A few days in West Virginia

As spring approached this year I set some dates to go visit my friends at Spruce Knob, we all know the weather can’t be bad for three days right?! A needed break from work and an excuse to hunt down the amazing warblers that move through the spruce trees every year at elevation was enough for me to ignore the forecast and I’m glad I did. 

I showed up on Wednesday afternoon and worked on a few projects with the Experience Learning team that required IT help then after that was done it was all about walking the property to see what gems I would uncover this time around. The magical place never stops amazing me and this trip was no different. 

The fields had been cut last year shorter than before (I don’t like ‘em all cut that short!) and there is now a more visible marsh which to my surprise had two solitary sandpipers. Crazy to this think that shore birds would be in the mountains of West Virginia. 

Later in the day the clouds rolled in and I got my yurt set for the night and camera all prepped for the next days outings  One of the main areas I was targeting was less than 10 yards from where I was staying so I was excited to get going the next morning. 

I rose early but as I mentioned the weather had other plans. The fog and mist rolled over Spruce Knob and into the high valley where I was. The birds were still out and singing early so even with different lighting than I wanted it still was a magical few hours with the birds and outdoors among the beautiful meadows lined with spruce trees, I managed to see over 10+ bird specifies within 15-20 minutes and I was working the shutter speeds to make sure I captured as much light as I could versus trying to catch any birds in flight or action type shots. This went on two or three hours before I took a break and realized I had taken well over 1000+ shots.

I had a couple of moments of complete bliss during the morning session and was truly in my element. I really can’t describe how it feels to be so lucky to have this time to enjoy nature and the craft of photography that is so giving. I knew I had some amazing keepers from my morning and it gave me exactly what I had come to WV for, to recharge and reflect on all these past few months and what had been happening with me and my family.

Needless to say I had another outing late morning before lunch and then after a walk through a moss lining forest grounds with spruce trees to an old abandoned logging field. I was worn out by then and it had been a wonderful day and it wasn’t even late afternoon yet! I’m so old! Haha

I did decide that with real rain coming and it forecast to continue all night and day on Friday that I would better off saving my vacation day and coming home to work the next day.

Two amazing days in WV were everything I needed. Now bring on Mother’s Day! :)

Senaca Rocks

Magnolia Warbler

More photos and prints at www.AstrOwl.com