You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.†
The Challenge: …let’s get stuck in one place. Ideally, you should carve out thirty minutes to an hour to do this. Here is the one rule: you can do anything with your camera and lenses, but you should limit how far you move from where you are “stuck.” You can move 10–15 steps in any direction to capture new images.
Now! Isn’t this an imaginative, creative, and stimulating challenge? After reading it, I couldn’t wait to get stuck-in. (Sorry, couldn’t resist!) Unfortunately, yesterday was all rain, all day here so — bright and early this morning — Cam took me to the only spot I wanted to get stuck to complete this challenge: The Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary. I’ve been positively itching to write a post about this amazing facility and this was the perfect excuse. Thank you Egídio!
Are you familiar with the horribly debilitating and often fatal “Angel Wing Syndrome”? It is a developmental condition that affects waterfowl (geese, ducks, swans), primarily the males, causing the last joint of the wing to twist outward, making flight feathers point sideways. For this reason, it is sometimes called “Airplane Wing”. In adult birds it is incurable and usually leads to death as the birds are unable to fly — meaning to forage and to escape predators.
The bare wing looks a little like straw.
That is bad enough, I’m sure you’ll agree. But the worst thing about Angel Wing Syndrome is that we — humans — are the sole cause of this crippling disease. The trigger is a non-natural diet, in other words, being fed people food (bread, popcorn, cereal, crackers, etc.). True that, during a trip to the lake or park, a parent or grandparent can capture a precious shot of their toddler feeding the ducks or geese, but please — I beg of you — do not be one of those folks!
Here in Kingsville, The Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary takes in these crippled waterfowl where they are lovingly cared for during the entirety of their lives. These permanently flightless birds at Miner are homed at the main Viewing Pond (behind the fence pictured below), where they can comfortably live and safely interact with visitors.
Guests are invited to enter the enclosure to “visit” with the geese (close-up) and, if you are happy to do so, you’re encouraged to take one of the cups provided, scoop out some of the seeds (also provided) and hand feed the geese. Unlike many of their urban park dwelling relatives, these geese are meek and only ever so gently take the seeds from the palm of your hand. One of the star attractions this year is a wee gosling. You see, geese mate for life and, when the male is brought to Miner, the female accompanies him. This year, one couple had themselves the most adorable baby:
The wee family is Mum, Dad and baby.
Dad (below) has Angel Wing Syndrome.
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.†
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE DUCKS AND GEESE!
Many thanks to Egídio for conceiving this lovely challenge. I enjoyed it immensely! Egídio’s post is absolutely brilliant and I hope you’ll please take a few minutes to read his narrative and enjoy his beautiful images — best few minutes of your day, promise:
Lens-Artists Challenge #399: Stuck in Place
’Til next time, y’all…
†Jane Goodall, from The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada.
Leave a Reply