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Jul
23
Hit the water on Saturday for another loon session. Some highlights:
The chick is growing fast.
One of my favorites.
The happy family.
What’s for dinner? (Crayfish)
The photographer (hoping not to fall in…)
Jul
15
Got out yesterday for my first attempt to photograph loons from a kayak. Let the learning begin…
With chick in background
Late afternoon
Jul
15
Shot of the Month – July 2012
how
If the lost city of Atlantis had a circus, the Atlantic Puffin, aka “the clown of the sea” would surely be a star act of the show. After having the pleasure of spending some quality time with these birds I can attest that the nickname is well deserved.
First, the puffin is decked out in a dapper outfit, has incredible face “makeup”, has oversized colorful feet, and sports a big red nose (ok, the beak is more orange than red, but give me a little poetic license to make this metaphor work) – typical physical characteristics of the clowns I have seen as a child. The stunning coloration is a sign that it is breeding season – both male and female alike are so colorfully adorned. In case you were wondering, it is virtually impossible to distinguish males from the females from looks alone, though the males can often be a bit larger than the females. DNA samples are the only way for us humans to distinguish between Mr. and Mrs. Puffin.
The Atlantic Puffin spends most of her life in solitude on the open water of the North Sea. It is difficult to imagine how hearty this 10-inch bird must be to survive in those conditions. In the summer several thousand puffins converge on the rocks of Machias Seal Island, just off the coast of Maine, to breed and raise their young. After a year apart a breeding pair will reconnect on the island, they mate for life, and raise one chick from a burrow dug in between the rocks.
Second, Atlantic Puffins are funny, as most clowns aspire to be (yes, back to the clown metaphor). When puffins walk they have a waddle that is Charlie Chaplin-esque. Sometimes they walk very quickly with their head down as if lost in thought and late for a meeting. As the rocks can be quite crowded, one must pass through many other puffin territories and this posturing signals that they are just walking through and don’t mean any trouble. Funny.
When a puffin flies in and lands on a crowded rock she will exhibit the “post-landing position.” To get a sense of this recall a memorable gymnast you watched on TV (or saw in person). As the gymnast completed her final maneuver she did a dramatic dismount off the high beam. Remember how she stood there with her arms out and held that pose perfectly still for an exaggerated amount of time to demonstrate that she really nailed the landing? Same with the puffin. Upon landing on a rock, she will put one foot in front of the other, extend her wings out, and lean forward with her head hung low. And, she holds it…………. Still holding it……..aaaand ok. Done. This posturing is a sign of non-hostility that relieves tension when landing among a group of puffins.
And, it looks hilarious.
There are many other puffin fun facts, endearing behaviors, and quirky attributes to explore but that will be for another month. Suffice it to say that I have great affection for these amazing little birds — I find their looks to be remarkable and their pacifist and accommodating demeanor inspiring.
If you want to see Atlantic Puffins in action, check out this live webcam (sponsored by Audubon’s Project Puffin) from nearby Seal Island. But you have to hurry as the puffins will head back out to sea by late August.
And you can see more of my clown, uh, puffin photos here.
Until next month…. 🙂
Jul
01
Our last day. A beautiful day but there were ocean swells near the island so we were not able to land immediately. In the end we did manage to get on the island for an abbreviated visit in the blinds.
A few shots from today:
Jun
30
We were unable to land on the island due to tricky sea swells so I wasn’t able to take too many shots today….
Jun
29
Spending 3 days visiting Machias Island in Maine. A couple of shots from the day….
Jun
24
I took a break from shooting frogs the other day to get this Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.
Jun
15
Shot of the Month – June 2012
For the last month I had been running nonstop – almost every waking hour, including weekends, toiling on a project for work. On Sunday morning I decided to give myself a break, a short one, to work on a personal photography challenge. A few weeks earlier I had discovered a small pool of water near our house that was home to a handful of Green Frogs (that moniker is both the official name for this particular species of frog and is an accurate description). The setting, as you can see, was pleasant, but not exactly the Serengeti. And frogs? Not usually the high point of a wildlife safari.
But I was intrigued by the challenge. Could I create a noteworthy image of, a frog? In this pedestrian locale? This would be my first attempt.
When I arrived the pool was in the shade of a tree and there was one frog floating in the water. I walked up and snapped a quick shot.
This is the shot your typical person would capture before they quickly moved along. It certainly documents the facts, but it’s hardly scintillating.
Time to think like a photographer. I splayed out the legs of the tripod and dropped as low as I could go. Photography is all about light and initially, the light was dark and somber. I knew that I would have to be patient and wait to see what opportunities presented themselves as the sun rose and moved across the sky. I positioned the tripod behind a few plants along the water’s edge; hopefully they would provide a bit of color and depth to the scene. I adjusted the aperture to ensure that only the frog was in focus. And I waited…
The result:
This image is much more intimate than the first shot as we are now at eye level with the subject. The colors to the right are the out-of-focus plants in the foreground. As the sun appeared from behind the tree the colors blossomed. For a few moments the light was just strong enough to pull the pigment out of the surroundings – see the reflection of the blue sky and the red shed on his neck? Within a few minutes, however, the light was too harsh and the mood was lost.
I got this shot within 30 minutes though I stayed for about two hours. In that short period, it was remarkable how big this little pool had become. To my surprise, I was soon completely immersed in a new world.
Initially, the scene was still. As the sun appeared on the right side of the pool several frogs migrated to that end to fuel up on the warmth. A couple of fellows crawled out of the water onto a rock to soak in the heat. The longer I sat the more frogs I would “see.” Big frogs. Little frogs. Some hidden in the grass. Others between the crevices of rocks. Some were only a few inches away and I simply hadn’t noticed. One frog seemed rather cantankerous and he bellowed quite a bit. Over time I realized that he was the top frdog in this world. He would bay and the others would respond. He moved from one bank to the other and no one challenged him. With each minute another layer of nuance, behavior, and context. I left feeling exhilarated with my encounter, and properly chastised. I had been so dismissive of what this little pool could offer.
All in all a pretty successful challenge. Like Horton, I discovered a wonderful little world, and I managed to create a respectable image of, a frog, in this tame setting.
So much to learn and admire, to enjoy. If one can find make the time. And find the humility.
Click The Pool to see more images from this amazing little world.
Jun
10
A week ago I discovered a small pool near my home that had frogs in it. I didn’t have any good frogs shots in my “portfolio” yet so i decided then that I would have to come back and try my luck. My first attempt was today. I was curious to see if i could find a way to make a frog look interesting….
here is what i got so far…
Jun
03
You know it is a slow day when i am shooting the local flora….but there is something appealing about this…
