The Big Sit, Part 2

The meadow that developed so lushly over the summer at Halibut Point has a forlorn appearance now that the greens have browned and flower petals have dropped away to reveal their drab functional end game, the seed heads.

Savannah Sparrow

The after-the-party look is just what suits many kinds of seed-eating birds on their way south for the winter.

Swamp Sparrow

Some like the Swamp Sparrow come out of their customary environment to browse on the bounty as they pass through.

White-throated Sparrow

Individuals of a few species will find a way to make a go of it here through the cold months, sorting through the residual vegetation.

Song Sparrow

Then the modest russets, buffs, blacks and whites of the sparrow clan spark the landscape with a welcome charm.

Clay-colored Sparrow

Right now sparrows in the meadow spend much of their time foraging out of sight, down low in the tall weeds. Some species are a nice find that you probably won't see every year.

White-crowned Sparrow (juvenile)

The Big Sit strategy sometimes pays off in an unobstructed glimpse of a bird relaxed enough to come into the open.

Field Sparrow

Better yet, the obscure bird might come up briefly with a clear sight line above the canopy. A jiggling clump of stems alerts you to possible quarry the way a bobber foretells otherwise invisible activity around a fish hook.

Lincoln's Sparrow

I returned to the meadow vigil day after day through October with admittedly complex goals of pleasure and desire. It's true that fine days and nature's subtle beauties are their own reward. So is the satisfaction of a trophy photo like this Lincoln's Sparrow. As in all things it says as much to me about my own significance as it does about the world around me.

Dickcissel

That world is full of curiosities and distinctions,  relationships and uniqueness. Encountering them we're inclined to give them names. On one of my Big Sits I came across a Dickcissel, a transiting bird a little different from but reminiscent of the sparrows. The interests of science, recreation, and self-gratification converged in this first-time sighting. Such strands of delight propel me anew back to the field.

The Big Sit, Part 1

Over the summer the Halibut Point meadow was more an insect domain than avian habitat as pollinators fulfilled their bargain with flowers. A second bargain is now upon us as birds help disperse the seeds while foraging for their own nourishment.

American Goldfinch finding thistle seeds

The brilliantly floriferous landscape has receded. You have to go looking for quieter delights within the skeletal remnants of summer.

Song and White-throated Sparrows

Of course clambering around in the countryside is as likely to scare off the inhabitants as to reveal them for observation...

Great Blue Heron

...except for the rare creature tall enough to meet you eye to eye.

The various possibilities of flying, hopping, slithering, or burrowing prey attracted a Great Blue Heron up from the wetlands to investigate.

Common Yellowthroat

Mostly, though, the birds are inconspicuous and wary.

Palm Warbler

These circumstances suggest an alternative to getting good looks at birds: The Big Sit.

Wilson's Warbler 1

It's a tradeoff of roaming versus stationing with the hope they'll come to you. The name is a tongue-in-cheek play on The Big Day scramble of the 24-hour Birdathon during spring migration.

Wilson's Warbler 2

Being accepted into the landscape can bring small charms into  close focus.

Wilson's Warbler 3

A Big Sit has the further advantage of not being strenuous.

Humans sitting quietly in one place does confound the curiosity of local wildlife.

Painterly Flowers

 

Gloriosa Daisy

Looking across the mid-summer meadow, across a sea of yellow daisies, any one of the flowers could be arresting.

I wondered what a painter would see, how he or she would go about rendering it. Bees have a much more specific interest. Our human attractions seem as variable and infinite as the flowers themselves.

Seeing the flowers within the meadow setting completely changed how I felt about taking their picture. I pondered relationships at play beyond the straightforward flower facts. Was this entirely visual?

Intriguing idiosyncrasies seemed to tell stories connected to pathos or rarity or desire, both the flower's and my own. Was this an element of aesthetics?

Are these yellow daisies more sumptuous for having displayed themselves above the carpet of little white ones? Sumptuous - am I giving away a preference for size and strength of hue?

In a pairing of flowers of equal size and drama the intense yellow might be less arresting than the plain white intricacy of the Queen Anne's Lace. Mind is sorting through these facts reported by the eyes, making up stories.

It seemed that from a painterly point of view these encounters could be more or less beautiful. The combination of perfectly lovely flowers in this photograph did not give me as exhilarating an effect as some others.

In this case, with a similar range of colors as the preceding photo, the shapes, textures, and harmonizing white borders make a more mellow ensemble. Is one more satisfying than the other? Better?

This design makes use of diverse petal shapes, complementary opposition on the color wheel, geometric intersections, and a recessive background to enhance the image.

Here the intensification of those design elements turns a natural occurrence into a vivid one for human sensibilities. Artistic presentation rests on discovery and framing rather than creation.

A painter, with the ability to re-arrange subject matter, could be more successful than a photographer with this scene. The repetition of the daisy shape, the harsh purity of the color contrast, and the dispersal of interest work against the rendering. Our satisfaction as viewers has shifted from joyful admiration to a slower judgment of intellect, where aesthetics separate us from other beings.

Curiously, this pairing of two near-primary colors is not as easy to like as the complementary pairs above.

Outside thoughts bear on aesthetic experience. The waning of the season and the pending demise of flowers may make us averse to‒‒or possibly more deeply appreciative of‒‒the simple compositional facts shown here.

Gathering these principles becomes the tools of story-telling in art.

Posed on Petals

All those bright yellow flowers were the joy of the summer meadow. Individually they made fine portrait backdrops for insects drawn to their glamorous corollas. Each microcosmic mise en scѐne suggested a little glimpse of art within the great swath of bloom.

Thread-waisted Wasp, Ammophila pictipennis

Broad-headed Bug, Alydus eurinus

Versute Sharpshooter, Graphocephala versuta

Ailanthus Webworm Moth, Atteva aurea

Long-legged Fly, Condylostylus caudatus

American Lady, Vanessa virginiensis

False Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus turcicus

American Sand Wasp, Bembix americana

Green Stink Bug, Chinavia hilaris

Red-legged Grasshopper, Melanoplus femurrubrum

Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis

American Copper, Lycaena hypophlaeas