taking the time to learn. Even the diminutive Yellow Warbler can be a real challenge to get a nice shot of. But if you take the time to watch them, you learn what they do during mating season. You can be ready for the shots, because you know that they usually go from low to high in a tree, in order to sing from the loftiest perch. Then when they reach near the top or edge, they will take off and go to the next spot. And in time, repeat the cycle, and often choose the same trees and even branches the next time through.

Yellow Warbler finds a treat - (Aphids on a branch)

Yellow Warbler with a nice background. Patience pays off.

I’ve seen a lot of photographers in the last few years. Now more than ever, so many seem to be in a hurry. It’s like a race to them, to see what they can see, capture what they can, and then move on. I’ve seen it dozens of times. I sat with my friend Joe Campbell, another dedicated and very talented photographer, at a spot at Forsythe. We sat there for hours. Just so happens to be a great spot to get shots of Tern Courtship feeding. I knew this because I’ve taken the time, the patience, the dedication, and the hours of observation. And car after car just glanced over and kept going. No interest to them. Just some Terns sitting there, and nothing of interest. To them.

And this is what they missed:

Tern Courtship - The Male gives his love a gift

Male Forsters Tern proudly displays the gift he will give to his mate

Forsters Terns - The male gives his mate a courtship gift

So, while car after car drove past, we sat, we waited. We watched and we noticed. And then magic. And we were there for it. Covered in bug spray, inhaling gnats, getting hot and sweaty, our hands aching from holding the heavy camera and lenses for long periods. Worth every hour, and every drop of sweat.

The same can be said for so many birds. (and other animals). If you take the time, and have the patience, you can get the shots, and capture these incredible moments.

A similar situation arose regarding nesting Osprey at Forsythe. A few photographers will camp out at nests and wait to see what will happen. But unless you know the birds, unless you study them, you will be there at the wrong time, and you will not see the wonderful things you could.

During the nesting season, Osprey have tasks to do. But one of the first is to (re)establish the mating pair. Most mate for life. But there are always challenges from other males. Sometimes, their own offspring from a year or more before! But no matter the length of the relationship, there will always be courtship between them every year. And if you know what to look for, and spend the time, you have a great chance of seeing these rituals.

If you wait until after the eggs are laid, and watch the nest for hours, you will see…a female bird sitting on eggs. And not a whole lot more, except when the male brings back a nice fish to share. Or not share. Sometimes they are like that. Men! The rest of the time, you will sit and wait and watch the male sit nearby, and the female sit on her eggs. The only really interesting thing is if another bird of consequence (like a Bald Eagle or a Great Black Backed Gull) gets too close. Of course, after the eggs hatch, there are countless wonderful things to see. And this is when most photographers arrive like a horde of Green Head flies, and camp out lined up with tripods and mega-lenses.

And you can get some great shots of those things, and they are wonderful. And everybody else gets the same shots you do.

But very few get this:

Female Osprey leaps from the nest to grasp the talons of her mate

Osprey courtship. The pair is intertwined, talons grasping talons

A challenge! A second male invades the nest to try to win dominance

From what I know, there are exactly two photographers who visit Forsythe who have photos like these this year. Me, and Joe Campbell.

Patience. Persistance. Observation. Time.

We sat at this nest countless times. This pair seemed to be very active. Very unique. And there was a lot going on. We observed this second male a number of times. So on this day, after 3 hours of almost nothing, we got a couple hours of intense action the likes of which neither of us had seen in all our years photographing birds. By the time it was over, our hearts were racing and we were pumped full of adrenaline, and our hands and arms hurt from trying to capture the non-stop action for almost 2 hours. We learned how the female would set up the courtship drama. She would circle with the male (and the second male trying to win her over), all over the refuge. And each time she would return, dive to the nest and perch there, and then give a very distinctive call while looking upward. And then one of the males would make a spectacular plunge dive behind her, spreading his wings at the last minute, coming in from behind…and the chase would begin. When the time was right…she no longer initiated the chase, but chose her mate again by leaping up and meeting him in mid-air. Grasping his talons and tumbling together in the air.

