Christian+Begeman+李巧蘭

I am not a man of the trees. I grew up under the open sky and rolling prairie. A forest to me was any track1） of trees wider than three across. Therefore any story or fairy tale that featured mysterious woods held all the more2） magic for me. When I first hiked in the silent Ponderosa pines of the Black Hills， I was surprised at how quiet the world became. Nowadays， when I walk in the woods， I notice other things. I hear songs of unseen birds， see the flicker of a butterfly wings and catch glimpses of wildflower color， all of which make great subjects to put in front of a camera.

Photographing unseen birds， however， is impossible. Finding those birds is why I've spent more time in the woods of Eastern South Dakota this year than any other. It started in February when a local birder3） reported seeing Northern Saw-whet owls at Newton Hills State Park. This little owl is usually only found on the western side of the state. I had never seen one before and after three unsuccessful trips， I nearly walked into4） one resting in some young cedars north of the Horse Camp area of the park. The elfin5） owl looked at me with wide and unblinking eyes， seemingly unconcerned and possibly a little annoyed. I slowly backed away. The owl began to relax and fall back asleep. It may seem like I'm overstating things， but it felt like I was in one of those old fairy tales for just a moment.

Last spring I witnessed/photographed the warbler and songbird migration for the first time. I saw bold and brightly colored birds that I'd never seen before. I guess I was hooked6） because this spring I was back in the woods searching for more. It is a lesson in patience and listening. At Lake Herman State Park near Madison， I sat for a couple of hours in the trees as waves of warblers made their way through every 10 minutes or so. At Newton Hills State Park， I sat for an hour or two watching two male Ruby-throated hummingbirds make their rounds7） from perched preening to feeding on flowering bushes and wild bergamot blooms then achieving amazing aerial8） acrobatics while squabbling9） with each other—and then starting the sequence all over again.

I have a goal to photograph all the colorful birds that call South Dakota home. One that has eluded10） me to this day is the Scarlet Tanager. They are best found in Union Grove State Park or Newton Hills and are colored crimson red with black wings. This year， I made three separate trips to find them. I also took time to learn their song and call. This helped me find a female at dusk at Union Grove， but I could not get a decent photo. Later in the week， as I began another search at Newton Hills， a Summer Tanager flew to a tree next to me and gave me a long look. It was a real treat because the Summer Tanager is much rarer to find in South Dakota than the Scarlet. Later in the day， I finally saw my first male Scarlet ... well， his tail feathers anyway. By the time I spotted him， he was flying deep into the tangled woods. I was disappointed. Then I thought that maybe this was an invitation. "Come back into the woods. Lose yourself amongst the leaves， listen to the song I sing and maybe one day we will meet." I look forward to that day.

我不是一個以樹木為伴的人。我在遼闊的天空下和連綿起伏的草原上長大。對我來說，任何并排超過三棵樹的小徑都算樹林。因此，那些凡是涉及神秘樹林的故事或童話對我來說都格外神秘。當(dāng)我第一次在布萊克丘陵那片寂靜的黃松林間徒步時，我驚嘆于世界竟變得如此安靜。如今，當(dāng)我漫步林間，我會留心其他事物。我會聆聽那些看不見的鳥兒唱歌，觀察蝴蝶振動著雙翼飛舞，一瞥野花繽紛的色彩，所有這些都是相機鏡頭可以捕捉的絕妙題材。

然而，為那些看不見的鳥兒拍照卻是癡人說夢。我今年待在南達科他州東部樹林里的時間比以往任何一年都要長，就是為了找到那些鳥兒。這件事兒開始于2月份，當(dāng)?shù)匾晃灰傍B觀察者報告稱在牛頓山國家公園看見了北方銼鋸梟。這種小貓頭鷹一般僅分布于南達科他州西部。我以前一只也沒見過，在經(jīng)歷了三次失敗之旅后，我差點撞上一只北方銼鋸梟，它停棲在公園馬營區(qū)域北面的一片小雪松中。這只小精靈似的貓頭鷹瞪大了眼睛，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著我，仿佛對我毫無興趣，可能又有點兒氣惱。我慢慢往后退。那只貓頭鷹開始放松下來，重返夢境。這或許像是我在夸大其詞，但就是有那么一瞬間我感覺自己好像身處某個古老的童話之中。

去年春天，我生平第一次親眼看見（并拍攝到）柳鶯和燕雀的遷徙。我看到了自己以前從來都沒見過的那些顏色鮮亮、醒目的鳥兒。我猜想自己是著迷了，因為今年春天我回到了這片樹林，來尋找更多的鳥兒。這是一堂有關(guān)耐心和傾聽的課。在麥迪遜附近的赫曼湖國家公園里，我在樹林中一坐就是好幾個小時，一群群柳鶯每隔十分鐘左右就從林中穿梭而過。在牛頓山國家公園，我坐了一兩個小時，看著兩只雄性紅喉蜂鳥周而復(fù)始地先棲息在枝上用喙梳理羽毛，隨后在開花的灌木和野生佛手柑花上進食，然后一邊相互爭吵一邊表演著令人嘆為觀止的空中特技——然后又按照這個順序從頭再來一遍。

我的目標(biāo)是拍攝所有棲息在南達科他州的那些絢麗多彩的鳥兒。有一種到今天還一直對我避而不見的是猩紅比藍雀。在尤寧格羅夫國家公園或者牛頓山最有可能覓得其蹤跡，其通體深紅，翅膀為黑色。今年，為了見其真容，我分別去了三次。我還花時間去學(xué)它們唱歌和鳴叫。有了這項本領(lǐng)的幫助，我于一天黃昏時分在尤寧格羅夫國家公園發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只雌鳥，但我還是沒能拍到一張像樣的照片。那個星期后半周，當(dāng)我在牛頓山開始又一次尋覓時，一只玫紅比藍雀飛到我身旁的一棵樹上，久久地注視著我。這可是一次實實在在的禮遇，因為在南達科他州，玫紅比藍雀比猩紅比藍雀要罕見得多。后來那天我終于生平第一次看見了雄性猩紅比藍雀……呃，至少是它的尾羽。等到我發(fā)現(xiàn)它時，它正飛往亂蓬蓬的樹林深處。我感到失望，隨即我想到，或許這是一種邀請：“回到樹林里來吧。讓你自己陶醉于繁茂的樹葉之中，聆聽我唱的歌，也許有一天我們將會相遇?！蔽移诖且惶?。

1.track [tr?k] n. 小路；小徑

2.all the more： 格外；尤其

3.birder [?b??d?（r）] n. （在野外）觀察（或研究、鑒別）野鳥的人

4.walk into： 輕易得到（工作等）

5.elfin [?elf?n] adj. 小精靈（般）的

6.hooked [h?kt] adj. 入了迷的

7.make one's rounds： 巡回

8.aerial [?e?ri?l] adj. 空中的

9.squabble [?skw?bl] vi. （為瑣事）爭吵

10.elude [i?lu?d] vt. 躲避