Michael Despines Photography

Oct

31

Whooo Should Die?

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 4 comments

Shot of the Month – October 2018

While living in Vermont I saw Barred Owls (BOs) a few times but never managed a good image. Ironically, it wasn’t till we moved to Washington State that I captured my first compelling photo of this owl. What’s ironic about this you wonder? Well, BOs are native to eastern North America. These birds were only first seen in eastern Washington in 1965 and in western Washington in 1973! The BOs range expanded dramatically to the west in the second half of the 20th Century.

What caused this sudden migration west? Until the 20th century BOs lived in old, undisturbed forests in eastern North America. Some think that they were restricted from moving into northwestern boreal forests because of frequent forest fires. But with more active fire suppression and tree planting in the Great Plains by humans the owls were able to spread northward and westward. These are the leading theories but no one knows for sure where the truth lies.

What we do know is that this western movement has been a disaster for the spotted owl – a natural resident of forests in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The spotted owl, already in trouble from logging, is a bit smaller and less aggressive than the BO. The spotted owls are losing the fight with their bigger cousins and numbers are dropping.

Forest managers are now facing a brutal ethical dilemma — what to do with this “invasive species” that is helping cause the extinction of another owl? The spotted owl is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and the government is responsible for taking action to protect them. Since 2013 the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been testing to see if controlled killing of barred owls in limited areas helps allow the spotted owl population to recover. Here is a good article on the gut-wrenching conundrum.

Do we kill Barred Owls, forever, to give the spotted owl a fighting chance to not go extinct? Do we simply stand by and let the spotted owl die off, even though we may have helped facilitate the invasion by another other owl?

Given our track record of wrecking nature with our “good intentions,” I vote that we stand aside and let the owls work it out and hope that the spotted owl can find a way to coexist with his bigger cousin. I have more faith in Mother Nature’s wisdom…….

All the best….michael

Nikon D4S, Sigma 1500-600mm C (@450mm), f/6, 1/250 sec, ISO 6400

Sep

30

Dangerous Reflections

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 3 comments

Shot of the Month – September 2018

Ahhhh, isn’t it beautiful? What a lovely, albeit frightfully dangerous, scene.

Say what? Dangerous? How could this tranquil spot be dangerous? Where are we?

This image was taken at Reflection Lake in Washington State. What is said lake in fact reflecting? Why that would be Mt. Rainier — the state’s tallest mountain with a summit reaching just over 14,000 feet. This lake is a tourist and photographer favorite as it can offer a wonderful view and reflection of this epic mountain. An image of Mt. Rainier from this vantage point is pretty much a portfolio requirement for any nature photographer visiting the area. In late summer one can include blooming wildflowers in the shot as I have done with the image above to add a dash of color to the composition. Sunrise is the best time to shoot from this spot as the water is most calm at this time of the day and offers the best chance for the still water needed to capture the reflection of the mountain. Soon after the sun is up the the water’s surface begins to ripple with the stirring winds and the iconic shot will often be gone until the next day.

Yeah, yeah, all very interesting, but what about the d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s part??

Are bears or cougars lurking nearby? No, no cougars but there are black bears in the park but they are not much of a risk. It turns out that Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Who knew?!! The mountain is so dangerous that it is on the Decade Volcanoes list — this is the list that all bad-ass-wanna-be volcanoes aspire to be on. Mt. Rainier is on the list because it has a great deal of glacial ice — an eruption could create massive lahars that could threaten large population centers near the city of Seattle.

Lahar? Yeah, me neither. Lahars are a violent type of mudflow made up of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris, and water. They can have the consistency of wet cement when moving. These flows can be super fast, potentially reaching speeds of 60 mph, and may be hundreds of yards wide and up to almost 500 feet high. These massive, fast flows can wipe out any structure in their path and provide very little time to react offering little chance to get out of the way of this wet cement freight train. You can’t outrun a fast-moving lahar…

Wow, so it seems that I just barely escaped the jaws of death. Who knew that landscape photography could be so risky? I may go back to photographing lions and jaguars where it is safe…

Until next month…michael

Nikon D4S, Nikon 17-35mm (@17mm), f/16, 1/15 sec, ISO 400

Aug

31

They Grow Up So Fast

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 8 comments

Shot of the Month – August 2018

Earlier this summer I had the good fortune to find an Anna’s Hummingbird nest in a park near my house. Let me share my three-week journey with this lovely family.