Spectacular doesn’t begin to describe it.

Sometimes it isn’t the spectacular that you get when you’re patient, but the silly. The curious. The odd and weird moments you just don’t expect. But being there, and paying attention, and spending the time is what it takes to see many of these things as well. It often means just noticing something out of the ordinary. And you can’t know what “ordinary” is unless you’ve spent a lot of time observing.

One of the other wonderful things with Osprey is how they share the duties of building their huge nests. And how they go about doing it. They start with heavy and sturdy twigs, and build a structure that can support their weight and those of the young. Then, they bring in other materials they find to finish it off and make it suitable for eggs, and for the hatchlings. They find scraps of cloth, or pick up fine hay like grasses to make a soft and warm place for the eggs to rest, and of course the female on top of them.  If you spend enough time with Osprey when they first arrive for the Spring and Summer, you know that these tasks will get underway with all due urgency. It’s the perfect time to sit and watch and wait. Most times, the male will be dominant in the nest building once the female is fertile and bearing eggs. And in this case, as I like to call him, the hardest working Osprey in Jersey was not a disappointment.

Osprey brings back an entire shrub for the nest

It took an enormous effort to carry that bush back. Strong headwinds, and tons of wind resistance from the branches. But he got it all the way home.

And he kept at it, day after day….

Osprey neatly maneuvers a new twig into the nest

This will make a great bedspread! (Osprey with a nice piece of cloth for the nest)

Of course, all that nest building makes any good Osprey hungry, so when it’s time for a meal, they go out and bring back the freshest fish.

Osprey with a nice fish for supper

Osprey and his catch of the day.

Then, there are those just plain silly moments…

Not a whole lot is sillier in the avian world than Willets during courtship. Not only are they loud and call out constantly, the engage in seemingly endless chases. For hours. Sometimes doing the craziest of maneuvers. So, when I saw a couple doing  just that, I stopped and watched them and photographed them for hours. It was tiring. It was laugh out loud funny at times. And it was amazing.

Willet skips on the water

I don't even know what to caption this one!

Skimming the water with his wing, Willet male pursues a female (out of frame)

Only 2 on a stick, please!! (Willet Silliness)

Willet and his shadow

Forsters Terns are always entertaining, and never boring. If you watch them fishing enough times, you’ll see and learn certain behaviors. And that can help you get some great shots. Still, they are lightening fast and make wild sudden moves, so it’s never easy.  Ever wonder how they keep those crazy tails looking so nice?

Forsters Tern preening his tail feathers.

That’s how.

And their antics while fishing are just incredible.

Forsters Tern with a really nice catch

Sometimes, they don’t have the fish in a grip that will allow them to swallow it the way they need to. So, they will flip the fish in mid-air and re-catch it!

Forsters Tern Fish Flip

Now, this is MUCH better. Down the hatch!

Forsters Tern swallowing a fish on the wing.

Sometimes, even the Tern is surprised by what it catches…

Two for one special at the fish counter. (Forsters Tern)

This Tern (above) captured two fish in a single dive. I can only assume one fish was swimming just above the other at the moment of impact.

One thing the Terns will always do after diving into the water is shake off the excess once they are back in the air. It lasts all of a maybe a fifth of a second, and you never know exactly when they will do it. I have captured this exactly twice in my entire life.

Forsters Tern shakes off the water after a dive

Forsters Tern shaking off the water after a dive for fish

One thing that is of great aid in getting shots of birds is learning their calls. If you can hear them, then you might just be able to see them, and get a great shot. If you’re lucky. Combine that with knowing their habits, and you have an even better chance.

The Common Yellowthroat arrives in my area every Spring about this time (Late April, Early May). It’s call is very distinctive, and it loves to hang out in the reeds and brush near water. (Ideal for a place like Forsythe refuge). And it sings loudly. It also likes to pop up from cover sometimes to get a nice high perch. After all, it’s all about mating and courtship, and if you’re up and visible and singing your heart out, you have a better shot. Speaking as a bird, that is. I don’t sing all that well, and I’m not big on heights.

