Crow’s Nest: Film left in the camera

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

Ok, not actually film (though I still could do that). But I dug out the digital camera this week after not having used it since last summer… difficult for me to believe, but the phone camera is always on me, and it takes pretty good photos.

But there’s something about the lenses and demands of an SLR that make me look at the land differently, especially with a fixed-length lens such as a 100mm macro (which is a good lens for many other things, though it forces you to back up to get it all in…)

First, a few pictures from last summer that were still in the camera. We all can be reminded that spring will come and summer’s colors and lush growth are only a few months away.

Above, a planting of echinacea in front of the garden fence. In the background and below, bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora. The bottlebrush part is pretty obvious; this is a great plant (if you have space for it) to attract butterflies.

Below, the barnyard garden in August.

And the plantings on the bank that leads up to the barn ramp. I really like that this garden merges imperceptibly with the native plants of the surrounding landscape—it’s difficult to point to where the garden ends and the unplanted preserve begins.

Now, a few photos from this week. I think February light is a lot like November’s: low, but bright!

Red mulberry is not a tree I deeply love—it’s weedy and messy—but we do have some outstanding specimens that I respect and appreciate at Crow’s Nest:

We are fortunate to have scenic roads that pass through the preserve. There are no power lines on some of them and the canopy closes over the road, creating a magical space, even for those who never stop to visit the preserve but simply enjoy it while passing through.

A bench (below) awaits those who chose the Chief’s Grove as a destination on their hike.

I like the perspective the photo below provides. I generally think that we live on a knoll that seems like high ground. But from this view, our house is nestled at the base of Monocacy Hill beyond.

The last light of the day illuminates the recently-mowed meadow around the Chief’s Grove and the surrounding woods.