Jul

31

A Hoary Tale

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July 2017 – Shot of the Month

Hoary Marmot, Mt. Rainier (0823)

A young marmot in search of a snack.

The tallest mountain in Washington state, Mt. Rainier, is famous for its glorious summer wildflower blooms.  In 2016, with our first summer in the state approaching, we decided that we should make the pilgrimage to catch Mother Nature’s wonderful show. Such a trip however would push me out of my comfort zone on several fronts — first, I am not a fan of mountain hiking (at least not with many pounds of camera gear); and second, I rarely shoot landscape photography so I tend to struggle to “find the the shot.”

So we cobbled together two long weekends to toil up and down mountain trails in search of colorful flora.  I lumbered under the weight of my gear and generally grumbled most of the way.  Lots of work for little reward.

However, on the next-to-last day, we found a mother marmot with two youngins right by a popular trail.  These Hoary Marmots (HMs) were very comfortable with humans and we could readily watch them as they came and went from their burrow and explored the stream and hills nearby.  As an “Easterner,” I was quite excited by my first marmot encounter.  I ran back to the car to get my big lens to allow me to photograph these guys properly.

Photographing critters, “ahhhh…back in my element.”   I love this shot in that it gives a nice view of the marmot and offers a small hint of the bouquet of flowers beginning to cover the meadows and surrounding hills.

I have since learned that marmots were actually not that exotic to me — in fact, I had grown up around marmots my whole life while in Pennsylvania.  How so?  Turns out that what we call groundhogs (aka woodchucks) in the east are also a type of marmot.  There are 15 marmot species, classified as large ground squirrels by scientists,  and they are spread far and wide across the Northern Hemisphere in places that include Canada, the US, Europe, and parts of Asia.  Most of these species prefer Alpine habits but some can be found at lower elevations.

The hoary marmot, as photographed here, can be found in the mountains of much of Alaska, western Canada, and the extreme northwest of the United States.  The HM is a social creature that can live in colonies of up to 36 individuals — a colony can be spread across 35 acres and includes a dominant male. This group living is quite different than that of my childhood woodchucks who live solitary lives.

These cute rodents are vegetarian and live on leaves, grasses, and sedges, and these rascals will devour the gorgeous wildflowers before your eyes with no shame.

Hoary Marmot, Mt. Rainier (0607)Hoary Marmot, Mt. Rainier (0432)

Hoary Marmot, Mt. Rainier (1069)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though, in their defense, while the sign says “Stay off the flowers,” it actually says nothing about not eating them.

 

Until next month….m

 

Nikon D4s, Nikon 600 mm, f/8, 1/640 s, ISO 800, +0.5 EV

Jun

30

Bird Art

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 4 comments

Shot of the Month – June 2017

Snowy Egret, Ding Darling NWR (0241)

So no, I don’t have a studio — this image was shot in the wilds of nature at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  These lovely Snowy Egrets (SEs) had gathered en masse with a large collection of other herons and assorted egrets during a feeding frenzy along a dark mangrove channel.  To properly expose for the pure white bird, in bright sunlight, I had to significantly underexpose the shot — which produces this dramatic “studio” look.

This image was shot in December when the SEs are beginning to morph into their exquisite mating plumage — during this period they develop long wispy feathers on their backs, necks, and heads.  As the season progresses the coloration on their faces will transition from yellow to reddish.  And those bright yellow feet will take on a richer orange-yellow hue.

In the late 19th century Snow Egrets were almost wiped out as they were decimated by hunters collecting the breeding plumes for use in women’s hats.  In 1886 these plumes fetched $32/ounce which was twice the value of gold at that time.  During the “Plume Boom” hundreds of millions of birds were killed — for example from 1901 to 1910 over 14 million tons of feathers were shipped to the United Kingdom with a value of 20 million pounds.  Wow, that’s a lot of feathers. (source)

And a lot of dead birds.

Fortunately, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 curtailed much of this slaughter and today the population of Snowy Egrets and other herons has improved quite a bit.

Snowy Egrets eat mainly fish, frogs, worms, mice, crustaceans, and insects.  They typically stalk prey in shallow water, often running or shuffling those brightly colored feet, flushing prey into view.  They will also sometimes catch prey while “dip-fishing” as they fly with their feet just over the water.

