George Owens Nature Park is located at 1601 S. Speck Rd., Independence Mo. 64057 The park consist of 86 acres of beautiful forest with lakes, hiking trails and wildlife.  It includes Six hiking trails, two fishing lakes. Organized group campground, Family Picnic area, Nature Center, Rain Gardens and a Pavilion.

Some of the upcoming events this park has to offer are Winter Hikes, Groundhog Day Celebration, Bluebird and  House Class etc. For more information please visit the website at http://www.ci.independence.mo.us/parksandrec/Owens.aspx.

Nature isn’t something you should take lightly.  If you like watching birds and other creatures then you have to be willing to be patient and allow mother nature to accept you on it’s terms.  People today are so removed from the wildlife around them that when they see Deer, Birds etc. they expect them to accept people as non-threatening.  This is a mistake to think they will not perceive you as a threat.  As individuals people are always a threat.  We intrude, encircle, and approach animals when we perceive safety and not when the they are ok with our presence.  All creatures have a body language, understanding that language is key to understanding them.  I will be the first one to tell you that it’s impossible for one individual to learn the body language of all animals, but we can all learn the basics. We actually know quite a bit already that’s why we look at some dogs and suddenly feel threatened and others we do not.  We just have to take a little time to learn the basics.

While visiting George Owens you might see Wild Turkey, Deer, Cardinals, Wood peckers, and other species of wildlife.  You have to be patient the deer are not going to come up to you just because you are there.  The birds are not going to land on your shoulder and chirp in your ear.  Although I have seen that happen.  On my visits I often see turkey.  In fact just about every time I have been there I have seen turkey.  They spent most of the time hiding from me on this day.  Its ok because I was not really interested in photographing them.  I was more interested in photographing small birds, mainly because I saw a dozen or more hanging around the front entrance to the park.  Before settling down to photograph the birds especially the Cardinals.  I spent a couple hours walking the trails.  I wanted to see what had been in the area.  Its pretty easy to track animals in the snow.  You never know what you will see.  I spent a couple hours just waiting for those Cardinals to accept my presence on this visit.  The snow was deep, the day was cold and by the time I had gained a little confidence from the birds my feet were pretty cold and the snow found a way into my boots.  Within the first two hours I had closed the distance within 65 feet.  I needed to be closer and that was going to take more time.  I was willing to put in another hour being patient before leaving for the day, not because of being a little cold but for the reason that the lightning was changing.  With an overcast day the proper lightning wasn’t going to last more then hour.   Despite my willingness to stay longer my decision was made for me.  Like a lot of small birds when there is danger around they hide or fly off.   I had been making my way closer to them.  I had been waiting patiently.  After moving another foot, I settled in my new position, planted my tripod legs waiting for the right opportunity to present itself when all the birds went silent and flew off to the safety of the trees.  I was wondering what happened.  Was it something I did!  When I gazed across the sky I noticed a large bird flying about.  It was something all small birds don’t like to see.  It was a red tailed hawk.  I understood why they took off.  It wasn’t me, they were afraid of being a meal. So, with that my patience, time and effort were shot. It was time to go home and take a warm shower.

From a prior visit a few years back.  Here a couple images.

Red Cardinal

Dark-Eyed Junco

Copyright © 2009 Chad Davis

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