Bird photography is a passion for Adam Brandemihl, who started coming to the parks five years ago to exercise and get a bit of fresh air. On his visits, Adam got caught up with watching wildlife—especially birds. After bringing his camera on one of his hikes, Adam realized he’d found a new passion. Every trip to a Metro Park was like a treasure hunt with the images being his trophies. He enjoys the challenge of bird photography, capturing the tiny, fast-moving warblers the most.
Adam is a psychiatrist and mental health is important to him, especially his own. “I am introverted by nature so even though I love my job it can be a bit draining at times,” said Adam. “Birding in Metro Parks allows me to practice mindfulness and recharge my batteries.” The parks and birding have also given him the opportunity to meet other birders, foster new friendships and develop a sense of community.
Adam told us his top Metro Parks areas for photography and the birds he is most looking forward to photographing this spring.
Top five Metro Parks areas for bird photography
- Battelle Darby Creek wetlands, Teal Trail for rails and bitterns
- Glacier Ridge, Marsh Hawk Trail for meadowlarks and bobolinks
- Highbanks, both Coyote Run and Dripping Rock trails for all warblers
- Clear Creek, Creekside Meadows Trail for cerulean and Kentucky warblers
Top five birds I’m looking forward to photographing
- Bobolinks at Glacier Ridge
- Meadowlarks at Glacier Ridge
- Virginia rails at Battelle Darby Creek wetlands
- All the warblers at Highbanks, especially the northern parulas and yellow-throated
- The one bird I haven’t yet seen that I would love to capture is the Kirtland’s warbler.
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There is an access trail in your oldest metro park near the lodge. There is a stump and leaf dump near the beginning which begs for wildflowers. Follow it in to the end or access it from the golf course, where you see red squirrels. This was planned for the elderly and physically limited. There are a number of old cemeteries toward the end and some kind of swamp construction. It dead ends into a dwarf cemetery, I think. The earliest pioneer associations were Cemetery organizations. People got together in the early spring, when certain flowers bloomed, to have mass burials. It was less physically demanding. Wildflowers tend to all bloom at the same time in general areas, so it was a way. Metro Parks has an old cemetery preservation origin.
The bear cave is off The Alum. A bear hibernated there in the early days. It was later used to store bodies until a spring group burial. A rock sealed it to keep animals out. I haven’t found that.
Cindy, thanks for sharing such a fascinating story. How did you learn about this intriguing history of the area? We’d love to know more.
I finally got the chance to run into Adam at Glacier Ridge. He was very kind and knowledgeable. If you write a question or make a comment on the Facebook group he hosts “Central Ohio Bird Photography” he is quick to respond. I am learning so much about Ohio birding from him.
Thanks, Wayne. Adam is certainly a great bird photographer. One of his photos was used as the cover of our Spring 2018 Parkscope magazine.
I have been watching Adam Brandemihl’s posts in Central Ohio Bird Photograph group on Facebook. All those photos are amazing. He has demonstrated that to photograph birds you don’t need to go too far from your home. Keep it up Adam.
Velusamy, thanks for reading. We agree with you, Adam is a great photographer.