Uploads from TheNatureDude

The '06 Female (Wolf 832F)

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:57:54 -0800

I read a story about the alpha female wolf of the Lamar-Canyon pack known as the '06 female, or 832F after she was fitted with a GPS collar in February, 2012. This story made me reflect on the amazing day Jerry Goldner and I spent with this wolf in September, 2011. Our encounter occurred in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park, the other story was in the Clark's Fork Drainage area about 16 miles outside of Yellowstone.

We came across a large gathering of scopes and cameras waiting for the wolves to cross the road. Jerry and I set up and waited for a long while. Finally the legend appeared, pausing on the top of a small hill and assessed the sight in front of her. Sensing that all was safe she made her way down to the road, scent marked in the road ditch then proceeded across the road to the other members of her pack.

In the Clark's Fork area, it was just one man and a wolf. The weather was decidedly colder on December 6, 2012 than the day we watched this wolf. A twenty degree drop in one day had the temperature in the high twenties to low thirties. The '06 female must have been quite the sight though. A large wolf, especially for a female, with courage and charisma to spare. Just as I looked through my view finder and fired off several frames, the excitement barely contained, the man also looked though his scope and fired. The difference was he had a gun. The '06 female laid dead on one of her few excursions outside of the safety of the National Park.

The year 2012 marked the first year that hunting wolves was legalized in Wyoming since wolves were reintroduced in 1995 and 1996. Hunting has also been legalized in Idaho and Montana, both of which border Yellowstone. The area just outside of the Park has a restricted limit on wolves that may be hunted, the '06 female filled the quota. Interestingly, most of the wolves shot just outside the Park wore radio collars. Whether that is just coincidence, or a political stance against wolf research, or somehow aided in tracking the wolves, is unknown. All I know is that the beautiful alpha female is no more, and that saddens me.

Wrens

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 04:47:50 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Marsh Wren

Here is a small collection of wren images. The first three are of an individual marsh wren and is the first time that I have ever photographed one. This particular individual was hiding in the shrubs down by the dunes of Montrose Beach. Any little movement made the wren dart back into the bush. With a bit of patience the wren would appear to check things out and a few frames were captured.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:39:59 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Golden-crowned kinglets are quite plentiful during migration. They don't seem to be as hyper as their cousins, the ruby-crowned kinglets, but the do like to move around quite a bit. Many attempts have been made to capture a pleasing photo of this little bird and most have failed miserably. Either the sky was too overcast and the resulting images were blurry due to the slow shutter speed, the bird was in shadows or harsh, mixed light, or I was just too slow at the trigger. So, the result is a few photos that were the least bad of a bad lot. The wonderful fall colors made for a divine backdrop in the leading image, and in truth I actually do like this shot.

Dark-eyed Junco

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 05:06:06 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Dark-eyed juncos are cute little birds that come here each winter. They are definitely one of the more abundant birds during the cold months and add a touch of warmth each time I see them.

Spotted Sandpiper: Waiting for the Light

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 04:13:01 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

A most unusual experience occurred the day this spotted sandpiper landed in a tree not twenty feet away from me. I was walking up a small sand dune at Chicago's Montrose Harbor when this chatty bird flew into a tree. Since this is a shorebird, seeing it in a tree is pretty unusual, but certainly not unheard of. I took a couple a photos and thought for sure that it would fly off, but it didn't. So I moved over a few feet for a more pleasing composition, yet the bird remained on this branch, bobbing up-and-down as spotted sandpipers like to do. Several more frames were exposed and the sandpiper stayed in place. I could see some beautiful evening light in the leaves just to the left of the bird and waited, hoping that a beam would cross over the sandpiper. Many minutes passed and the light gradually made its way over to this character. In all, it must have been between fifteen and twenty minutes with one bird on one tree branch. A priceless moment for a nature photographer.

Killdeer

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:08:53 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Looking through my photostream I noticed that I did not have a single killdeer image. I suppose that this is a combination of not having one image that I felt really stood out or just a matter of their abundance making me pass them by. They are really cool looking shorebirds and definitely worth watching and photographing. A photo that I have been wanting to capture is their broken wing act that they use to try to lure predators away from their nests. This shot continues to elude me but I still think that they are awesome characters!

Palm Warbler: Fall Plumage and Fall Flowers

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 05:55:58 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

I am still at the stage where I react more than predict in my photography. Occasionally an image does pop in my head before I set up and even less frequently the image comes to being. This fall I saw a few palm warblers hopping around the beach near a few beach plants. The colors and flowers on the plants were quite lovely and I was hoping a warbler would pop up on one of them. A cooperative bird did indeed oblige, and although the true photo that I had envisioned never really worked out there were still some delightful poses. The sandy background made for a nice backdrop.