Snowy Egrets are permanent residents in most of South and Central America.  In the US they can be permanent residents along the Atlantic coast north to Virginia Beach, Virginia, along the Gulf Coast, and along the Pacific lowlands from central California southward.  During the breeding season, snow egrets can be found as far north as Rhode Island.

With its lovely, delicate, and refined looks one could easily imagine a Snowy Egret as a runway model.  Rather ironic given that high fashion almost wiped out this elegant bird.

Silly, terrifying humans…

Until next month.

 

 

Nikon D4s, Nikon 200-400 mm (@ 200mm), f/4, 1/4000, ISO 400, -1.5 EV

 

 

Jun

19

Bald Eagle

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A Bald Eagle catching fish at Seabeck, WA

May

31

Bam Bam

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Shot of the Month – May 2017


Bighorn Sheep, Yellowstone NP (5387)This month we visit with a ram that fully embraces his name – the Bighorn Sheep (BHS).  We found this big fella in Yellowstone National Park and our guide mentioned that this was one the largest set of horns he had seen in 30 years of visiting the park.

As I discussed in a previous post, “Bighorn Sheep” is a rather chauvinistic name for the species as the females also have horns, though they are not nearly as big, nor curved.  The lads get all the attention, a-gain.

These rams definitely know that they are impressive — this one walked by me with his shoulders back, chest out and his head raised, as if saying, “Yes, soak it in, I am magnificent.”

Those horns can weigh 30 pounds, equal to the weight of all the other bones in the ram’s body.  A ram can weigh 174 to 319 pounds so those horns can make up about 10% of their total body weight.

Mature males spend most of the year as part of a bachelor flock.  Ahhh, those were the days…

The rams join the female groups in November when the mating season begins. The BHS rams are most famous for their epic head-clashing battles to win the right to mate with the females.

These fellows will smash their heads together as they hurl themselves at each other at 20 mph — generating about 800 pounds of force – sixty times more force than needed to kill a human.  The rams can survive these violent collisions because their skulls have two layers of bones above the brain that act as shock absorbers.  The sound of these collisions can be heard from a mile away.

These battles can last for 24 hours until one sheep decides that he has had enough and simply walks away. Wait, that’s it??!!  I expected a denouement with a bit more operatic panache given the fury and scale of the spectacle.

Oh well.  The clash of the Mountain Titans ends with a quiet, “I’m out.”  I suppose that there is a certain civility in that.

 

You can catch the mind-numbing show here.  (I wasn’t able to embed the video)

 

The prelude to the fight can be seen below (very nice footage).

 

In case you were wondering, the title of this post is a nod to Bam Bam Rubble…an adorable character from my youth who seems to capture the simple essence of a bighorn ram’s approach to life…

 

Until next month…m

 

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm f/4, 1/800 sec, ISO 800, +0.5 EV

Apr

30

It Takes a Village…

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 2 comments

Shot of the Month – April 2017

Elephant, Botswana (006)

 

Another shot for the “Awwwl” Collection.  For those of you not keeping score at home, this collection includes huddling hyraxes, a burrowing owl, loon chicks with mom, and a pika.  This image is a favorite among moms everywhere and is one of my most popular cards.  I photographed this adorable baby elephant in Botswana.

Female elephants live their entire lives as part of a tightly-knit family group.  Life in the herd revolves around breeding and the raising of calves.  A new calf is typically the center of attention for all herd members.  The little one photographed above must be pretty new — it is so small that it could easily walk under the elephant behind it.

Females are ready to breed at the age of thirteen and will give birth after a 22-month pregnancy.  At birth, all of the other elephants will gather around the newborn to touch and caress it with their trunks.  In the video below you can see a herd’s reaction to a newborn.

 

Soon after birth, the mother will select several full-time baby sitters or “allomothers” from her group.  These allomothers will help in all aspects of raising the calf.  The more allomothers a baby has the more free time the mother has to feed herself and produce nutritious milk, increasing the chances of survival for the calf.  The allomothers also benefit by gaining experience on how to raise a calf which makes them better mothers when they are finally ready to breed.

Here you can see a whole herd come together to help a baby elephant that is stuck in a water hole:

 

Given all that love and protection, baby elephants seem free to enjoy life.  I have watched them play in rivers and they are just like human children at the beach.  They run and chase each other.  They splash one another and the teenagers knock the smaller ones over – all in good fun.  Check out this little guy (the fun starts around 0:35 seconds):

 

There is an African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child.”  Gee, I wonder where the inspiration for that may have come from?

Until next month…