Happy New Year!

I’m a bit late with this, owing to our trip to Florida for my one and only niece’s wedding. Given what’s going on in our political world right now, I thought a post about this picture of two Steller’s Jays would be appropriate.

Steller’s Jay is a cousin to the more common blue jay, and has the same bold, inquisitive and noisy characteristics. You’ll find them from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast, usually at elevations of 3,000 - 10,000 feet. They’re named in honor of Georg Steller, the German naturalist who first recorded one while on an expedition in Alaska in 1741.

The snowy background of this photo suggests I took this in the winter, but that’s not the case. It was October, 2013, and we were in Boulder visiting our son David. Our trip coincided with the two-and-a-half week long government shutdown, which closed Rocky Mountain National Park. But the state of Colorado stepped in while we were out there and funded staffing so the park could open. We drove to Estes Park and enjoyed a wonderful day in the park. If you ever have a chance to go there, don’t miss it.

At some of the higher points in the park, and especially in the shaded area, some recent snow had not yet melted. That’s where I found this pair of Steller’s Jays. I used this picture in my calendar a few years ago.

What's in a name?

I hope you enjoyed the holiday yesterday. We celebrated in our traditional fashion: a movie followed by dinner with friends at a Chinese restaurant. Now back to the birds.

This is a Cape May warbler, which I photographed in the Magee Marsh near Toledo, OH last May, where it and a few thousand other birds stop over each Spring on their way north for the summer. During the summer, it eats insects. But during its migration and during the winter, it uses its unique, curled and semi-tubular tongue to collect nectar. I used this shot for the month of January on my 2019 calendar.

If you think the bird got its name from Cape May, New Jersey, you’re right. The famed early American ornithologist Alexander Wilson first spotted this warbler in Cape May sometime in the early 19th century. No one saw another Cape May warbler in Cape May, NJ for the next 100 years. This could be why it’s not the state bird (that would be the goldfinch).

The bird world is full of stories about birds getting their names in a much less than scientific way. The magnolia warbler was also named by Alexander Wilson when he was first to see one. It happened to be in a Mississippi magnolia tree at the time, while on its migration. But that was a fluke; it primarily sticks to coniferous trees when it summers in Canada and the northern U.S.

Some other birds got their names because someone thought that’s what their song or call sounded like. Chickadee and towhee are two examples that come quickly to mind.

Of course, when you think about how some people get their names, maybe this isn’t so odd, after all.

Family time

No matter how or even if you worship, holidays are a time to be with those we love. So on this Christmas Eve, I”m posting the bird picture from my collection that best says “family,” and it’s one of my favorites.

Tomorrow will be the first Christmas for this little guy, or little gal. He or she was born soon after Christmas last year. Unlike our backyard birds who lay their eggs in the spring, osprey and eagle babies begin hatching in January and February.

Osprey nests are about the size of a toddler’s wading pool. They build them high up in trees, or on platforms thoughtfully placed by their human friends. This one is on a platform about 20 feet off the ground near the beach in Naples, FL. It’s not far from a raised boardwalk, all of which afforded me this nice angle at which to shoot.

I just happened to be there with my camera when the osprey chick popped up to peek over the edge. So much of getting nice bird pictures is simply fortuitous timing.

If you ordered one of my 2019 calendars (thank you very much!), you’ll see this picture again throughout the month of February.

Whatever Christmas means to you, I wish you and your families all the joys of the holidays, and a happy and healthy new year

Winter wonderland

As the Google Doodle reminds us, winter begins today. The solstice marking the start of the new season, and the day with the least amount of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere comes at 5:23 p.m. ET. In honor of the start of my least favorite time of the year, here’s a picture taken in my backyard a few years ago during one of our mercifully infrequent snowfalls.

Male cardinals are especially beautiful and a welcome sight in my winter backyard. Their bright red plumage stands out in gorgeous contrast to the brown and gray, leafless branches of my trees and shrubs.

There are several dozen bird species, including the cardinal, which are year-round residents here in the Atlanta area. They protect themselves against the cold by puffing themselves up, using the air pockets as insulation. And even those birds not lucky enough to enjoy the fabulous buffet that is my array of feeders have little trouble finding food here in the winter months.

That’s why birds fly south for the winter. They’re trying to make sure they don’t starve. They’re not trying to escape the cold. That’s why I like to go south in the winter. Like soccer, beets and Hallmark holiday movies, it’s just not for me. For those of you who love the change of seasons and revel in the prospect of snowy fun, I send my warmest wishes for this cold quarter.