The leading image is the closest that I came to capturing what I sought. If the leaf wasn't covering part of the warbler it would have been perfect. Below are a few more shots that just weren't ideal.

American Black Bear

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 22:18:34 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

I love black bears! This young male was hanging out between Tower and Roosevelt in Yellowstone National Park. He was actually quite a bit of trouble because he kept harassing a sow with two first year cubs. This particular encounter he was just grazing in a field by the side of the road. He kept his head low, and thus obstructed by tall grass for most of the time that I spent watching. Fortunately he did give one glance that was fairly clean. The photo makes him look like a good sized bear, but he was not very large at all, but he was a handsome bear for sure.

Cedar Waxwing: Overlooked Beauty

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 21:55:54 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

With all of the excitement over the Bohemian waxwing that showed up at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I thought that I would show their more numerous cousins the cedar waxwings some love. I have a bit of attention deficit when out photographing Nature. I can go out with the intention of photographing one specific thing yet I get distracted so easily and start photographing a totally different subject. The Bohemian waxwing was my target but the cedar waxwings were so plentiful and in such pretty settings that I had to capture their images. These little beauties are every bit as striking as their slightly larger cousin from up north, but their commonness makes them often passed by. Gorgeous birds indeed.

Bohemian Waxwing

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:34:36 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Vagrancy is such a cool phenomenon when it comes to birds. Bohemian waxwings should not be found in Illinois, yet every few years one seems to pop up. This is the first time that I have even seen this beautiful bird. A few days ago, local birder Al Stokie reported seeing one at the Chicago Botanic Garden and it has been reported each day since. With today being my free day I decided that this bird was worth a look. I was sorting through a group of cedar waxwings when Nolan Lemeka joined me. He soon found the bird, yet I did not get my lens to it on time. After a bit of waiting the bird came back and thankfully I was able to capture a few images before it flew off again. After a long wait I decided to check a couple of other likely locations for the bird when Nolan callled and told me that the bird was relocated at the original sight. A fairly large gathering of scopes, binoculars, and cameras made the bird's location very apparent. This time the bird stayed for a while and many frames were exposed.

A special thanks to Al Stokie and Nolan Lameka for without those two gentlemen these images would not have been captured.

Red Crossbill

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:33:33 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

This past January I had the pleasure of photographing white-winged crossbills at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. So when red crossbills were reported at this same location last weekend I decided to try to photograph them too. Monday morning started off sunny but clouds soon took over. I could not get out there until around noon, so there was very weak light due to a heavy overcast. I had to jump the ISO to between 1250 and 1600. If the birds stayed low, which crossbills seldom do, I had a chance, as long as the sky was not in the image. When I would photograph one of these birds high up in the tree the photos were heavy underexposed. I was constantly switching to manual mode and checking the view finder (chimping) due to changes in cloud cover or direction of light. It is so much easier leaving it on aperture priority and firing away, but the light and the birds did not allow for that. Many shots were missed, and I came home with only about a dozen decent images. Still, a cool bird to see.

Southbound Sparrows: Harris's, Lincoln's, and Clay-colored

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:55:03 -0800

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

HARRIS'S SPARROW

For some reason I decided to try to make a concerted effort to photograph sparrows this year. I guess it is after three years of bird photography I realized that I did not give this group its proper due and I am only now starting to get a bit of an idea of which species is which. This series includes three species that I had never photographed before this fall, the Harris's sparrow, Lincoln's sparrow, and the clay-colored sparrow. It is only when you see them up close and look at their wonderful colorations and patterns does one really start to appreciate these wonderful little birds. It's an addiction that is both frustrating and enormously rewarding.

Virginia Opossum: Happy Halloween

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:03:44 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Wishing everybody a safe and happy Halloween! Don't eat too much chocolate, but do have some! ":^)

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 21:19:32 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

What seems like a tropical bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher is indeed a bird that can be found in the United States, although usually further south around Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Southern Missouri. It seems that every year one of these beauties pops up around the Chicago area. This is in fact the second time that I have seen one this year, the first one unfortunately avoided my lens. When this bird was reported to be seen at Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook, IL on Friday I was hoping it would stay another day. So when I arrived Saturday, after working an overnight shift, I was happy to find several scopes and cameras pointing in one direction. I was relieved and excited. However my first few images were poor and the light was all wrong. Several hours passed and the bird was seen but my photos were lacking. I decided to join Jerry and Rob down by Willow Road hoping the change of scene would improve the photos. With heavy traffic at our backs and constant questions about what we were looking at, the bird flew pretty close, but was behind a bunch of branches. I Stepped up onto a guard rail for a better angle and the bird flew off. I felt terrible, more so for the others photographers wanting a good shot at the bird. I don't know if it was the lack of sleep or the excitement of the moment was too great but I think I chased the bird away. After a long wait, and my not moving from one spot, the bird came back and landed on a utility wire before flying to a perch in a fruiting tree. A rapid succession of frames were exposed and I finally had my shot. I was able to get back home for four and a half hours of sleep before having to wake up for my next shift, but I think it was worth it.

