Nature photogrpaher passionate about Maine ecosystems

 By Abby Wilson

Robert (Bob) King is a wildlife biologist, nature photographer, and ecologist who has spent 40 years in the wildlife field and loves exploring local waterways.

A loon and her chick are shown in a photograph on 
Highland Lake taken by nature photographer Bob King,
who grew up on the lake and has returned to the area after
a long career as a wildlife biologist.
SUBMITTED PHOTO 

King grew up near Highland Lake in Windham and in his teen years, he regularly spent time fishing the lake outlet at Duck Pond. Following his years in the wildlife field, he returned to Maine and continued working independently on Maine waters, including Highland Lake.

He started photographing wildlife in his early 20s, prompted by a visit to northern Maine where he saw about a dozen moose and thought “if only I had a camera.”

At the beginning of his career, he thought it was impossible to photograph a flying bird in focus. Fifty years later, we can.

Film was also very expensive when King started and people had to send their undeveloped photos to Rochester, New York and then wait weeks to see the finished products.

Through the years, King has continued to photograph wildlife on Highland Lake, especially loons. Why loons? King says, “They were here and they are charismatic. They are gorgeous especially in breeding plumage.”

According to King, breeding plumage starts in early summer. Once loons mate for the season, they will then go into a phase which scientists call “eclipse” where their feather pattern becomes muted.

Loons in the Pine Tree state winter in the Gulf of Maine but when springtime comes, they are ready to return to the lakes in the state.

King says this is a great time to get out and photograph birds because they are “shopping” for nesting sites. He said he then stays away once they find a place because they are territorial. Also, humans disturbing nest sites is one major reason for abandonment which is when the adult disappears from a nesting site before the chicks have hatched.

“Loons also have some real secrets,” says King. Sometimes an intruding male loon will enter a pair’s nesting site and kill the chick(s). This is called infanticide. If it’s early enough in the season, the intruding male might be able to mate with the female and increase chances of his own offspring occurring in the gene pool.

Another important species for King is the monarch butterfly.

Right now, according to professionals, three things that are causing monarch population to decline are pesticide use, illegal timber harvesting in Mexico, and climate change and changes to the jet stream.

The wintering grounds of the monarch are in Mexico, some of which are UNESCO world heritage sites and protected areas. Often these habitats are logged. It’s important to remember that people need to make money and the timber industry can provide people with an income.

Many believe that we can use ecotourism to employ locals and save forests. It is also an effective method to prove that wildlife can be financially prosperous.

King says that we are in the sixth mass extinction in the history of planet Earth and “if wildlife is going to survive, it’s going to have to pay for itself.” He says humans have to come up with these solutions and be creative in applying them and that ecotourism is one of these creative solutions.

To tackle another roadblock in the monarch butterfly’s life history, we need to look to our own grassy back yards. There is a new initiative called ‘Homegrown National Park’ which encourages people to use their yards to create habitat.

“People don’t think about wildlife in their back yard,” says King.

However, you can add value to your yard but converting it. All one needs to do is rototill, plant native wildflowers, and stop using pesticides.

Using pesticides is killing insects, in turn, killing us. Insects pollinate our crops, and they provide food to secondary consumers, playing an infinitely crucial role in our ecosystem.

‘Homegrown National Park’ was started by Dr. Doug Tallamy who understood the need for people to see the value in their own back yards. Anyone can register a yard by visiting the website and entering your zip code as well as the surface area. This initiative starts in your yard but can be applied internationally.

“Maine is a good place to be if you love nature,” says King. “In winters I spend time at Maine estuaries. Estuaries are among the richest habitats on the planet and Maine has many of them… See all the ‘fingers’ of land protruding into the ocean off Maine's coastline? Think about all the convolutions and the total length of coastline. Then consider that it is all tidal, meaning that the saltwater floods in and drains out every 6 hours. And let us not forget the Kennebec River watershed. This region is one of the richest on the Eastern Seaboard of North America.”

You can visit Bob King’s website (itsaboutnature.net) to view his photography and learn more about his book “The Pond of my Boyhood: Ecology of a Maine Pond.” <