This past Saturday, I went to Limestone Park in Alabaster.

This park is advertised as a Bird Observatory. Not being equipped with a proper lens, my only hope of getting a good shot of a bird, was to get close. So when I noticed several small birds eating, I attempted to get closer to them. They either were too busy feeding to care, or had begun to consider me non-threatening. I eased around the pond, step by step I came closer and closer to them. Then I brought my camera up and begin focusing on them.

Now in addition to a Bird Observatory, this park is also home to a RC Airstrip for model airplanes. So while I’m trying to not move too quickly or make any unnecessary noise, to my right, there are two gentlemen walking into the swampy brush beside the pond, talking no less, looking for something. I can only assume that it was a lost plane. Also, further ahead of them is a fenced-in area, which is the home of the City of Alabaster Police Department Firing Range. Hey, you just can’t make these things up.

You probably have already guessed what happened. Dirty Harry and his buddy let loose with whatever cannon that they had, and the birds did what I should have done. At a time like this, all you can do is turn and laugh at the whole situation. Who had the bright idea of locating all of these great things at the same place? I can just hear the discussion about where to locate the firing range, “Oh we have plenty of land down at the bird observatory…” Your tax dollars at work!

On the other side of the Airstrip is another pond. I guess that this is the actual observatory. It had a nice little boardwalk that led over to a viewing deck. As I walked onto the deck, I met another photographer.

There were actually several geese and other waterbirds in the little pond. It was enjoyable to watch them, but the distance made any photography on my part pointless, so I went back to taking macros.