The right light, part 2

The anhinga is not a particularly pretty bird. Still, this is one of my favorite photos, because the light is just right. If memory serves, I took this picture a few minutes and a few hundred yards away from where I took the picture of the pelicans I posted yesterday. The sun wasn’t yet very high in the sky, and it was directly behind me (pro tip: never shoot into the sun, unless you’re trying to create a silhouette). The light makes the bird’s feathers and beak stand out beautifully against the blue water.

If you’ve ever visited the coastal areas of the South, you’ve likely seen an anhinga. And you’ve likely seen one perched just like this. Anhingas do not have the natural oil that makes their feathers waterproof. So unlike herons, ducks and all those other water birds, anhingas have to air-dry their wings after they come out of the water. On the plus side, having non-waterproof feathers helps them submerge deeper in the water to stalk fish. Their name comes from the Brazilian Tupi language, meaning devil bird.

The right light

This is one of my favorite pictures. I took it about five years ago at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, FL. My wife and I, along with our friends Debbie and Eugene, had gone there in search of roseate spoonbills. We had arrived there just after 7:00 on a morning in late January. We were standing just off the road that goes through the refuge, looking out over a lake and trying to communicate telepathically with some spoonbills hundreds of yards out in the water. We thought maybe we could coax them to come closer to us. Apparently, none of us possessed the super-powers necessary for such a task.

But then I turned around and looked at the lake on the other side of the road and saw what you see in this picture. The water was calm and the early morning sunlight was perfect. It is gospel in the photography world that the best times for taking pictures outside is the first few hours after sunrise, and last few before sunset. The light is soft and diffuse. No harsh glares or shadows. Those are also the times when birds are most active; breakfast and supper are their favorite meals.

I guess these white pelicans where still trying to figure out what to do with their day. White pelicans are larger and less common in the U.S. than their brown cousins. The best places to find them in the winter is south Florida and along the Gulf Coast. They breed much further north, up into Canada.

Peyto Lake

Banff National Park in Canada is as spectacularly beautiful as any in the U.S. Everyone who goes there or who talks with someone who’s been there knows about Lake Louise. But the lake we hadn’t heard about, the one we thought most stunning, was Peyto Lake. It’s easy to miss, and it doesn’t get a lot of ink in the guide books. But if you go to Banff NP, don’t pass it by.

The water really, truly is that turquoise. Many of the lakes in Banff and its adjacent parks are these almost surreal shades of blue and green. The reason is silt. The lakes were created by glaciers receding over rock formations. As the glaciers moved, they ground the rock into a fine powder, which settled into the lakes that formed. That powder absorbs the red, orange and yellow colors of the spectrum, and reflects the blues and greens.

We learned this from a phone app called GyPSy Guide (gypsyguide.com). The tours are inexpensive to download, usually about $5 each. It syncs up with the GPS in your phone so that when you play it back, it’s describing what you’re seeing out your window, and what’s coming up. We used it throughout our Banff trip, and again in the Glacier and Yellowstone NPs. It was always spot on, accurate and interesting.

Without it, we might have missed the turn off the highway to the tiny parking lot for Peyto Lake. Then it’s about a quarter-mile dirt path to a wooden deck overlooking the lake. Unlike Lake Louise, Morraine Lake, and some of the other better-know spots in Banff NP, there was no crowd at Peyto Lake. Except for a Japanese couple and their baby son, we had it to ourselves. And that alone makes it one of the rarest and most precious summertime sites in the area. I’d love to go back to Banff. And if I do, I hope to go right after Labor Day, when all the other tourists have gone back home.

This land is your land

My first love in photography is birds, but I’ve developed a strong interest in landscape photography. As a retirement gift to myself, I bought a wide-angle lens just for shots like this. Our first trip post-retirement was to three of our glorious National Parks, Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. This is in Glacier.

In the center of the frame is Grinnell Peak, and that’s Swiftcurrent lake in the foreground. They’re on the East side of the park, which is also the less crowded side. There’s only one hotel on that side of the park, and it’s a beauty. It’s built in the style of a Swiss chalet. I’m sure it’s not an inexpensive place to stay, and I’m also sure it books up quickly for the summer months. But if I were going back to Glacier, I’d want to stay here. This shot was taken from near the dock immediately behind the hotel.

I will say again here I think Ken Burns was exactly right when he subtitled his documentary on our National Parks “America’s Best Idea.” I am humbled, amazed and so thankful that a century ago there were wealthy and powerful Americans who worked to protect and preserve huge tracts of lands, so that you and I could enjoy sights like this.