Black-throated Green Warbler

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 22:06:33 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

A five hour drive to southern Illinois was spurred on by the weather forecast's promise of sunshine and warm weather. Apparently Mother Nature did not read this because it rained most of the time that I was down there. My main target was a bobcat, and although I am aware that it is quite elusive and my chances of seeing one were slim I thought it would be worth a shot. The bobcat never showed and the sun ran away. As the rain fell I saw several birds moving through the trees, included a black-throated green warbler. This is one of my very favorite birds and despite the rain I had a delightful time trying to photograph this little beauty. Yes, a warm early morning light would have made this more special, but I was pleased spending time with this charming bird.

Barred Owl

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:51:20 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

I had a couple of free days last week so I decided to drive to southern Illinois in hopes of finding a bobcat. I knew the chances were extraordinarily slim, but I sure was not going to see one in the Chicago area. Besides, the weather forecast looked perfect. Well, I did not find the bobcat, and despite early sunshine the weather turned foul. It rained Saturday late afternoon/evening and again Sunday morning, however Saturday morning was sunny and this barred owl enjoyed the sun on its back. This particular owl was very relaxed as I stopped my car about 25 feet from its perch and shot a couple of quick snaps out the window. I then got out of the car, set up the tripod and started photographing the owl from about eighteen feet away. The owl was perched about eight to twelve feet off the ground and never seemed bothered by my photographing it. Only an enraged mockingbird made the owl decide to leave. When the owl flew off it took all of the sunshine with it, as the clouds took over and the rains were soon to follow.

Sora

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:01:46 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Playing peek-a-boo with birds can be quite frustrating, but that is the best that you can hope for when it comes to rails. Rails are shy birds that spend most of their time in tall grasses, reeds, and cattails in marshy wetlands. Although I have a couple of photos of soras from previous sightings I had yet to capture a satisfying image of one. Since things were relatively slow at Montrose this past Sunday I decided to focus my efforts on capturing a few images of a sora. There were two or three that would scamper across the trail usually only giving me enough to time to capture a butt shot as it disappeared back into the vegetation. However, I finally got a cooperative sora to stay out in the open for a good stretch of time and I fired off my shots. I tried keeping the ISO at 400 or below so many images were blurry but a few keepers were secured. Kneeling down for a couple of hours really did a number on my legs, especially my troublesome right knee, but it was worth it in the long run.

Special thanks to Jim Hully who allowed me to crowd his space a bit to capture these images.

Nelson's Sparrow

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:26:36 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

A secretive little bird by nature, the Nelson's sparrow (or Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow) likes to hide in tall grasses in marshy wetlands. An uncommon, but annual, migrant around the Great Lakes these little birds usually only show themselves once they have been flushed from hiding. They will fly off to another brushy/grassy location and drop down out of sight. I tried for quite some time to get my camera on one but they refused to show themselves. As the light of the day was getting low and the rest of Montrose Bird Sanctuary was shrouded in shadows, I decided to check the Lake Michigan shores to see if any shorebirds arrived. Since that proved unproductive I redirected my focus to try for the sparrow again. With very little hopes of seeing one, but no other real photography options I waited. Finally, I saw movement in the grass that was decidedly different from the wind swaying motion all around. Then this little gem popped its head out. One shot was fired and it moved. It took another look out and three more frames were exposed before it disappeared. The golden tones of sunset made this little sparrow (which already has a lovely orange coloring to it) glow in the day's last light. Before long the light went completely flat but my spirit was shining.

Palm Warbler

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:06:01 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

Palm warblers are a very present force during migration in the Great Lakes region, perhaps the most plentiful warbler during this time of the year. They are not shy and stay still longer than most other warblers which make them terrific photo subjects. Unfortunately, their fall plumage is not as grand as their spring/summer's best but they try to compensate by posing in lovely settings. I was fortunate that this palm warbler took flight on a even plane as my camera allowing me to capture its flight from one end of the flower to the next, only clipping its wing off on one shot (not pictured).

Waterthrush and Wildflowers

nobody@flickr.com (TheNatureDude) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:05:58 -0700

TheNatureDude posted a photo:

While waiting for a sora to emerge from the Montrose Bird Sanctuary water feature this little northern waterthrush kept us entertained. He was surprisingly comfortable with several people standing around and just kept on feeding and pumping its tail in delight. After capturing a few "saw it" images I was hoping that this little warbler would pose next to some of the wildflowers along the walking path. Sure enough, this cooperative bird did just that. What a delightful time spent with this charming northern waterthrush!