Bull Run Regional Eventually Proved Ideal Location For Photography
Squirrel strikes classic pose with acorn in mouth.
©Bert Gildart: For the past week we have been camped at a very delightful campground, one that is not only beautiful but well positioned logistically to accomplish our objectives. As a bonus, it came to acquaint me with a critter I used to hunt with a gun, but was content this past week to hunt it with a camera. That objective, however, was secondary to accomplishing a far more significant objective.
Objective number one was visiting my Godmother who will soon turn 97. For her age she is doing remarkably well, but time is catching up and she was having some problems and we wanted to help. Her presence throughout my life has been significant.
But helping meant that Janie and I had to find a campground as close to Washington D.C. as possible. Previously this summer we had made several long drives from Shenandoah, but that required a trip of almost four hours.
Then we heard from a Virginia native camped adjacent to us in Shenandoah about Bull Run Regional Park, and though we were skeptical about anything near D.C., we’ve since concluded that we actually lucked out.
At least that was true after we learned about D.C. traffic patterns.
CURSES ON D.C. TRAFFIC
Though it is only 28 miles to the retirement home in which my Godmother lived, when we hit the traffic wrong, our speed dropped to five and 10 mph. One night it dropped even lower and for about 30 minutes we sat along with what must have been over a million other cars averaging zero mph. After that it became stop and go, stop and go meaning that what required 40 minutes of driving time on several occasions required well over two hours.
New acquaintances say that during those times you conjure up words you’d never have said in front of your mother – “but if you hit a bottleneck, you’ll sure say them now!”
Searching for acorns
At those times D.C. registered as one of my worst nightmares. Later we learned that to avoid hordes of humanity we had to depart the campground after 10, then get back on the road before 2 pm or wait until after 7 pm.
BULL RUN REGIONAL PARK
Sometimes that left us with a little extra time, and Bull Run Regional Park offers much. While here, we’ve managed to make a number of trips to the immediately adjacent Manassas National Battlefield. We also strolled along Bull Run, now a small stream but one where thousands once perished in what was our worst national tragedy, the Civil War (see previous post). The “Run” flows through our campground where we’ve also managed to do a little bicycling and a little walking — keeping our eyes open for wildlife.
CHALLENGE OF SQUIRREL PHOTOGRAPHY
During these rides and walks, we’ve seen deer, lots of geese, several foxes and lots of squirrels. Though the squirrels were not tame, they were somewhat tolerant of our observations as they went about their work of fattening up for the winter. The more I watched them the more fascinated I became with their antics and decided to make a photographic study of their busy lives .
Fall and squirrels feast on acorns that have fallen and that they've gathered.
The images shown here were taken in spurts over a period of one week, and hopefully show an interesting mammal gathering food. To provide distance I used a 600mm lens for all the images, otherwise the little rodents would scamper off. Or they’d circle to the backside of a tree, stealing peeks to see where I might be. If I appeared interested they’d duck. I knew about that from the days I hunted the little boogers. (My dad used to curse them as they made a mess of his garden.)
And what about objective number one? Happily everything seems on the mend and today we are departing for Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia. We expect it will take about two days — if we can avoid some of this nightmare traffic.
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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:
May 15th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
I am in the market for a vintage airstream. Thank you for the informative blog!