Photographer Chad Davis Blog » pictures

George Owens Nature Park-Independence

Chad Davis — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:13:18 +0000

In a prior post titled “A rant with a twist“, I had talked about a park in Independence. I have visit George Owens Nature Park several times before mostly for birds that are attracted to the feeding stations placed around the Nature Center. Now, before I go on. I think it would be good to fill you in on a little history here.

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

A Holiday note.

Chad — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:16:24 +0000

With Thanksgiving out of the way. Everyone is in the Christmas mode it seems. I personally am not sure that I am ready for Christmas. Of course it’s a wonderful holiday and I enjoy it every year. However it is rough on some. I think this holiday season will be rougher this year then in the past for many. I can’t imagine what the days would be like if you didn’t have family around to toss a few cookies at, perhaps a hug or two. That being said, I hope everyone who has the means will visit with family and have a wonderful Christmas.

On with a little news…I have a few plans for this holiday. I’m heading to Florida, not for a vacation, but for work. I have a wedding to shoot on the beach. This wedding happens to be on December 31, New Years eve no less. Should be interesting. I will have to post a few shots from the wedding when I get back. I’m sure by that time everyone would like a little warmth to get them threw the cold spells. I will have little time to take care of business and that comes first of course. In late January my plans shift to the West Coast for some winter shots. I hoping to fulfill a few lucky shot of some winter scenes to post and for stock. The mountains are gorgeous this time of year. Perhaps a pretty cold in parts, but beautiful pictures don’t come without a little work. Keeping the photo stock up can be pretty time consuming. In fact I have been trying to get up to Squaw Creek, hear in Missouri for the last few weeks. I have been pretty busy with other things and have been unable to get up that way. You do what you can. Sometimes you come up short. Again I have made plans for sometime next week to go. I’m just not sure which day yet, so with a little hope and planning I will make it there. If you have interest and would like to tag along. Give me a ring or shoot me an email. Maybe we can make a day of it.

Here are a couple images taken last year to get you in the mood for Christmas.

No related posts.

Rough time planning.

Chad — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:32:57 +0000

It’s been sometime since I have written anything on the blog or news sections. I had family visit from Washington. I wanted to spend time with them. Family is always good to have around. In this case I had my Sister and her daughter in for a visit. We had a good time. Traveled around a bit. Spent a little time in Springfield at Fantastic Caverns, even payed a visit to the City Market, and Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. The Liberty Memorial is a great museum if you have never been there. I recommend it to anyone visiting Kansas City. I didn’t get much in the way of photographs at Fantastic Caverns, but I will put one from the trip here for viewers sake. The vehicles they use are trailing trailers for everyone to sit in. Not much in the way of comfort but it’s only about a 30 min. ride anyways. You have to worry about the ceiling more then anything. Trying to capture a few photographs while moving and avoiding the low ceiling can be a little difficult. Tight squeezes would be an under statement.

With all the family getting together, it’s been pretty hard to get any planning done for photo shoots. I have been working on plans for another visit to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton’s area. With the gas prices going up, it’s getting a little difficult to travel. With any luck I will be able to make a week of it.

Year Almost over!