So, early one morning I heard one singing like he was auditioning for the Tonight Show…. soon enough, he popped out and decided that Late Night TV  was too old-school, and American Idol was where it was at. He was bold, and brazen, and singing at the top of his lungs, in great light, with a very dedicated nature photographer there to watch and listen.

The next big recording star. Common Yellowthroat

Similarly, another Spring arrival is the Blue Grosbeak. They too have a unique call, and they too like to perch to take a look around, usually in the reeds and tall grasses of fields.

Blue Grosbeak (Male) sits up and looks handsome in a field at Forsythe

A wonderful challenge for me recently was to get a shot of a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Singing. These are tiny birds. They move through dense cover most of the time, only coming out into view very briefly. And they never sit still. I read up on them a bit, and I also watched a courting pair of them near a small overpass on the entry into Forsythe Refuge. I got no photos the first two times I observed them. So, I kept going back. I noticed the areas they seemed to like to travel through, and they repeated being in those locations.

Persistence. I kept going to the spot, and keeping my eyes pealed and my ears open. Soon enough, for all of about 10 seconds, this little guy came out and gave me the opportunity.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher debuts for me.

Another wonderful find, and the result of a very patient observer friend (John “Jack” Adams) was this gorgeous Rose Breasted Grosbeak. Jack was well ahead of me and Joe Campbell (we meet up a lot at Forsythe and shoot together as friends), and he went to a good location and just waited and watched. He noticed a bird that was fairly good sized and dark, and it was going up and in and out of the reeds and grasses. Since there are so many Red Winged Blackbirds doing the same thing, it can be easy to miss. But Jack has also spent countless hours observing, and he noticed that this was something different. So, when we got there, we took our time and waited for it to make an appearance. And sure enough, we were not disappointed.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Sometimes being observant just allows you to be ready for anything. In this case, I suddenly saw a Great Blue Heron carrying something huge and walking over to a spot in the grass with it. What I watched was one of the most amazing feats of swallowing prey I have ever seen.

Great Blue Heron with catch of the day.

Great Blue Heron prepares to swallow the biggest meal of his life

This fish was fully 20 inches long, and had to weigh at least 3 pounds. And this heron swallowed it effortlessly.

Gulp! (Great Blue Heron)

Great Blue Herons are patient, observant, and persistent hunters. They will stand motionless or nearly so for long periods, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

One day, my old friend Joe Campbell and I decided to wait and watch a Great Blue Heron at a water level control gate at Forsythe. This heron was very active, and appeared to be catching one small fish after another.

So, we parked and waited and watched. And he fished out one small fish after another. And promptly tossed most of them away! Now that was unusual. I’ve never seen a choosy Great Blue Heron before.

And what happened next explained why he was tossing away the little fish. He tossed one away, and in one fluid motion struck the water with incredible force, and came up with this:

Great Blue Heron spears a great catch!

Joe and I were stunned. And we fired off frame after frame of this incredible action. It didn’t last long, and he flew off with his prize meal.

Great Blue Heron prepares to fly off with it's great meal

Observation.

My friend Shawn Wainwright sure knows what that means. He’s studied with the best birders. Spent countless hours in the field. He’s also hugely into butterflies, moths and dragonflies…and just about anything that walks, crawls, swims of flies for that matter. He’s an observer. His nickname is “Eagle Eyes”. And rightly so. He sees more than most. Tremendous vision. And he uses that to his advantage. To observe, to learn, and to see wonderful things. He’s taken me on a couple of outings into his “backyard” in Toms River, NJ. And because of his keen observation skills, and what he has learned, he helped me to get some perfectly wonderful shots.

One of which is this very rare, Cobweb Skipper butterfly. According to Shawn, seen only in one very small patch of sand and field near where he lives, and in Cape May, NJ.

