Michael Despines Photography

Jan

08

12 for 19

Today's Shot Posted by Michael / 10 comments

Time to look back at a few of my favorite images from 2019. These may not always be my “best” images from the year but they are special to me for various reasons that I will comment on below. In no special order:

1. Jaguar

Five of my favorite images for the year were captured during our November trip to the Pantanal in Brazil. Here we have a lovely female jaguar. You had me with that look, but with the crossed paws? I’m done….

2. Giant River Otter

Another shot from the Pantanal. With this shot I finally managed to get an image of a giant river otter doing what they do best — eat fish. Great eye contact from both the otter and the fish and I love how you can see how beautiful the armored catfish is. And this is one the few images where there was no obstruction — I have hundreds of images of otters with grass, sticks, leaves, etc. blocking the view. I shot this image on the LAST outing on the LAST day of the trip! You just never know…

3. Green Kingfisher

Continuing with images from the Pantanal. On this trip I managed to get two very nice images of kingfishers. Here is the first of a green kingfisher. I love the colors and that clean background. Such a gorgeous bird.

4. American Pygmy Kingfisher

I love the “other worldly” look of this image of the American Pygmy kingfisher — the 2nd really nice kingfisher shot that I got from the Pantanal this year. You might not imagine it, but photographing a tiny bird, on a moving boat is exhausting. Hundreds of images later, finally one that worked.

5. Toco Tucan

This is the last image on the list from the Pantanal trip. I just love the colors of this bird – amazing! Toucans are more common in southern Pantanal — we were in the north so getting an image of this incredible bird was totally unexpected. We only had two, very brief sightings during the entire trip and I was only able to fire off a few shots before the birds vanished each time. These birds never stopped moving, jumping from branch to branch, while trying to approach and shoot from a small moving boat – yikes! It was hard to even find the find the birds in the view finder let alone compose a good shot. Sometimes you get lucky…

6. Red Fox

The rest of the images are from the good ol’ USA. In 2019 I got my first worthwhile images of red foxes. Here we see a female bringing back a rabbit for her kits at the den. Yes this is a red fox – they have several color morphs that include black, brown, silver, etc.

7. Barn Owl

My first image of a barn owl!! This image was captured before sunrise. See more here.

8. Short-eared Owl

This image is bittersweet. Each winter I could count on seeing short-eared owls in this amazing habitat north of Seattle. But no longer – the fields were flooded over in 2019 to create a salmon habitat. (Was the same place I saw the barn owl).

9. Savannah Sparrow

In 2019 I managed to add a few images to my Sparrow/Tulip series. Savannah Sparrow in Yellow. You can see a red version here (4th image from the top).

10. Moose

In 2019 I made my first trip to Grand Teton NP and captured this lovely fall image of a moose. I plan to go back to the Grand Tetons this winter so hopefully we will see more images from this park on the 2020 list…

11. Ponytail Falls

I made a quick weekend trip to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon in 2019 and came away with two nice shots. The first was this lovely autumn scene:

12. Wreck of the Peter Iredale

The other nice shot from that weekend was captured along the Oregon coast. In 1906 a steel ship called the Peter Iredale ran aground here. By sheer luck I was there on a day when the tide was low at sunset allowing me to shoot next to the wreck.

Have a favorite? Which one(s) do you like best?

I can’t wait to see what Mother Nature will share with me in 2020!

Happy New Year!

Dec

31

Jungle Cat

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – December 2019

In 2019 I visited the Pantanal in Brazil to photograph jaguars and other wildlife – you can see the highlights in this video. En route to the prime jaguar location we spent one night at small lodge where we saw another wild cat of the region – the Ocelot. Each night the lodge puts out chicken to attract this rarely seen cat. I am not a fan of baiting wildlife as it can diminish their survival skills and promote dangerous human – wildlife interaction. For what it is worth this cat does not show up every night and it seems that he is not dependent on this food supply but only drops in when he wants a supplement. Or perhaps only when he is in the mood for a bit of chicken….

As you can see Ocelots are fairly small, coming in at about twice the size of an average house cat or roughly the same size as a bobcat. The males can grow to about four feet in length while the females are usually about two and half feet long. Ocelots tend to weigh between 28-35 pounds.