The Nest

First, let’s stop to admire the nest — it is stunning. The female builds the nest by sitting in the middle and building the cup rim around her. The nest can be made out of plant fibers, cattail, willow, leaves, thistle, or small feathers and it is bound together with spider webs or insect cocoons. The nest can be decorated with lichen and moss to blend in with the surroundings. The nest is about 1 inch tall and 1.5 inches in diameter. And the one I saw, was perfect. I was blown away by how perfect it was. Perfectly round. Perfectly decorated. Perfectly camouflaged.

It belongs in a museum.

Did I mention that it was perfect?

They Grow Up So Fast

I spent about three weeks visiting this glorious little nest because that is about how long it takes for an Anna’s Hummingbird chick to grow up and develop its wing feathers to fly away. When I first found the nest the chicks were barely visible as they were so tiny. Here is a breakdown of my visits to the nest.

I discovered the nest on May 19th – given the size of the chicks and from information from other photographers, I estimated that the chicks were 3 days old at this point, as indicated on my calendar to the left. In total I made 11 visits to the nest, when the chicks were about 3,4,10,11,12,14,16,17,18,19, and 20 days old. On the 20th day, I had the opportunity of a lifetime — I was there when the fledglings took their FIRST flight. Even more amazingly I was video-taping (boy that term is outdated) and got the first flight on “film.” But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at our little “photo album” from the kids’ childhood…

Day 3

Below, if you look closely you can the little yellow beaks of the two chicks in the nest. They are so tiny that they barely reach the top of the rim of the nest.

And here is the only clear view of a chick I got at this age. Eeeek! Uh, I mean, “Aww, he is so beautiful” “He looks just like you!” At this age, the eyes are not open yet and there is not a feather to be found on this naked little beast. He must be standing on his tippy toes to reach out this high to reach Mom’s food. Remember that the diameter of the nest is only about 1.5 inches, so the chick’s head is about the size of your fingernail!

Day 4

The chicks are so small that mom can still sit on the nest.

Day 10
Let’s jump ahead to May 26 – day ten of their little lives. Look at how much they have grown – their heads clearly stick out above the rim of the nest. Their eyes are open. And we can see the stems of their feathers coming through.

Day 12
Getting bigger and their feathers are filling out.

At this stage, it is starting to get crowded in the nest.

Getting bigger but the wing feathers are still filling in…

Day 17

Just over 2 weeks old and look how refined their feathers are now.

Day 18

Beautiful, though, we are going to need a bigger boat.

Demanding kids…

Day 20

And before you know it, they are proper little birds. Here is Junior’s first flight. Sniff, I am so proud…(you can also see the video here)

The chicks only flew a few feet away to a nearby branch in the same tree.

Mom’s duties continued, however, most likely for a few more days:

And so ends our time together. Well done, mum. You have raised a lovely pair of hummingbirds…

Until next month…..m

Nikon D4s, Nikon 600mm @ f/11, 1/125 ses, ISO 6400

Jul

31

Flat out Amazing

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – July 2018

So there I was sitting in the back seat of the car. I was tired but feeling content — it was the final day of our trip to the Pantanal to see, primarily, jaguars. We were driving to the local airport to begin our series of flights home. We had some amazing sightings and I had gotten some very nice photos. I always hate to see a trip end but my wistfulness was less than usual given all that we had experienced. By the second hour of our three-hour drive, the scenery went by like a blur as my mind wandered. I was jolted from my dreamy state when Naun, our guide, yelled.

“STOP! STOP! Michael get your camera ready!!!”

