Posts in Category: wildlife
Red Dog
American Bison calves are commonly called “Red Dogs” because of their reddish color. They are everywhere at Yellowstone in the spring and early summer…not so much in early September…but this must have been a very late calf. These photos were taken well after sunset, as in the last light of day, using Sony’s Anti-motion Blur mode to make the most of the available light. We were stopped on our way back to Lamar Buffalo Ranch by the main herd of Bison crossing the road and I had lots of time to get a window down and photograph Bison in the pasture below the road as we waited. Sony RX10iv at 600 and 100mm equivalents. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr.
Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellowstone
The Red-breasted Nuthatches on the Upper Terrace of Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park seemed somehow “brighter” or “higher contrast” than the ones that come to our feeders in Maine. Maybe it is the clear light and thin atmosphere. Maybe it is the birds themselves. This specimen was actively feeding on the pine cones along one of the boardwalks at the Hot Spring. Sony RX10iv at something over the 600mm optical equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Clark’s Nutcracker at the Hot Springs
We left an hour early from the the Lamar Buffalo Ranch on our last day in Yellowstone, headed for the airport in Bozeman, but chasing a Wolf working its way up the valley that we saw from the Bunkhouse window after breakfast. We caught up with the wolf, still quite distant, but then had an extra hour…so we went to the upper terrace of Mammoth Hot Springs. Melissa had never seen the springs and I cajoled her into at least a short hike among the thermal pools. It was a special treat to find so many birds there…from the parking lot and around the pools. This Clark’s Nutcracker was very obliging…working the cones in a pine just off the boardwalk. We saw it from a distance, and were able to approach quite close. Sony RX10iv at something over 600mm optical and into Clear Image Zoom. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Pronghorn
After digiscoping more American Bison than you could shake a spotting scope at, we spent most of an afternoon looking for a Pronghorn at a reasonable distance for good digiscoping. One of our participants spotted this one on a little rise of ground above the road, right near a pull-out where the bus could park, and we all piled out with our scopes. The Pronghorn proceeded to amble down the hill toward us, and got as close as the legal limit of 25 yards. Any closer and, according to park rules, we would have had to back up. We had lots of time to take as many digiscoped images as we wanted before it turned and wandered back up the hill.
Despite their superficial similarity (and their other common names) Pronghorns are not antipopes. They are the last members of an otherwise extinct family of North American mammals, more closely related to Giraffes and Okapi, than to deer and old world antelopes. They are generally considered the second fastest land mammals, just behind the cheetah, and could, in theory, out last a cheetah over a mile chase. They are way faster than any existing North American predator.
Digiscoped with an iPhone 7 behind the eyepiece of a ZEISS Harpia 85 at about 1000mm equivalent. Exposure decreased manually to keep detail in the whites. Processed in Polarr.
Undulated Tinamou
Villa Carmen Biological Station also has a feeding area and blind where several species of Tinamous come in. This is the Undulated Tinamou, the only one we saw during our visit. But then, any clear sighting of a Tinamou is to be treasured. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur Mode. Processed in Polarr.
Leps in the Blazing Star
I mentioned how impressed I was with the numbers of insects using the endangered Northern Blazing Star boom on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area here in southern Maine this week. Here are 4 leps (to add to the White-lined Sphinx Moth posted earlier). Painted Lady, Common Wood-nymph, Monarch, and what I think is a Wandering Gem moth. Something very Gem like anyway. The moth was tiny…it just covered the tip of my finger. Sony RX10iv at 600 and 1200mm equivalent (1200 at 2X Clear Image Zoom). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and assembled in Framemagic.
