When my wife and I were thinking of putting an offer on a home in Gaithersburg, one of the first things I did was look at Google Maps to see how close it was to parks and trails. I was excited to see the neighborhood was adjacent to a city park that ran along Muddy Branch creek. The proximity to nature wasn’t the main reason we ultimately ended up buying the home, but it was a major bonus for me and my hobby: bug photography.
The first time I actually walked onto one of the trails leading to the creek, I knew I was going to become intimately familiar with the landscape. Just this past year I likely spent over 50 hours on and off trails, in the brush and in the forest. I know where damselflies spend the night. I know which logs six-spotted tiger beetles use for shelter. I know which bushes gnat ogre robber flies like to perch on. I know where to find the biggest wolf and fishing spiders. But even after a year of encounters, I’m still surprised and amazed by the variety of bugs I can find in just a few square feet. And there are SO many square feet to search.
For a macro photographer, the habitat around the Muddy Branch is a dream. But the quality of habitat is about so much more than photography. Our tiny invertebrate neighbors are critical to the ecosystem we all share. Given the amount of developed land in our area, they need the space more than we do. It’s their home.
And I feel like I owe them. Since I moved to Gaithersburg, my photography hobby has transformed into something else entirely. Over the past year I’ve become an OM System (formerly Olympus) Ambassador, won international awards, and had my images viewed by millions of people through news/magazine articles and social media.
An image I took of a wolf spider mom with babies on her back recently won first place in The Nature Conservancy’s global photo contest, a massive contest with over 80,000 photographers. I’m always quick to share that the image was taken just down the road from my house, not on some exotic trek through the jungle.
Because of my time in nature around Muddy Branch, I’ve been able to create a platform to advocate for insects, spiders, and our environment. I think the best thing I can do to pay back the bugs of the Branch is to continue to highlight their uniqueness, and introduce people in the community to the world of bug photography. The more appreciation, the more awareness.
How close is YOUR home to the Muddy Branch? Learn about trail access points.