Pet Lovers
Don Enger: Exquisite Bird Photographer
Wilma and Don Enger, Don is an incredible bird photographer. Photograph Dawn Bonner
Don Enger
Bird Photographer Extraordinaire
Dawn Bonner
Don Enger has taken the time to get to know several birds and their habits. For example, the story he wrote and photographed for the Minn. Conservation Volunteer publication, Grebes Ballet, Water Moves, took a lot of patience and creativity to capture their mating, living, and raising of their young, which had never been photographed before.
The story on how he got the photographs was as interesting as it was to see and hear Don and Wilma relay the events. They laugh together, Wilma will tell part of the story, then stop, and Don will say, “And don’t you know…” and he will finish the thought she started. They have their own precious ballet.
Their view of the lake is sweeping. Lake Osakis has two parts to it, the small narrow part, that is more protected from the winds, and the big part of the lake. Their view picks up on both sides. As they look out of their living room window, to the left a ways down the shoreline is a marsh with cattails and all sorts of tall water grasses. It is here the grebes call home during the spring and summer. Inside this marsh is a clearing and where they are better protected than elsewhere on the lake.
Don is a firm believer of ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do,’ so he fashioned a few things before success was had in getting to mingle unobtrusively with the birds. Wilma ever so patiently waited at home and when it would get to be dinner time, she would watch for her beloved. Storms can come up fast on the lake, and with Don being in a hut, so to speak, it wasn’t easy for him to see rumbling clouds coming in. He had some close calls, and Wilma would be out waiting for him on the dock to help him get in.
She said, “I would go out there and look for him, and here he would be coming, slowly…”
Don says, “Don’t you know, I would look like a drunken sailor coming home because I couldn’t see sideways. I would have to come in zigzag in order to watch for other boats.”
“I would see that zigzagging floating mound coming in and I knew he was okay,” finished Wilma.
They know the lake well, they have lived on Lake Osakis for 36 years.
Wilma said, “We are so blessed to live here, we enjoy every day in this home. The beautiful views of the lake and the house being so open with all of the windows. The Lord is good to us.”
And, judging from Don’s amazing bird photographs that he gets in their backyard, they take full advantage of their beautiful location.
Pileated Woddpecker
Don has an exquisite body of work. For an example, click here to see the Pileated Woodpecker. The color on his birds are lush, texturized, sharp, and well thought out. The compositions are fun, sometimes unexpected, and yet, natural. He is methodical in his work, taking his time to get everything set-up, checked once, checked twice, and perhaps checked a third time. He is almost psychic at predicting what is going to come next and lightning fast with the click of the shutter.
For instance, he had some wood hens who liked to make nests by his house. He was determined to photograph these shy birds, so he built them a nice, cozy bird house and put it by the steps going down to he lake. He then took his time getting them used to him being around, then got them acclimated to a camera and tripod peering at them. The pay off? He photographed three babies heads peeking out from the safety of their house for one of their first times. They are all looking the same direction, in perfect unison, as if Don had it planned all the while. The photograph is so good, it even tickled this humble man.
Don said, “To get two of these peeking out of their house is good, and others have done so, but to get three of them at the same time is quite rare.”
His love of birds is clear with the cleverness of his images. The lines in the composition dance; through his eyes you see the gracefulness of our feathered friends. It matters not which bird is the subject of his attentiveness, he captures their individual dignity, beauty.
There is one more story to share with you about Don’s great photography adventures. He wanted to get a certain bird that lived out in a field. He got the farmer’s permission to go on his land. The bird lights quite high up in a tree, requiring Don to build a stand in order to gain access to the bird. So, Don carried out wood and made his stand. This bird happens to be an early riser, he needed to be out there well before sunrise to get settled in. He carried all of his gear and in order to get to the meadow, he had to crawl under electric fences and walk quite a ways into the pasture. When he got to his stand, it was crushed and on the ground. It was a cow pasture, and the cows had leaned on it to rest, and it fell down. All of his hard work laying on the ground, and he had a narrow window to get his shot. Somehow the adrenaline came through, he got his stand back up, just got into it when his bird said cheese. And, don’t you know? He got it.
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