Dec

31

Burrowing Awwwwl…

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Shot of the Month – December 2015

Burrowing Owl, Cape Coral, FL-USA (8025)Ok, their official name is Burrowing Owl (BO) but my title better captures how most people react to this pint-size beauty.  I posted this image on my Facebook Photopage and the reaction was off the charts even though the photo is really just so-so in my opinion. That damn grass in the foreground!

Here we have a static bird staring at the lens in “just ok” light — but here is an example where excessive cuteness (owfully cute?) wins out over composition.  And those EYES…I could get lost in there for days…..swoon…

While most birds spend most of their time in the trees, these owls, as you may have gleaned from their name, actually spend the majority of their time on the ground and live underground in, yep you guessed it, burrows.

In the US, Florida is the only east coast location to see a Burrowing Owl.  Otherwise, head west or south, and depending on the time of year, you can find them in Canada down through Mexico into Central America. Some species can also be found on various Caribbean Islands and others in parts of South America.

Historically BO’s prefer open prairies and cleared areas with short grass. In modern times they can be also found in pastures, farm fields, golf courses, airports, and vacant lots in residential areas.  I actually photographed this fella in an empty lot in the suburbs of Cape Coral, Florida.

Florida BOs usually dig their own burrows, but those in the western part of the US typically use old burrows left by prairie dogs, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats, armadillos, or other animals.  Burrows excavated by the owls may be up to 6-10′ long, with a nest chamber at the end.

burrowing_owl_map_big

Burrowing Owl Range (Source)

Burrowing Owls are some of the smallest owls in North America.  These guys stand about 7-11 inches tall and weigh about 4-8 ounces.  To give you a sense of scale, the BO is slightly larger than an American Robin!

Despite their small size these guys seem to have a Big sense of humor — did you notice the bird in the lower right corner of the picture?

Boom!  Photobombed, baby!

Until next month….michael

 

GetImage

Extended Range of Burrowing Owl (Source)

Nikon D4S, 600mm, f/4, 1/1000 sec, 1400 ISO, +1 EV

Nov

30

Crazy like a Kumiho

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Shot of the Month – November 2015

Red Fox, Bombay Hook NWR, Delaware (6525)Could this be a wanted poster for one of nature’s craftier criminals?  Or just a cute poster of a cuddly critter?

Just like a canine Jesse James, there is no shortage of tall tales that cast the fox’s character across the spectrum from saint to sinner and everything in between.

Regardless of your particular point of view, there is no disputing that humans are fascinated by this little fellow and use him as a foil for human fortitude and frailty alike.

Foxes got their first documented curtain call in 4 BC in Aesop’s fables in The Fox and the Grapes.  Greek mythology engaged the Teumessian fox to devour children, and foxes appear in Celtic mythology as shapeshifters.

In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (Kumiho) folklore foxes are powerful spirits that are known for their highly mischievous and cunning nature, often taking the form of female humans to seduce men.

In Arab folklore, the fox is weak and deceitful.  In the Bible, the word “fox” is applied to false prophets (Ezekiel 13:4) and the hypocrisy of Herod Antipas (Luke 13:32).  Foxes are very popular in Native American mythology and can be found in Achomawi, Yurok tribe, Inuit, and Menominee folk stories (But, you knew that…)

 

 

Our lexicon is riddled with foxy lingo.

  • “fox/foxxy” = slang for someone with sex appeal
  • “outfox” = means to beat in a competition of wits
  • “vixen” =  a female fox is called a vixen, it is also used to describe an attractive woman, though implies some questionable character traits…
  • “shenanigan” = (as in deceitful confidence trick, or mischief) is derived from the Irish expression sionnachuighim, meaning “I play the fox”

In World War II, Erwin Rommel, the German commander in North Africa, was called the “Desert Fox” by his British adversaries, as a tribute to his operational cunning and skill.

I could go on and on.  Foxes can be found on every continent except Antarctica and basically, just about every culture has assigned the fox archetype traits or powers.  Foxes can be found in plays, novels, children’s books, TV shows, video games, movies, anime, music (Foxy Lady), opera, and well, just about everywhere.  Go here to see an amazingly long and comprehensive list of all the cultural references through the ages.

Ahh, the crafty fox, the Dr. Who of the natural world….he is the lingua franca across countries, culture, time and space.  And very cute.

 

 

Nikon D70, Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 (@ 80mm), 1/1000s, ISO 200

 

Oct

31

Blushed with Praise!

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Shot of the Month – October 2015

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Vermont (3197)As you can see, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak (RBG) is a striking-looking fellow. And not only is he good-looking,  this guy has a lovely voice.  His double threat traits strike a chord with the ornithological crowd and stir flight of fancy and poetic prose.

A few of my favorite turns of phrase:

“Bursting with black, white, and rose-red, male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are like an exclamation mark in your binoculars.” (source)

Nicely done, sir.  I love that visual.

Another, albeit a bit more gruesome nickname is “cut-throat.”  I find that visual much less pleasing, though one can’t argue with the logic.

And for the bird’s lovely song?  A couple of early twentieth-century naturalists said it is

“…so entrancingly beautiful that words cannot describe it….it has been compared to the finest efforts of the Robin and…the Scarlet Tanager, but it is far superior to either.”

Ouch, it seems that the robin and scarlet tanager will not be going to the next round of the competition.

