Great Bridge

Winter storm Kingston made a visit. Having snow just a week before, we weren’t expecting another snow storm in the Hampton Roads region. We normally get maybe one a year. But Kingston was going to be different. And it turned out to be the biggest storm we had since 2010. When it was over, we had almost 12 inches of snow.

But the crazy thing about it, this snow was gone in a couple of days. The texture of the snow was unlike what we usually see. This snow was dry and light. Almost like what you would find out west. Usually, our snow is wet and heavy. It makes a mess as it thaws and refreezes. Within 48 hours, this snowfall was mostly gone. And it wasn’t even because of the temperatures. It’s like it just evaporated.

I had such a great time the week before, that I went back to the Great Bridge Locks again. Once again, I headed out with my Nikon Z9 and the Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5–5.6 S lens, hoping to catch the local birdlife—and once again, the Locks didn’t disappoint.

I arrived about 45 minutes earlier than the previous week and started at the boat ramp. The Brown Pelicans were still there. Probably numbered around 100 or so. And they were busy.

I love mornings at the Great Bridge Locks, especially in the winter when the air is crisp and the wildlife is active. I headed out early with my Nikon Z9 and the Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5–5.6 S lens, hoping to catch some local birdlife—and the Locks didn’t disappoint.

I didn’t arrive until almost 10am, much later than I would have liked. But almost immediately, I spotted a immature Bald Eagle flying over the water. It was looking for a late breakfast, right in front of a squadron of Brown Pelicans. There’s nothing quite like locking focus on an eagle in flight—the grace, the wingspan, the power.

Happy New Year! I started off 2025 with a morning of photography. I went to Battlefield Park in Great Bridge and walked around a little. Nothing like blue skies to quell my photography enthusiasm! But I captured a few images there and then moved on to Stumpy Lake Natural Area to see if anything was happening there. It was dead too. A few birds off in the distance. But other than one Great Blue Heron that I grabbed a couple images of, it was not much of a success. Hope the rest of my photographic journey is better in 2025!