These solitary cats are highly nocturnal and use their exceptional eyesight to hunt rabbits, rodents, snakes, fish, frogs, young deer, peccaries, iguanas and other lizards. They are good swimmers and good climbers so they will hunt for fish in nearby streams while also stalking monkeys and birds in the trees. Ocelots hunt by walking slowly along game trails hoping to ambush their prey. They are also “sit and wait” predators, sitting motionless for 30-60 minutes at a den or burrow site. If no luck they move quickly to another site and sit and wait again.

Ocelot Range Map (Source)

Ocelots can be found from southwestern United States to northern Argentina. These cats thrive where plant life is dense and can be found in tropical forests, thorn forests, mangrove swamps and savannas. There are about 800,000 to 1.5 million Ocelots remaining in the Western Hemisphere but their numbers are declining. In the US Ocelots were once found in southern Arizona and throughout much of Texas, and even reaching Arkansas and Louisiana. Alas, human development in these areas has caused Ocelot numbers to plummet and they are now at risk for extinction in the US. Today they can only be found in southern Texas with only about 40 individuals remaining. In Colombia, Argentina and parts of Brazil the cat is listed as vulnerable.

The fur trade in the 1960s and 1970s was devastating to the Ocelot population – in 1970 alone over 140,000 Ocelot skins were traded in the United States. Fortunately most countries now ban the trade of Ocelot skins. While the threats from the fur trade, hunting, and the pet trade have reduced other threats are growing. The loss of habitat and fragmentation of habitat is a major threat as us humans continue to expand our footprint across the planet. Traffic accidents are a growing threat as Ocelots are increasingly hit by cars as new roads crisscross their shrinking habitat. Logging and poaching of their prey species are additional threats to their survival.

Although these lovely cats are rarely seen our world would be much poorer without their nightly jaunts through the jungles of our dreams and fables. Let’s hope that we can find a way to allow the Ocelot to roam our jungles for many years to come.

Until next month….m

And for your easy viewing pleasure, our Pantanal Highlight Video (includes images of the Ocelot):

Sources:

Nikon D4S, Nikon 70-200mm (@ 95mm), f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO 6400

Nov

30

Sailing into History

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 5 comments

Shot of the Month – November 2019

While this ship is clearly no longer sea worthy its rusting hull can, at least for a few more years, take our imagination on a journey back in time. The hull, located on the beach at Fort Stevens Park, is all that is left of the Peter Iredale, a four-masted steel barque that ran aground on the Oregon coast on October 25, 1906. The ship had departed from Salina Cruz, Mexico (about 60 miles south of San Diego) a month earlier bound for Portland, Oregon with 1,000 tons of ballast and a crew of 27. Nearing the end of its journey the ship encountered a fierce storm just four miles south of the Columbia River channel and was driven onto the beach in the driving winds. The force of the impact was so great that 3 of the 4 masts of the ship snapped when it hit the sand. All crew were rescued from the ship and there were no casualties.

Above we can see the Peter Iredale in all his glory — the steel ship was built in 1890 in Maryport, England and was 285 feet long. The ship was sent to Portland to pick up a cargo of wheat that would be sailed to England. Below we can see the ship not long after it ran aground.

There was little damage to the hull so initially the plan was to tow the ship back to sea. However, the recovery team had to wait a few weeks for favorable weather and during this time the ship sank deeply into the sand and it was impossible to move it. And so there it has stayed for the last 113 years.

And, in case you were wondering:

Who the heck is Peter Iredale?

He is the bloke that owned the ship. He had a shipping firm called Iredale & Porter and was a business big shot in Liverpool, England.

Did the crew screw up and cause this mess?

Well, a naval inquiry was held by the British Vice-Consulate to determine the cause of the wreck. The British Naval Court ruled that the sudden wind shift and the strong current were responsible for the stranding of the ship, and that the captain and his officers were “in no wise to blame” and in fact the captain (Captain H. Lawrence) and the crew were commended for their attempts to save the ship.

I only spent one afternoon at the wreck site and as luck would have it, there was a low tide near sunset allowing me to walk right up to the hull. Here a few images from different perspectives and as the light transformed as the sun went down.

Here is a landscape orientation as some clouds rolled in:

As the sun nears the horizon the light weakens but there is a soft pink hue (alas, we lost most of those lovely clouds):

Here we can see the full side of the remaining hull in the last light:

On that fateful day, just before leaving the beach, it is reported that the red-bearded captain stood stiffly at attention, saluted his ship, and said:

May God bless you and may your bones bleach in these sands”

He then turned and addressed his men with a bottle of whisky in his hand. “Boys,” he said, “have a drink.”

I don’t know if this salty tale is all true, but I like to believe that it is.

