You can classify a favorite location in many ways. It may be close to your home for frequent visits, or there is an abundance of wildlife allowing for great opportunities for taking photos or it was the special place where you captured that once in a lifetime photo. You know the one that took your breath away.

For me that location is the Mass Audubon's Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary located in Norfolk, MA. It checks all the boxes for a favorite location that keeps me returning time after time.

Mass Audubon

Mass Audubon is a nature-based conservation organization in New England that was founded in 1896. Their main focus is on the loss of biodiversity, inequitable access to nature, and climate change. Their members are over 160,000 strong with a common goal to protect our wildlife and in the process provide innovative approaches and endless opportunities to experience nature in their preserves. There are 63 sanctuaries in the Mass Audubon network that covers the entire Massachusetts state from as far west as the Berkshires to all the way east to Cape Cod. For more information, you can visit their website at www.massaudubon.org/.

Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary

Although I have visited a number of Mass Audubon locations, Stony Brook is the one I continue to return to. What sets off Stony Brook from other locations is its extensive boardwalk system and 2 miles of trails that goes through forests, fields, and wetlands. This diverse landscape brings in numerous species of birds and waterfowl throughout the year. The sanctuary is open from sunrise to sunset with my favorite time being just after sunrise. You get that golden color on the water or as a pleasing background. This early in the morning usually brings a quiet and solitude time to allow you to focus on your craft. It is also the time when the wildlife is most active. I have experimented with going at sunrise, late morning, early afternoon and just before sunset and by far, the sunrise time is the best for overall success.

The initial challenge

Prior to last year I would visit Stony Brook on occasion as my wildlife photography mostly centered around my backyard. Stay tuned for another blog on that subject. Recently I made a personal challenge to myself to elevate my birding photography to the next level. That required me to leave my comfort zone and explore new locations. With the great resources of the internet, I was able to locate many opportunities to see and photograph birds. So off I went with my wife by my side to concur my new challenge. A side note, my wife Fran mans the binoculars and my spotter as I focus in and click to capture the moment.

It became apparent real fast that what people reported seeing yesterday was not present today. With landscapes, your subject is always there. It is more about the light that challenges your ability to take that perfect image. But when it comes to true wildlife, a great deal of luck and time along with light is required for a successful shoot. Want hinders you the most is what makes it exciting. When I step out the door, I never know what will come of the day but seeing and photographing that unanticipated bird drives the adrenaline levels through the roof and is what energies me to go out again and again.

Why is it a favorite location for me

I take my photography very seriously and try to squeeze out every bit of enjoyment I can working around my day job. So, I started to explore local parks and lakes. It became a hit or miss adventure with mostly misses. So, my thought was to find a location that I could return to over and over with a variety of birds all year round. After doing some research I settled on Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary and it has paid off in a big way. With over 30 visits this year, it has lived up to being my favorite birding location.

It is such a distinct location of trails with open water, bridges, boardwalks, fields and woodland. The diversity is a magnet for many species of birds.

During the winter months, waterfowl are abundant including Wood ducks, American Black ducks, Hooded Merganser, Ring-necked and Gadwall, just to name a few. Also, Canadian geese and Mute swans including their young are in abundance. Really nice to watch the babies grow over the months.

There are wood duck nesting boxes set up in the ponds to help with the mating process and family raising. It is really cool to see the male wood duck transition into his intricate mating plumage and carry on the courtship ritual. The female flicks her bill back over her shoulder and the male reacts by raising his wings and tail, turning the back of his head to her so that she can see the bright white feathers as he swims by. If she is impressed, she will begin to follow him, and the mating process begins.

Wood ducks have become my favorite waterfowl to photograph. Their colors are so unique with the male’s glossy green head cut with white stripes, a chestnut breast and buffy sides. The females are gray-brown with white-speckled breast. In eclipse plumage (late summer), males lose their pale sides and bold stripes, but retain their bright red eye and bill.

In early April the bird migration begins. The first visitors I have seen return are the Red-winged blackbirds singing their hearts out on a cold morning. The first sign of Bluebirds usually follows. In early May the Purple Martins return to their special housing tower. Then the fun truly begins with the reappearance of Tree and Barn Swallows and my favorite the Warblers. As the days march on Eastern Phoebes, Gray Catbirds, Spotted Sandpipers, Baltimore Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks appear. Mid to late May brings the Cedar Waxwing, Great Blue Heron, Eastern Kingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. These are just the ones I have photographed. There are so many more species I have seen or heard but haven’t been able to capture an image yet. The challenge continues.

Not to forget our locals, which you can pretty much always see, include American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees and many varieties of Sparrows. I am sure there are many more that I have forgotten or read about but not actually seen yet. That is what is so exciting about birding. One never knows what one will see on the visit. I have a target list of birds I hope to see when I head out. Sometimes I get lucky and will see one but most of the time I usually photograph something I was not anticipating. You take advantage of what is presented to you and by the end of the day you will be just as thrilled.  

This past year Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary has allowed my bird photography to advance to the next level and with it the joy of seeing and being around these magnificent creatures. As the saying goes “practice makes perfect” and there is no better way to practice than at a local area that delivers time and again. For me that is the Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.

Please share your favorite location and why in the comments below.