Ecotones equal Wildlife
Species such as barred owls are most often found and photographed in ecotones, that unique overlap of two distinct habitats.
Not everyone leaves the house at 4:30am in search of a particular species to photograph. Far more common is the simple goal of finding ANYTHING at all to photograph. When a more generalist approach is the name of the game for the day, then the number one thing that you can do to significantly enhance your photographic opportunities is to head towards water.
Water is the element of life. We all need it to survive. Like the water cooler in the office, it’s a gathering point. Even if certain animals do not live full time in and around that water, a place like a beaver pond, for instance, will eventually attract just about every animal in the vicinity over the course of the day.
Case in point: there is one particular pond in Grand Teton National Park that I can predictably find black bears, elk, moose, swans, woodpeckers, a host of different species of waterfowl, ospreys, and bald eagles – all within a 1 mile paddle along its protected waters.
Aside from being the substance of life itself, watery environments also create what ecologists call ecotones. Ecotones are those areas where two distinctly different habitats overlap. Such situations have the potential to increase species diversity exponentially.
Let’s say that habitat A typically holds 40 different species of photographable animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, etc). In habitat B, there are 27. Where these two habitats overlap, that number goes up to 67 right off the bat (40 + 27). But there is more to this than meets the eye. Though an ecotone may be the joining of the species between habitat A and habitat B, the ecotone itself technically constitutes as a habitat C, complete with its own unique assemblage of plants and animals. So, you can take that 67 species and easily add an additional 15 that only live in these sorts of ecotones and now you have 82 different species all potentially at your fingertips.
You don’t necessarily need a body of water to create an ecotone though. Remember, this is just a place where diversity increases due to the overlap of two distinctly different habitats. So, think of edges in general – that is to say, where the edge of one habitat bumps into another.
Much like understanding the ecology of a single species that you are pursuing, photographing around these sorts of ecotones takes a lot of the chance out of wildlife photography. You can pretty much count on some sort of wildlife activity in these areas.
A couple of VERY basic examples. . .
The Beaver Pond
By creating a small pond in or at the edge of the forest, the beaver inadvertently creates the ultimate wildlife habitat in the area. As the forest floods out because of the beavers, dead standing trees are created. These trees become magnets for insects, which in turn become magnets for woodpeckers and warblers. As woodpeckers move in and out, they leave behind cavities which are then taken over by wood ducks, bufflehead (ducks), screech owls, blue birds, and a grocery list of other species. Just as an example of the importance of woodpeckers to this habitat, there are over 30 different vertebrate species that depend upon the pileated woodpecker’s abandoned cavities alone.
In the waters of the pond live fish. This in turn attracts ospreys, bald eagles, otters, bears, etc. The smaller fish attract wading birds. Aquatic vegetation that begins to grow in the still waters of the pond in turn attract species such as moose, swans, geese, and a host of different species of waterfowl.
Along the banks of the pond, cattails begin to grow. Cattails bring in redwing blackbirds, yellow headed blackbirds, marsh wrens, and a variety of other species of birds. The cattails also happen to be a favorite food for black bears during the spring and summer.
Because of the break in the forest due to the pond, sunlight penetrates down to the forest floor and all sorts of herbaceous growth springs up attracting deer. In the west, where willows are abundant around wetlands like this, elk are sure to follow at the appropriate times of the year.
Technically, I could go on and on and on about the ecological impacts of a beaver pond on the surrounding forest. I’m sure you get the point though. This tiny little oasis of standing water quickly becomes a veritable Mecca for the denizens of the forest – and even surrounding areas. Now, imagine the possibilities if you were to erect a couple of different blinds in this area. The photographic opportunities could be nearly endless.
The Meadow
Meadows are like ponds in the sense that they are also ecotones, just with slightly more defined edges usually. Though a meadow doesn’t tend to have the same sort of significant degree of biological diversity as places like beaver ponds, the variety of wildlife still makes these locations exceptional wildlife photography hot spots.
With a meadow you basically have two things going on that attract animals. The open meadow itself provides food for a plethora of different species, while the forest provides protection and shelter for many of those same species.
Meadows are made up of a variety of grasses, wildflowers, and different types of herbaceous growth. First and foremost, just about every herbivore in the region is going to be attracted to this area. From deer, to elk, to mice, to turkey – you name it, they will frequent meadows. In turn, pretty much every single species that preys upon herbivores will also be attracted to meadows – especially those that feed on rodents. So think of meadows as being the Mecca for owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, badgers, etc. . .
Once you begin to understand the importance of ecotones and “edge habitat” for wildlife, your ability to predictably find and photograph animals will grow exponentially. 100% of my success with finding and photographing bobcats, for instance, has been built around this basic knowledge. It’s not so much that bobcats need these ecotones to survive as much as it is that their prey, their food, rely upon ecotones. Since food and sex are the two things that drive all life on Earth, knowing what bobcats are eating at any given time of the year allows you to find bobcats such as this one who was hiding in a logjam waiting to ambush a muskrat.
Beaver ponds and meadows are just two examples of ecotones. Anywhere two distinction different habitats meet, you will find an ecotone along that edge and it’s no coincidence the most biological diverse and productive habitats on the planet all tend to be ecotones. Marshlands in the temperate regions, mangroves in the tropics (mangroves replace marsh in tropical latitudes), estuaries (the ecotone between fresh and saltwater), muskegs, etc.
As wildlife photographers, it’s important to understand these very basic concepts of ecology and the ways in which animals relate to and interact with the landscape. Of course, you can always fill memory cards by simply driving around popular national parks looking for other photographers standing around on the side of the road with big lenses. But if you are serious about your wildlife photography, if you want to go beyond the cliché and trite images that every other photographer is capturing that day, then understanding the behavior and ecology of the animals you wish to photograph is crucial. It’s only through this sort of deeper understanding of the natural world that you will be able to truly progress and grow as a wildlife photographer. Put a different way, if you cannot consistently and predictably find wildlife to photograph, you can’t be a wildlife photographer. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your autofocus system is or how expensive your lenses are if you can’t find a subject to photograph.
I will be writing a whole lot more about the concept of ecotones and the ecology of different species in upcoming articles here. Stay tuned!