Huh, What? I didn’t bother to look as I knew that if Naun was this excited, it must be something good. The problem was that all our gear was completely packed up. My camera bodies were in one bag next to me. My lenses were in another bag, in the back of the vehicle. As we pulled over I yanked a camera body out and got out of the car. I opened the rear hatch of the car, yanked my camera bag out, and quickly pulled off all of the covers and caps and put the kit together. Naun waited impatiently by the edge of the road and motioned for us to go through the wire fence that he was holding up. We walked into the field and there it was — a Giant Anteater (GA)!! And he was ambling across the field with purpose!! He was still a fair distance from us but he was heading in our direction. I raised my camera to try and at least document this amazing sight. As I looked through the viewfinder I could see nothing. The car was air conditioned and when we jumped out into the heat of the day the sudden temperature change caused the front element of my lens to fog over.

F&^%$$!!

I took the bottom of my shirt and used it to wipe off the glass (I normally loathe to touch the glass, but this was an emergency!). I got a few shots off but then the anteater saw us and went in another direction. We got back in the car and moved forward. We set up and waited — it was clear that the Giant Anteater wanted to cross the road.

In the end, I managed to get a few shots and eventually, the GA crossed the road just a few feet from us. Wow! Even though the images are not great, I had to share this wonderful, other-worldly beast. The Giant Anteater is surely one of the world’s stranger-looking creatures.

Refuge from another dimension?

At a distance, the GA looks supremely flat – as if he escaped from the pages of a purely two-dimensional world. The Giant Anteater can reach seven feet in length from head to tail and he just looks soooo looong. His width seems so oddly out of proportion to his length giving the appearance of a “flat screen” creature. They say that black is thinning, but come on…

Winner by a nose

And then there is that snout. Try not to stare but that is a doozy of honker. The snout takes up most of his head and ends with a tiny mouth and nostrils. As you may have guessed from his name the Giant Anteater specializes in eating ants and termites. That nose is well shaped for plunging into the narrow passageways of the termite mounds in search of the small insects. The Ant Bear, a much more endearing moniker, can eat 30,000 insects a day. That tiny mouth has no teeth so the GA crushes the insects against its palate before swallowing them.

The GA has a narrow tongue that is 2 feet long. is shaped like a strand of spaghetti, and is covered in tiny backward-pointing spines covered in sticky saliva — making it a great tool for catching insects. The GA can dart its tongue inside a mound up to 150 times a minute to catch its prey.

The ant bear has terrible eyesight and equally bad hearing but its sense of smell is 40x more sensitive than ours – he can smell termites and ants that may be miles away. Ok, respect for the nose!

The Claw! (obscure movie reference)

Adding to the peculiar nature of this beast, the GA walks on its knuckles, like a gorilla. Why? To protect those impressive claws that it uses to tear apart termite mounds, of course. Below we have a GA in full gallop providing a good view of the claws and how he folds his front feet over while walking to keep these vital tools sharp. The ant bear has five toes on each foot — the front feet have claws, which are particularly elongated on the second and third digits. The GA is careful to not completely destroy a mound to ensure a reliable food supply. He tears a mount open just enough to allow his narrow snout to reach inside. He only spends about 1 minute feeding at a site before moving on and in a given day he may visit up to 200 nests. These claws can also be used for defense. If a GA is attacked, say by a puma or a jaguar, the GA will stand up on its tail and slash those claws from side to side with great effect. These creatures are very shy but they have been known to kill humans when cornered or if startled in the wild.

That Tail

The body of the GA is about 3-4 feet in length and that wonderful tail can add another 2-3 feet to the length of the animal. The tail has extra long hairs and helps make the GA seem much bigger than he really is. When resting the GA will carve a shallow cavity in the ground and then curl up and use its tail as a blanket!! A-dorable! The tail can help conserve heat and act as camouflage.

Wow, what a gift to see what is becoming an increasingly rare animal. In just 10 years, from 2000 to 2010 the total population of GAs has declined by 30%. Tragically, in 1994 close to 350 Giant Anteaters died due to wildfires at Emes National Park in Brazil. Currently, scientists think there may be about 5,000 ant bears left in the world. Giant Anteaters are native to Central and South America though it seems that they have been extirpated from most of Central America. (source)

Why did the ant bear cross the road?

