Scouting

I discussed how I scout new places in a prior post. I planned to come to New York several months ago, mainly to visit the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY. Unfortunately, it is closed to the public until 2027. I was hoping another source may be able to get me in but that did not materialize. I will talk a little about the Wolf Conservation Center later this week. Since that plan was a little up in the air I had to make a plan b just in case. Before I left Indiana, I did some cursory research on other potential photography areas. I found the Wallkill River National Wildlife Preserve. It looked interesting for bird photography so I decided I would check it out. Since I’m here for five days, today would be my day to scout out the area. I wanted to get a feel for the drive (35 miles on back roads) and pick out good areas to set up for the birds. I totally made a rookie mistake that I shouldn’t be making anymore. Although I had done some research ahead of time, I never actually went on the preserve’s website. My goal for today was to locate the preserve, get a paper map (yes, I love paper maps) and speak with someone about the best areas for photographs. If I had gone to the website, I would have seen that the preserves in this area are scheduling controlled burns this month. I also would have noticed that the visitor center is only open by appointment. Needless to say, I didn’t find out any of this information until I got there. Now this didn’t ruin my day by any means. I was wandering around an ran into a ranger. He explained the controlled burn and pointed out the area where it was going to take place. We also talked about the best areas to access for photography. In other words, I got lucky and accomplished most of what I went there for. The only thing I didn’t get is a map. So tomorrow will be an early morning as I plan to get out there for sunrise. Off to do a little more research before tomorrow.