Bill Silliker, Jr.

The Camera Hunter

     Consistently successful camera hunting requires that you go to what I call "special places" to pursue your craft.  While any place with lots of wildlife might come to mind as a prerequisite, it's worthwhile to consider for a moment some of the other things that might make such a place special, and not just for camera hunting.

     For this exercise, we'll use one of this camera hunter's favorite special places as an example.  And we'll use the criteria that the Land For Maine's Future Program (LMFP) uses to review proposals for the acquisition of special places as a means of determining how special that place really is.

     For those who don’t know, the Land For Maine’s Future Program is us – you and me - protecting places of significant natural resource significance today for future generations of Maine people to enjoy tomorrow.  It’s as simple as that.

     More complex is LMFP's formula for ranking a place being considered for the program.  Items such as a parcel's recreational value, water access, general wildlife habitat, rare and endangered species habitat, undeveloped shorelines, wetlands, public access, ability for multiple use, scenic vistas, and farmland or open space values are all considered.  Its efforts are aimed at determining what makes a place worth "saving" for future generations.

     If Swan Island, the 1,755 acres that splits the Kennebec River at the head of Merrymeeting Bay (Delorme's The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer Map 12, E-5 and Map 6, A-5), were a candidate for the Land For Maine's Future Program today, it would score very highly in each of those categories.  The good news is that we collectively don’t have to buy it – we already own it, one of the most special places in Maine.

     Swan Island was once a productive farming, fishing, shipbuilding and ice harvesting community called Perkins.  Twentieth century change isolated that community more than the waters of the Kennebec ever had, until the Great Depression finished its economy once and for all.

     The then Maine Fish and Game Department, with federal wildlife restoration funds, began to buy the island in the 1940's for its waterfowl management potential.

     Today Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) operates this truly special place from May to September under the name Steve Powell Wildlife Management Area, in honor of one of its long time caretakers.

     Most folks who know the place usually refer to it simply as Swan Island.  Perhaps that's partly because that name says so much about this place: the origin of the name is reported to come from centuries ago, when the Native American Abenakis inhabited this productive island. SWANGO means "Island of the Eagles".  You see, bald eagles have nested on Swan Island or on its tiny neighbor, Little Swan Island, for hundreds of years.  They still do today.

     Swan Island now requires less wildlife management than in prior years.  Wild rice grows wild and waterfowl come to feed on it during each fall's migration.  Wood duck nesting boxes are easily serviced.  Steering people away from the island's active bald eagle nests may be the most active wildlife management in the traditional sense that is done.

     Swan Island is as much a public recreation site as a wildlife management area today.  Several thousand folks go there each summer to see its herds of deer and variety of birds, to picnic or to camp, to hike or to nature tour, or just to relax.  And for the camera hunter? It truly is a special place.  More about that in a moment.

     For those who enjoy history, the 19th century lingers in the 6 major buildings and the old graveyard that survive.  And Kenneth Roberts described it in his well researched historical novel about pre-Revolutionary War America, the classic Arundel.  Compare the way a visit feels today with the passages in that great novel when the characters visit Swan Island, and you'll find not much has changed.

     You can see from the above that Swan Island offers one of the best wildlife and nature educational opportunities that Maine has to offer.  With its combination of accessibility, open space, scenic vistas, wildlife habitat, history and wildlife populations, Swan Island represents the best of what the Land For Maine's Future Program was designed to save for tomorrow.

     And as for the camera hunting?  Aside from everything else, Swan Island, is a game preserve.  While I'm not opposed to well managed hunting, it's a fact of life that the odds of finding "workable targets" for the camera go up considerably at places where the wildlife is not shot at.

     Of course, you, still need to use a little hunting technique as you approach your photography of most of the wildlife here.  That's especially true for the deer.  Learn to employ methods of hiding, or at least blending with the background, attention to the wind direction (it should be towards you, not the deer!) and keeping absolutely quiet to your camera hunting for deer and you'll do much better.

     This mature buck emerged from the dark forest just before sundown.  Anyone who knows the species knows that whitetails are fond of forest edge habitats in low light.  That presents another challenge for the camera hunter, as you often need to use a slow shutter speed and a telephoto lens wide open to employ its maximum light gathering capability.  That's the aperture setting for the lens, also called an f stop.  The smaller the number, say f2.8, the greater the opening and the more light that will reach the film.  An aperture of f4 will let in only half as much light, and so on.

     Great light often comes at such late hours, light that makes a deer's coat positively glow due to the low sun angle.  The light that caught this deer made that July trip to Swan Island worth it for this camera hunter.

     Try Swan Island this summer and you won't regret it.  Day use and overnight camping reservation information is available from MDIF&W's Sydney office at 207-547-4167.  Or visit the Swan Island website.

     And catch yours in the good light.

Bill Silliker, Jr. teaches wildlife & nature photography for L.L. Bean's Outdoor Discovery Schools and has done the photography for 5 books, several of which he also wrote. He is editor of the website www.wildlifewatcher.com as well as for his own website at www.camerahunter.com

© Copyright 2000 Bill Silliker, Jr. all rights reserved.