ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Find Nature's Treasures Hidden in Plain Sight

Updated on October 22, 2016

Nature Watching

Dandelion
Dandelion | Source

The Question

I was on the Questions page reading the questions when I saw this question asked by Jackie Lynnley

"Are you a nature watcher?

Do you watch the sky, the clouds, the trees, the seasons changing?

Or do you not pay attention to these things?"

and I decided I would like to write a hub in answer to it, as I wanted to do more than just answer "Yes I am" I wanted to explain and to also show why I am.

So, here is my Hub in answer to the question 'Are you a nature watcher?'

I hope that you will enjoy sharing my love of nature and that you will also like seeing some of Nature's treasures that are hidden in plain sight and often overlooked.

Am I a Nature Watcher?

Yes, I am a nature watcher and I think this comes mainly from my passion for photography. I am not a professional photographer and I don’t have an expensive SLR camera but I do love taking photographs with my point and shoot digital camera.

Because I love to take photographs, I watch the sky and the clouds as light is very important to me. I like working in particular kinds of light and because bright sunlight does not always give the best results, I like to keep an eye on the sky.

Clouds themselves often add a bit of drama and impact to a shot and can enhance some landscape photographs. I personally like the big white fluffy clouds though most of our days seem to be clear blue skies and bright sunshine.

I have two photographs taken from roughly the same place (I could not find exactly the same try to ignore the boats) one was taken on a cloudless day the other when we had some lovely fluffy clouds. I think the clouds made the photograph a much more interesting photograph.

With Out and With Clouds

With Out Clouds
With Out Clouds | Source
With Clouds
With Clouds | Source

Treasure hiding in plain sight

Most of the photographs that I take are of flowers or insects so of course what is available differs from season to season. I have found that since I have taken an interest in photography I have become more aware of what the weather is doing and of what sort of things I am likely to run into on my walks as the seasons change.

Some parts of the year are much richer than others in subject matter for my camera but because I now watch nature much more closely, I have found that even in lean times you can always find something interesting to shoot.

For example, in the spring and summer, there are many flowers in the various parks around our town for me to photograph and because there are lots to pick and choose from, nothing less than a perfect example will do as a subject for my camera.

However, in the winter months like now when there are hardly any flowers at all in the parks and almost no insects I have to look more closely to find things to photograph

I went out with my camera the other day and at first sight, there seemed like there was nothing to photograph. As I walked through a piece of wasteland on my way down to the Port I noticed the odd dash of colour here and there and when I investigated I found dandelions.

The lowly dandelion is a weed that most likely would not have had any attention from me had there been lots of flowers in bloom but this day I was grateful for the splash of colour. Here are some of the shots of those dandelions that I came home with and I think you will agree that these dandelions are treasure that was hidden in plain sight.

Treasure Hiding in Plain Sight

Dandelions on the waste land
Dandelions on the waste land | Source
Dandelions on the waste land
Dandelions on the waste land | Source
Dandelion on the waste land
Dandelion on the waste land | Source

The other hidden treasures that I found.

I normally would not have spent time looking at or photographing weeds but weeds and wild flowers seem to be the only things showing a bit of colour now. The few weeds and wild flowers turned out to be treasure hiding in plain sight, which I normally would have overlooked.

Here are some of the other results of my walk through the wasteland and the other hidden treasures that I found.

The Other Hidden Treasures

Golden Trumpets Heralding the coming Spring
Golden Trumpets Heralding the coming Spring | Source
Large daisy like flowers
Large daisy like flowers
Large Daisy like flower
Large Daisy like flower | Source
Large yellow daisy like flower
Large yellow daisy like flower | Source
Source
Source
Source
Source

The Sea Gull

Next, because there was very little insect activity (it was too cold being early February) I headed down to the port in search of something to photograph.

The first thing I saw was a seagull, which normally I am not interested in because they have this tendency to fly away when I get my camera out. Even when I do manage to get close enough for a good photograph they usually don’t wait long enough for me to get in focus before they move as I seem to alarm them as I approach.

Lacking the patience to wait for good shots of birds I don’t normally bother even to try, but this seagull however, was not flying about but actually swimming around on the water in the Marina and so it was easy for me to get a good shot of it.

I am so glad that the lack of my normal subject matter forced me out of my comfort zone because I am so pleased with how these shots turned out.

The Sea Gull

Enjoying a little salad
Enjoying a little salad | Source
In the shade
In the shade | Source
Source

Cormorants

Spurred on by my success with the seagull I tried my hand at photographing some cormorants that were waiting for the return of the fishing boats.

I had never noticed these beautiful birds before down at the port but my friend told me about them and showed me where to look.

I was very happy with the resulting photographs here are a few of the best ones.

Cormorants

They are striking looking birds
They are striking looking birds | Source
This one I thought looked very regal
This one I thought looked very regal | Source
They were all looking seaward
They were all looking seaward | Source
Except this one
Except this one

The Duck and the Fishes

I noticed a white duck land in the marina and so I headed back over to where it was swimming. I had a little bread with me so I threw some in for the duck hoping that it would entice the duck to come closer.

I was lucky it did bring the duck closer to me but I got more than I bargained for and so did the duck. The duck sped towards the bread and just as it was about to get the bread two huge fish went for it at the same time and the fish won.

I was very fortunate because I caught this on camera. I threw in more bread trying to get it to the duck but fish came at the bread from everywhere. Soon the water was teeming with large fish I soon ran out of bread and the poor duck didn’t manage to get any. Next time I will take more bread.

The Duck The Bread and the Fishes

Swimming towards the bread
Swimming towards the bread | Source
The fish got there first
The fish got there first | Source
Source
The bread lured more than the duck
The bread lured more than the duck | Source
The water teemed with large fish
The water teemed with large fish | Source

A Resounding Yes

In conclusion I have to answer the question “Are You a Nature Watcher” with a resounding yes and I find it very rewarding. I get a lot of pleasure taking my camera out and recording nature as it is happening in my little neck of the woods.

Nature is a constantly changing scene no two days are exactly the same and I never tire of photographing this moving feast. I hope that you have enjoyed sharing the fruits of my nature watch on this particular winter’s day and that it encourages you to become a Nature Watcher too.

If you enjoyed this Hub then you will enjoy my latest hub Byrd Park lots more stunning photos

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)