This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
I like and enjoy seeing all wild birds. Okay, I’ll admit that I like some more than others. Take today’s photo for example. It’s not a bald eagle. It’s not a peregrine falcon. It’s not a great gray owl. It’s a red-winged blackbird. Still, I was happy to have the opportunity it gave me to photograph it and to try to create an attractive image.
In March I often think of bald eagles and Alaska. I went to Homer, Alaska, several times during the month of March to photograph bald eagles. The photo opportunities in Homer, and in the inlets and bays on the other side of Kachemak Bay, were unbelievable. For more images of bald eagles and info on these birds you can visit my portfolio site by clicking on “Portfolio” above and selecting “Birds of Prey.”
The annual Bald Eagle Festival in Haines, Alaska, was held last weekend. I meant to post this photo to recognize the festival a few days ago. However, problems in getting a new work station running threw me off track. A data drive failed almost immediately and, on top of that, the Windows 7 operating system was corrupted. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing from now on. The new computer is much faster than the old one and the new 24″ EIZO monitor is a big improvement over the old monitor.
After I posted the photo of the three eagles on September 11 I thought of another photo I took a couple of years ago. To me, it epitomizes what a bald eagle should look like as our Nation’s symbol. I’m thankful that I’m not posting a photo of a turkey at this point.
Have you ever seen something in nature that struck you as odd? In May of 2009 I saw something that I thought was very odd. I was driving into Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley from the west and off to my right not far from the Lamar River I saw a large nest atop a dead tree. My first thought was that it was probably an osprey nest or maybe a bald eagle nest. I slowed down and pulled over. I could see there was something in the nest, but it was too far to see what it was exactly. I decided to grab my big lens and tripod and hike closer to the nest. After a bit I stopped. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked like a Canada goose. I looked through my lens. It was a Canada goose.
This was a new one for me. Canada geese nest on the ground, usually in wetlands. What was this one doing up in a raptor’s nest? Maybe it had learned the hard way that eggs laid on the ground in the Lamar Valley don’t last long. I checked every day for over a week and there was always a goose in the nest. There had to be eggs there. Will the eggs fare better in a raptor’s nest at the top of a tall tree? Maybe. Maybe not. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge, Canada geese don’t feed their young like birds of prey do. The goslings will have to get down to the ground and to the river soon after they hatch. I know some waterfowl species like wood ducks nest in tree cavities and the young drop down to the ground, but this is a very tall tree and the branches extend well away from the trunk, especially in the lower portion of the tree outside the framing of the image. Finally, how will they walk across all those branches with their webbed feet?
When I returned to Yellowstone in May of this year I looked to the nest as I entered Lamar Valley. There was a bird in it again. This time it was an osprey.
I’ve often wondered what happened to the offspring of the Canada geese. Did the eggs survive to hatching? If so, did the goslings make it safely down the tree and to the river? I guess I’ll never know.
Today is the third anniversary of the removal of the Bald Eagle from the Endangered Species List. This is one of the greatest success stories under the Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out this way.
