November  morning - Greene County, Virginia 

A bird flew into the window this morning. Molly raced across the room to see, her eyes suddenly bright with feline curiosity. The doings of birds fascinate and excite Molly, and she positioned herself in front of the window to watch.

Birds fly into the large windows that face the mountains from time to time. Often they recover and fly away after spending a few woozy minutes on the ground. But not always. I looked out the window at the sparrow  and knew she would not be flying away. She made her last flight toward the trees and mountains reflected in the glass. The unyielding reflection broke her neck.

My wife was still asleep as I put my shoes on and went outside. On the deck lay the sparrow, small and  beautifully made. In my hand, the brown body was still warm. Molly watched out the window.

Behind the garden shed, one slit in the earth with the shovel made an adequate grave.  I tamped down the soil with my foot and spread  brown leaves over the unceremonious grave. As I walked across the yard, the morning sun topped the hill behind the house and illuminated the leaves of the Japanese maple, brilliant red. In the house, the excitement over, Molly was back in her bed. We were, all of us, in our place.

Moon rising over Atlantic - Corolla, North Carolina 

Earlier this week, I mentioned Natty Bumppo in this post about the wild horses that roam on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Natty Bumppo, of course, is the hero of the five novels that make up the Leatherstocking Tales, by James Fenimore Cooper. The Last of the Mohicans (1826) is perhaps the best known book in the series.

What made me think of this as I was trying to slip quietly through the woods to get close enough to photograph a wild mare and colt, was this passage from Mark Twain's sarcastic and hilarious take down of Cooper's work:

"Another stage property that he [Cooper] pulled out of his box pretty frequently was the broken twig. He prized his broken twig above all the rest of his effects, and worked it the hardest. It is a restful chapter in any book of his when somebody doesn't step on a dry twig and alarm all the reds and whites for two hundred yards around. Every time a Cooper person is in peril, and absolute silence is worth four dollars a minute, he is sure to step on a dry twig. There may be a hundred other handier things to step on, but that wouldn't satisfy Cooper. Cooper requires him to turn out and find a dry twig; and if he can't do it, go and borrow one. In fact, the Leatherstocking Series out to have been called the Broken Twig Series."

The piece is called "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." Read the whole thing here.

Thanks for reading Photography in Place. I hope you will come back for a visit next week. We will be looking at some of the fall color back home in Virginia.

All of the pictures from my visit to North Carolina were taken with the Pentax K10D and the Pentax FA 50mm f1.4 lens. The 50 mm lens is a very moderate telephoto on the K10D (equivalent to a 75mm on a 35mm film, or full-frame digital). I thought the lens would be a good compromise, but often wished for something wider. I know I should be using a zoom, but for some reason I just don't seem to get along well with zoom lenses.

Reflections - Milltail Creek - Dare County, North Carolina 

The still, black water of Milltail Creek reflects the trees and sky with such an illusion of depth that the exact location of the water line on the shore is often hard to detect. Several times my eyes were tricked into thinking that leaves floating on the surface of the water were suspended in the air. Looking down, the surface of the water disappears and the boat seems to float in air with the upside-down trees and sky falling away below.

American alligator - Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge - North Carolina 

Saturday was our last day in North Carolina, and the plan was to return to Milltail Creek and follow it out to the Alligator River which, according to the map, was a distance of 4 miles each way. With an early start, we expected to be back in time to visit Somerset Place in the afternoon.

The launching area was deserted when we arrived and we had the water to ourselves. The morning was sunny and cool with hardly a breeze. As we headed downstream, we began to see alligators in the water.

Aside from the alligators, we saw a few ducks, one blue heron, and an eagle. It was a quiet morning. We followed Milltail creek at a leiusurely pace as it wound through the cypress swamp and it took nearly three hours to reach the mouth of the creek where it flows into the Alligator River.

The trip back was slow and peaceful, and we saw a couple of alligators sunning on the marshy bank. I brought the boat as close as I dared to a fairly large alligator. He watched warily but did not move a muscle as I took a few pictures.

It was nearly 4:00 by the time we got the boat out of the water and back on the truck. The visit to Somerset would have to wait for another time. This time, the day was perfect.

Mare and colt - Northern Outer Banks, North Carolina 

The wild horses of North Carolina's northern Outer Banks are believed to be descendants of Spanish mustangs which arrived on ships in the early 16th century. The have roamed freely across the barrier islands for centuries, but the recent explosion of tourism and development has encroached on their habitat, making their future uncertain. Several groups, including the Corolla Wild Horse Fund are working to preserve the remaining herd.

I spotted this mare and young colt in heavy underbrush while hiking. Since I did not have a long lens with me, I did my best Natty Bumppo imitation trying to creep close enough to get some photographs. The horses spotted me right away and, unimpressed by my stalking ability, continued about their business completely unconcerned with my presence. 



The next day after visiting the wild horses, we were back at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, where I had the opportunity to photograph an alligator. I will post pictures of this excursion tomorrow .

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge - Dare County, North Carolina 

The swamp water is stained the color of strong tea by the tannins that leach into the water from decaying vegetation. The surface looks black, and on a still day, the reflections in the dark water are fascinating.

Sawyer Lake - Alligator River National Wildlife Preserve, North Carolina 

"Sea Eagle" ready to go

On a crisp October morning, we drove across the bridge that links Manteo and the Outer Banks to the North Carolina mainland. Our destination was Buffalo City, an abandoned logging town that prospered from around 1870 until the middle of the twentieth century. The site of the town and logging operation is now within the 152,000 acre Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

We turned onto Buffalo City Road in the hopes that we might be able to explore the ruins of the old town, but after about two miles, the road ended at Milltail Creek. There was no sign of Buffalo City.

We were greeted by the pungent smell of the swamp as we got out of the truck. A map of the refuge showed several water trails through the area, and since the inflatable "Sea Eagle" was in the back of the truck,  we decided to explore Sawyer Lake, which was about 2 miles away according to the map.

Navigating Sawyer Lake

We followed a narrow canal which opened up into the lake. The land surrounding the lake was low and swampy, with no place to land and get out of the boat. The lake was secluded and  pristine, with no sign of human habitation. We met one other person all afternoon.


Twenty five miles from the Outer Banks, we found ourselves alone in a natural world, with little to remind us of the shops and condos and the crowds who flock to the beach to get away from it all.

Snapping turtle