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
One of the highlights of the Manu Road on the eastern slopes of the Andes in southern Peru has to be the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. The Cock-of-the-Rock is a member of the Cotinga family of birds, found at cloud forest levels in the Andes from Columbia to Bolivia. It is at least unofficially the national bird of Peru, and certainly emblematic among the birds of South America and the Andes. It is the must-see bird in any visit to the Manu Road. Fortunately, Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks are leking birds…the males gather twice a day in favored patches of forest to display. During mating season, which varies depending on how far south you go, the males are attempting to attract females and the displays are both energetic and spectacular. The rest of the year, they are just showing off for each other. The leking seems to be tied to the level of the light…and the males gather in early morning and late afternoon…later on dark mornings and earlier on dark afternoons. I am told that the best of the leks along the Manu Road was lost to a landslide several years ago, so almost everyone who sees the Cock-of-the-Rock in the Manu region sees it at the lek just above Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. You can make a reservation to visit the hide (or blind) in the morning or afternoon. Our reservation was for the afternoon, at 4PM. We arrived at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge at lunch time, and I watched as the clouds moved in, with a light rain, by 3PM. I was concerned that it was going to be too dark and too wet for photography, and we talked about canceling and coming back another day. We consulted with the keeper of the lek. He did not hold out much hope for better light on any day in our time-frame on the Manu Road, so, in the end, we kept our appointment. The hide at the lek is covered, which is a good thing, and it actually stopped raining by 3:30. The light levels were low, but I set the Sony RX10iv for Anti-motion Blur mode…designed for just such situations…and hoped for the best. Perhaps due to the weather, there were only a handful of other people in the blind that afternoon. The first male arrived only moments after we got in position, and over the next hour or so a few more came in to challenge him. We did not see any face to face displays, at least where you could see both birds, and the males stayed pretty much deep in the foliage, but it was still one of those experiences were I had to keep reminding myself to breathe. I could have, perhaps, gotten better shots on another day…but I am happy with what I got. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur Mode. Processed in Polarr.
White-lined Sphinx Moth
My friend Stef and I took a loop out through the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area yesterday to take in, among other things, the last of the Northern Blazing Star bloom. Blazing Star is endangered in Maine and the Plains are one of its last strongholds. I was reminded just how important a resource it is. Besides flocks of busy Goldfinches and Pine Warblers, the Blazing Star along Day Brook Pond was full of insects…butterflies and moths and bees and flies. When I first saw this White-lined Sphinx Moth I took it for one of the Clearwings. I have seen both Snowberry and Hummingbird Clearwings working the Blazing Star in the past. A closer look showed that despite similar size and behavior, this was a different moth. No transparent wings. I had to look it up when I got home. The White-lined Sphinx, like many Hawk moths, is mostly nocturnal, and mostly seen early and late, during dawn and dusk, so I can be forgiven for assuming it was a Clearwing. If I remember correctly, my only other sighting was years ago by artificial light on our back deck, feeding on the potted plants we keep there, when I, like many others, called it a Hummingbird Moth because of its size and behavior. (That name actually belongs to the Clearwing.) The White-lined Sphinx Moth occupies a huge range, all of North America and parts of Central America, and there are apparently known populations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. This one was very cooperative, working the same patch of Blazing Star for 15 minutes or more, and coming in close enough for lots of photos, before zooming off in search of a new patch of flowers. Sony RX10iv at 1200mm equivalent (2x Clear Image Zoom). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Amazonian Umbrellabird
By the time we left the Cock-of-the-Rock lek above Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge on the Manu Road in the Andes of southern Peru, it was already early evening. As I remember it, we were still walking down to the van, which was parked several hundred yards from the entrance to the lek, down the road at a little pull-out, when Pepe, my guide, called out Umbrellabird! The Umbrellabird is one of the Cotingas, closely related to the Cock-of-the-Rock, and the male, when in breeding plumage and displaying, is just as spectacular in its own way. The umbrella is truly impressive. Not that I would know from personal experience. This is a female. Still, Umbrellabird is listed as uncommon in the foothills and flood plains of the Amazon, more common in the north than in the south, and “most often seen in flight, crossing rivers” so I am happy to have seen this perched bird at all! Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. (The camera takes 3-4 exposures and intelligently stacks them.) Processed in Polarr.
Sparkling Violetear posturing
The Sparkling Violetears at the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge gardens, on the Manu Road in the Andes of southern Peru, were attempting to dominate the feeders. They zoomed in from their observation posts whenever another hummingbird dared to approach any feeder. On occasion, they even faced off with each other over the ownership. This shot and the video complication below are examples of that. The other Sparkling Violetear is out of the shot, obviously, up and to the right. The video contains shots of the same bird on two different perches, but in conflict with the same opponent. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr. Video compiled in ImgPlay.