Cinematography!

"It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of the truth. ~  John Locke

Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,

Until now, my unstated goal, as I shelter in place here in the NW Wisconsin woods is to achieve a cinematic tour d’ force.  I want to video Rowdy pointing a woodcock while I walk up to it and flush it.

I achieved 95% perfection today. 

Today, Rowdy and I were beating around across the road in the grouse woods I’ve described before.  He’s doing much better at staying close and listening to me.  I’m standing on the edge of the woods at the south of the Clay Range and Rowdy is beating around in the woods near the small pool.  Suddenly he does a 180 and freezes to stare at the ground about 10 feet in front of him.

Perfect!

I reach in my pocket, pull out the iPhone which does the come alive upon movement thing.  I two finger sweep the screen to the left which I learned only yesterday brings up the camera without requiring a password and presto, there’s the camera.  I press video and I think I’ve pressed record.

I begin walking the 25 yards towards Rowdy and the invisible bird with the iPhone thrust out before me.  I am trying to keep track of the intervening branches so as not to put out my eye, keep the camera trained on Rowdy and evaluate what I’m seeing.

Rowdy is in the half crouch that I’ve come to understand is his version of a point.  His tail is straight back and not doing the “birdy flag” like it does when he smells a bird but doesn’t see it.  He knows exactly where this bird is and it’s holding for him.  The jowls on either side of his canine incisors are pulled back and he is intensely focused on the bird.  It’s unmistakable, which is why I wonder why it took me so many weeks last fall to come to understand what he was doing.  

I bludgeon my way through the woods to him, knowing I’m making a lot of noise but not knowing how to make less, trying to keep the camera trained for the inevitable flush.  I actually make it within 10-20 feet of them and I stop when I actually see the bird on the ground.  I’ve never seen a woodcock on the ground before.  

The instant I stop the bird flushes and flies straight away.  I’m pretty convinced I tracked it with the camera and I think I’ve gotten a really great video!  You can see the stereotypical woodcock head, the long beak, the football shaped body and the rich brown coloring scheme and the blur of wings. It really is quite striking. 

Not the real picture

So, I heel Rowdy up, tell him what a good dog he is, scratch his ears then go to the phone to see my wonderful video!

Which is when I learn the difference between the “I’m recording!” and “I’m stopped!” icon.

Oh, well.  You gotta love when you’ve got room to improve!

On that happy note, I remain 

Dad/Geoff