Heck if I know, but I am eternally grateful that this one did! Until next month…..m

Check out this amazing interaction between a jaguar and a giant anteater!

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm f/4, 1/500 sec, ISO 400, +1 EV

Jun

30

Thug Life

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 6 comments

Shot of the Month – June 2018

The glorious Bald Eagle – can one imagine a more revered and awe-inspiring bird? Perhaps this quote captures the sentiment most people have of this famous raptor:

The American bald eagle is perhaps the most majestic and revered of all birds of prey across North America. Chosen by our forefathers as a symbol of strength and pride for the United States, and honored and respected by Native Americans for centuries, this beautiful bird is perhaps the most famous of all birds of prey. (source)

The American bald eagle was adopted as the national bird symbol of the United States of America in 1782. This regal bird can be found on most official seals of the U.S. government, including the presidential seal, the presidential flag, and the logos of many U.S. federal agencies. Here are a few examples:

Alas, it turns out our regal eagle has more in common with Al Capone than with Thomas Jefferson. Ben Franklin was aware of the bird’s bad behavior and was opposed to the bald eagle being chosen as our national symbol. As he wrote to his daughter in a January 26, 1784 letter:

For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. (source)

Alas, it is true, the bald eagle is a bit of a thug. In my photo above the eagle is about to steal a fish that a blue heron just caught. I have seen such behavior many times while out in the field. I have seen bald eagles harass otters numerous times until they give up their latest catch. Ospreys (that is the Fishing Hawk that Ben referred to above) also must often give up their fish to the bigger raptor. The bald eagle is also a common scavenger feeding on dead fish and other carcasses.

Oh, the shame…

Here is the follow-up to the image above:

Brazen theft for all to see…

Here is another example. The heron wisely drops the fish…

And another

And…this is one hacked-off heron!

We know how this will end…

Thank you very much…

Bald Eagles also steal from each other. Here we see a “discussion” between an immature eagle (on the left) and a full-grown adult over a fish.

And here we see a Bald Eagle dining on a bison carcass in Yellowstone National Park

The American Bald Eagle, majestic in appearance and eh, well, let’s just leave it at that…

Until next month….m

And don’t forget, you can click on any image above to see it bigger (highly recommended).

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec, ISO 720, +1.5 EV

31

Whooo Should Die?

Shot of the Month – October 2018

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30

Dangerous Reflections

Ahhhh, isn’t it beautiful? What a lovely, albeit frightfully dangerous, scene.

Say what? Dangerous? How could this tranquil spot be dangerous? Where are we?

Yeah, yeah, all very interesting, but what about the d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s part??

Wow, so it seems that I just barely escaped the jaws of death. Who knew that landscape photography could be so risky? I may go back to photographing lions and jaguars where it is safe…

Until next month…michael

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31

They Grow Up So Fast

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31

Flat out Amazing

Shot of the Month – July 2018

“STOP! STOP! Michael get your camera ready!!!”

F&^%$$!!

In the end, I managed to get a few shots and eventually, the GA crossed the road just a few feet from us. Wow! Even though the images are not great, I had to share this wonderful, other-worldly beast. The Giant Anteater is surely one of the world’s stranger-looking creatures.

Refuge from another dimension?

Winner by a nose

The GA has a narrow tongue that is 2 feet long. is shaped like a strand of spaghetti, and is covered in tiny backward-pointing spines covered in sticky saliva — making it a great tool for catching insects. The GA can dart its tongue inside a mound up to 150 times a minute to catch its prey.

The ant bear has terrible eyesight and equally bad hearing but its sense of smell is 40x more sensitive than ours – he can smell termites and ants that may be miles away. Ok, respect for the nose!

The Claw! (obscure movie reference)

That Tail

Why did the ant bear cross the road?

Heck if I know, but I am eternally grateful that this one did! Until next month…..m

Check out this amazing interaction between a jaguar and a giant anteater!

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm f/4, 1/500 sec, ISO 400, +1 EV

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30

Thug Life

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