A Naturalist Watches for Wonder
F
Story and photographs by Jacob Zadik
or me, nature has always been a beautiful,
chaotic mess that I’m working to make sense
of. As I begin to learn more and expand my
comprehension of the world around me,
new ideas and new interests begin to emerge. This is what I
have always enjoyed about being in nature: it is an endless
world of discovery. One of my favorite tools in this quest
to better understand nature is photography. The time spent
sitting, observing, and simply waiting for a scene to manifest
itself in front of my lens continually helps me gain a greater
appreciation for organisms, their behaviors, and how they fit
into the world.
Below are a few photos that I have taken from different
ends of Kiawah’s beach. I have not included these photos
because they are the best shots I have ever taken (they aren’t,
in my opinion), but rather, I included them because of the
revelations that occurred to me when I took each photo. As
such, each image below comes to you with a bit of “baggage” -
the short story behind the shot.
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Osprey and the Flounder
Ospreys typically hover just before they dive. Staring down
at the water, they find their prey, lock in, and plunge.
Upon impact they make a huge splash and when the water
settles, they may or may not have a fish in their talons.
Understanding this behavior is very helpful when trying to
capture an action shot of an osprey. I have taken many shots
of ospreys in action, but this one is my favorite. Not because I
think it is an amazing image, but rather for the story.
I was out birding on the beach with a few other birders
when we saw an osprey flying around a tidal pool. When
the bird began to hover, I quickly set up my camera with
the hopes of snapping a good photo. The bird continued to
hover. I waited. Then, it broke its stationary position, moved
a bit further down the tidal pool, and resumed hovering. I
continued to wait. Birding takes patience, after all.
This cycle repeated itself about three or four more times.
And me? I kept waiting. In the meantime, I noticed fish were
jumping and moving about all over this tidal pool. I could