Even the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (home of smarty-pants-bird geeks) was getting all artsy-like in its description of the RBG’s lovely fine voice:

“They sound like American Robins, but listen for an extra sweetness, as if the bird had operatic training…”

Operatic training? Oh, so high brow of them…

 

Here you can hear his lovely call in action:

If you want to catch this lovely star in action your best chance is to visit northeastern forests in the US and Canada during the spring and summer; the cut-throats spend the winter in Central and South America.

Ahh, the life of a celebrity…..until next month.  🙂

 

 

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm f/4 (@f/5.6), 1.4x TC, 1/2000 sec, ISO 800,

Sep

30

To Bee or Not To Be

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Shot of the Month – September 2015

Bumblebee, Vermont (1684)

I have taken liberty with what is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous line to highlight the plight of one of humanity’s oldest partners — da bee. A recent study indicates that humans have benefited from the bee’s labor for at least 8,000 years.  However, since 2006 or so bee populations have been crashing (Colony-Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the scientific lingo for it) around the planet and this beautiful relationship is in serious peril.

Why should we care?

Well, bees are expert pollinators and we rely on them to produce much of our food — some estimate that 1 in every 3 mouthfuls of the food you ate today was pollinated by a bee.  Of the 100 crops that provide about 90% of the food eaten in 146 countries, 71% are bee-pollinated. Did you know that the ENTIRE almond crop in the US relies on bees for pollination?  Me neither.

Without bees forget about apples, lemons, limes, carrots, celery, zucchini, oranges, blueberries, cherries, watermelons, grapefruit, lettuce, macadamia, cashew, coriander, cucumber, buckwheat, mango, avocado, apricot, peach, pear, raspberry, broccoli, onion…and many more. See a comprehensive list here.

Much of the pollinating is done by the Western Honey bee — a species that is commonly used by commercial beekeepers.  Typically a beekeeper will lose about 10-15% of his bees over the winter.  Since 2006 the loss rate has been around 30%.  In 2014-2015 about 42% of all honey bee colonies died off.

So what is causing all the deaths?  There is no single answer but most scientists believe the mass die-off is being caused by:

  1. Habitat Loss: Modern agriculture is characterized by massive fields with just one crop –  rarely can you find a range of flowers along fields where bees can forage.  These fields are like deserts for bees.
  2. Pesticides: Bees are very sensitive to pesticides and seem particularly sensitive to neonicotinoid pesticides.  Neonicotinoids were introduced in the mid-1990s and bee numbers began falling soon after.  Over 50,000 bumble bees (like the one I photographed here) died in Oregon in 2013 after a landscaping company sprayed nearby trees. Oregon banned the use of this insecticide in 2015.
  3. Parasites:  A microscopic mite, the Varroa destructor, surfaced in the US in 1987 and has since killed millions of bees.

How can you help?  A few ideas:

  1. Buy Organic:  Organic farms don’t use pesticides.
  2. Buy Local:  Support your local farms, especially local organic farms (see #1 above)
  3. Use less pesticides:  We use WAY too much pesticides.  Most pest problems can be solved without pesticides.
  4. Plant bee-friendly plants:  Start a garden and provide desperately needed food for the bees.  Here is some guidance on how to start.  And check out this fun tool.

And here is a good list of ideas on how to help.

A world without bees would be terribly unbeecoming and a lot less beeautiful, and dining would be a lot more boring (damn, no “ee’s” in boring, sigh).

Anyways, we really do need bees to be, so do what you can to help out.

Until next month….:-)

 

 

Nikon D5100, VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8, f/10, 1/250 sec, ISO 200

Aug

31

The Eyes Have It

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Shot of the Month – August 2015

American Bison, Yellowstone NP (6330)This month’s throwback pinup beauty is a gorgeous bison babe.  I don’t know about you, but I find myself getting lost in those big brown eyes (Yes, I realize it is a black and white photo — trust me on this one). That luscious nose.  And who wouldn’t want to run their fingers through that luxurious black hair?

No doubt about it, that is a half-ton of cuteness right there.  Bob the Bison would surely be humming Bob the Marley’s “Looking in your big brown eyes” as he sauntered by this bovine beauty.

The eyes come to life in this image because I was able to capture the elusive “catchlight.”  Catchlight is simply the reflection of the sun or light source in the subject’s eyes.  Catchlight adds depth and dimension to the eyes and makes the subject come alive.  Wildlife photographers obsess about this little dint of illumination – some feel that the foundation of a great wildlife image is catching a bit of ocular sparkle.

Without the glint the human brain seems to not respond as strongly to an image — we tend to see the photo as “lifeless.”  Sort of like the difference between looking at a photo of a stuffed toy bison and a picture of well, this Yellowstone beauty.  That extra twinkle can make an otherwise “flat” image seem to jump off the page…errr, screen.

The eye glint thing also works for people. So when taking a picture of friends and family, try to capture a bit of catchlight to make your evil ____ more loveable/likable/humanlike. (fill in the blank with the relative or friend of your choice).

The psychological power of catchlight is so strong that sometimes in movies the director will go in the other direction and remove the glint from the eyes of antagonistic characters in post-production to make them seem more evil or heartless.

As you can see, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder…..or is it the beholdee?  Now I’m confused…

Until next month…..michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon D4s, Nikkor 600mm f/4G ED, 1.4x TC (@850mm), f/5.6, 1/750s, +0.5 EV, ISO 640