Ayyye! Until next month….m

Sources:

The Oregon History Project

Peter Iredale (Wikipedia)

Here is a fun video on the shipwreck:

And here you can see historic images of the wreck over the last 100 years:

https://www.oregonlive.com/travel/2018/03/watch_oregons_iconic_shipwreck.html

Nikon D850, Nikon 17-35mm (@ 17 mm), f/8, 1 sec, ISO 64. HDR composite of 5 exposures (-2,-1,0,+1,+2 EV).

Oct

31

Pied Kingfisher

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 4 comments

Shot of the Month – October 2019

There are 114 species of kingfishers around the world and most are bright splashes of color with wings. These small to medium size birds tend to specialize in catching fish though a few prefer insects. All tend to have large heads, long, sharp pointed bills, short legs and stubby tails. One of the most common kingfishers is the Pied Kingfisher as seen above. Bright splash of color?? It seems that the Pied Kingfishers were at the back of the line when the colors were given out as they are rather penguin-esque decked out in their monochromatic black-and-white color scheme. Click here to see a more colorful variety.

As shown below, Pied Kingfishers are exceptional hoverers — by flapping their wings rapidly they can stay in one place for an extended period time as they scan below looking for fish in the water. They are actually the largest bird that can truly hover. While hovering they have to keep their head perfectly still to judge the location of the fish below. Here is a great video that explains the hunting technique of these skilled fliers. And another good video here.

A fresh kill captured on film….Definitely will NOT need a bigger boat for this one.

The Pied Kingfisher can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia from Turkey to India to China. I photographed this lovely chap in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

The Pied Kingfisher – what they lack in color they make up for it with true acrobatic talent and classic formal style and grace.

Until next month….m

Sources:

Wild Vagabond

Wikipedia

Nikon D500, Nikon 600 mm f/4 (@ f/5.6), 1/1500 sec, ISO 200, EV -0.5

Sep

30

Love in the Air?

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – September 2019

So what’s going on with this big ol’ male lion? Is he snarling? Is he about to sneeze? Did he get a whiff of a stinky warthog?

All good guesses, and thanks for playing along, but all incorrect.

What we got here is a good example of the flehmen response. Uhhhh, the flaming what?

The flehmen response — in German flehmen means to “bare the upper teeth.” Ok, that seem accurate, Simba here is indeed baring his upper teeth. So we got the “what,” how about the “why”?

Well, many animals exhibit this behavior to draw in air to reach a specialized organ above the roof of the mouth. This organ has specialized receptors to detect pheremones, scents and other chemicals. This organ is called the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson’s organ (Ludwig Jacobson described the organ in 1813, even though Frederick Ruysch found it first in 1732). The vomeronasal organ is connected directly to the brain and allows the animal to better assess potential prey animals, predators and potential mates. This process is distinct from smelling and engages a completely different pathway to the brain.

Some animals, like cats and horses have to raise their lips to allow air to reach this specialized sensor. Other animals, like elephants can access their vomeronasal organ without the lip curl (Thank You Very Much). Flehmen is demonstrated by most of Africa’s ungulates and predators including giraffe, rhinos, buffaloes, lion, leopards, cheetahs and other cats. Fun fact: Hippos can do the flehmen response underwater! Jacobson’s organ is also found in all snakes and lizards, dogs, cattle, pigs, and in some primates. Snakes use the organ to sense prey — they stick their tongue out to collect scents and then touch their tongue to the opening of the organ when the tongue is retracted. Humans do not have this specialized organ. Both males and females can demonstrate the flehmen response. For example female sable antelope use flehmen behavior to allow them to synchronize conception and birth of their offspring in a herd.

The male lion above, photographed in Kruger National Park in South Africa, wrinkled up his nose after his lady friend walked over to say “Hi.”

And she gave him a friendly head nuzzle:

After this the male stood up and checked to see if “love was in the air.” For the non-romantics: He triggered the flehmen response to draw in air to see if the female was emitting pheremones that would indicate that she was receptive to mating.

Love….flehmen…a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…..

Until next month….m

Nikon D500, Nikon 200-400 mm @ 310 mm, effective 450 mm), f/4, 1/640s, ISO 560, +0.5 EV

Sources:

What is the flehmen response and why is it used?

Vemeronasal organ (Wikipedia)

Flehmen Response (Wikipedia)

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Jungle Cat

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Sailing into History

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Pied Kingfisher

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Love in the Air?

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