Cobweb Skipper Butterfly

That’s the wonderful thing about those of us who love this field. Others who know more than we do can help us to find great shots, and to enhance our learning as well.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Nothing that rare about a Black Swallowtail Butterfly. What is rare is getting a shot with a fantastic background. This particular butterfly kept wanting to land on some evergreens near where Shawn and I were. So we waited. And waited. And watched. And our patience paid off when it finally landed in some spots that gave us some wonderful compositions for the shot.

Red Banded Hairstreak Butterfly

This butterfly (above) is all of a half inch tall when perched like this. I know a bit about butterflies and have loved them since I was a kid. But Shawn knows a hell of a lot more than I do. And I didn’t pay these butterflies much mind when we were on our walk. But he did. And he showed me how colorful and beautiful they are. And we got some wonderful shots as a result of his efforts and his knowledge.

Red Spotted Purple Butterfly

Because Shawn had visited, studied, and observed areas near where he lives, and spent tremendous amounts of time out, he knew all the best places to go. What plants would be where, what would be blooming, what kinds of butterflies and birds might be found at each spot. As a result, we went to one small area that seems to have a lot of activity. And this gorgeous Red Spotted Purple visited us while we were there.

This year is a banner year for the Red Admiral butterfly. They are everywhere. Last year, you would have been lucky to see one or two all year. In one afternoon, he and I counted over 30.

Red Admiral Butterfly stops to take a short rest on a tree

Sometimes patience and time in the field pays off in ways we don’t anticipate. While we can study the birds and animals and learn more about what to look for, the mere fact that we have trained ourselves to be observant can have it’s own rewards. As much as there are wonderful times like watching the Forsters Terns in their courtship feedings, there are those moments where it all just comes together. Where your eyes and your ears let you in on being able to notice something wonderful, and to capture that moment, as it happens. You are far more likely to capture these if you’ve spent the time to really learn about the birds, the butterflies and other animals that you photograph. You’re already likely to watch for signs, look in places that have the right environments. The right time of day. The right food sources.

Peregrine Falcon does a flyover

This Peregrine Falcon (above) made two passes at me and a couple of my friends, at Gull Pond in the Forsythe refuge.  We noticed that this bird made a point of looking us over in the first pass, with a very low, high speed dash directly at us and quickly over us. It then headed back out over the refuge at high speed. Nobody got a shot off. But we talked about it. We thought that she wasn’t done with us. We were intruding in an area she was hunting, perhaps, and she wanted to know what and who we were. So we kept a watchful eye. And sure enough, 5 minutes later, we spotted her coming back toward us. And this time, she soared slowly and pulled up to circle over us for a second or two to get a really good look. And as a result, I managed this capture.

Getting to the refuge early is a good tactic. Not only are many birds most active in the early morning hours, but the refuge is undisturbed, with no cars or people having gone through. That means that birds may perch or be active right near the drivable areas. And to be on the lookout for them, as the first to come through.

One morning, Joe was out ahead of me by a good ways. He radioed me to tell me of a fantastic find. In a way only Joe could. “Eric, you’re going to freaking hate me”. “What is it, Joe…what do you have?”. “I have a Peregrine on a sign”. “Really, how far are you from it?”. “Oh, about 4 feet”.

So, needless to say, Joe was enjoying a very close up view of a Peregrine Falcon. Not an easy bird to get close to. Amazingly, this bird stayed there until I met up with Joe, even allowing me to pull beside him, just as Joe had done.

The ultimate in irony.

Peregrine Falcon, as close as you can get without kissing it.

Then there are those times where all you have learned, and all the patience, time, waiting and learning allow you to see and capture moments that will live with you for a lifetime.

I’ve had the privilege to have a bird look into my soul and know me. And allow me to know a little bit about them.

Osprey and I meet, eye to eye.

Female Merlin introduces herself

Patience.

Time.

Observing. Learning.

Persistence and dedication.

It’s where the great moments come from.