Bird Island Milky Way Portrait, MA
Throughout the course of photographing all of these lighthouses I've come to realize that with many one can simply drive up to the structure to get the right shot. For others, it takes much more research, planning, and execution. Bird Island falls into the latter category. The island sits just south of Marion, Massachusetts near Buzzards Bay and for much of the year is inaccessible because it's a bird sanctuary for endangered piping plovers and roseate terns. The island isn't open to humans until September 1 and going any sooner can get you a pretty nasty fine. Plus if you were to visit while the terns were still on the island you'd likely get attacked. We went at the right time in early October while the air and water temps were still warm. There were about 1000 birds still on the shore as we approached and we quickly set about our work to shoot before getting off the island as quickly as possible.
